Kurohime/Characters

Characters from the manga Kurohime

Kurohime/Shirohime

The most powerful witch of all time. Well known for her power, beauty and cruelty. Alternatively, one half of the goddess of mercy.

• A God Am I: Initially thought to be her goal. It's not, though it does still happen.
• Black Magician Girl
• Broken Bird: Hid it quite well.
• Dark Action Girl: By her own admission, "A witch right out of a fairy tale."
• Dark Is Not Evil: She's pulling a Zero Approval Gambit. She's nowhere NEAR as cruel as she seems.
• Death Seeker: She's fighting because SOMEONE HAS TO, not because she actually wants to. It makes it very difficult for Sword and Ouka to deal with her.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: About half her outfits, she pulls this even in a Prisoner-Uniform
• Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Let's start with the fact that she's a tall White-Haired Pretty Girl. Moving on, there's:
  • Blue Eyes
  • Clothing Damage: In her fight against Ouka.
  • Qipao: Again, at one point. Why? Who cares?
  • Rapunzel Hair
  • Sensual Spandex
    • Spy Catsuit
  • She's Got Legs
  • Shower of Angst: One of the most beautifully drawn ones in a while.
  • Statuesque Stunner
  • Stripperiffic: The outfit she initially attacks Ouka's father's castle in, which can be described, among other things, as "Battle-Geisha-Stripper".
    • Absolute Cleavage
    • Bare Your Midriff
    • Giant Poofy Sleeves
    • Giant Waist Ribbon
    • Impractically Fancy Outfit: Not that we care.
    • Kimono Fanservice
    • Showgirl Skirt
    • Sideboob
    • Smoking Is Glamorous
    • Underboobs
  • Zettai Ryouiki
• The Gunslinger: No shit.
• Gun and Sword
• Hand Cannon: Senryu does damage even without magic.
• Handicapped Badass: While her arm DID grow back after the battle, losing it didn't slow her down in the least.
• Helpless Good Side: Subverted. Despite all that she does, her love of humanity is so great the gods themselves think it's godlike and make it the goddess of mercy. So while Shirohime may be Kurohime's love and kindness personified, when they are split, she's the one left with the powers.
• Hot Witch
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: She's sacrificed too much in her quest for peace, including the resolve to end her own life.
• Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: They're her favorite weapon.
• Jerkass: A gleefully arrogant bitch.
  • Jerkass Facade: Who is actually a well-intentioned Sugar and Ice Girl.
• Lady of Black Magic
• Lady of War: Onimaru said it best:

"A flower which bloomed in the middle of the battlefield."

• Meaningful Name: The Dark Princess. And The White Princess.
• Ms. Fanservice
• Nay Theist: By default.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: The Black God Tree ever present on her. It feeds on the rage of the people she's killed. Implied to be the reason why she can't willingly stop fighting; if she does, it means they all died for nothing.
• The Power of Hate: The Black God Tree.
• Rage Against the Heavens: This kicks off the plot.
• Shoot the Dog: She will do anything to achieve peace. ANYTHING.
• Stealth Mentor: To Ouka, if the past is to be believed.
• Tall, Pale and Bishoujo
• White-Haired Pretty Girl
• Woman in Black
• Utopia Justifies the Means: See Shoot the Dog.
• Zero-Approval Gambit: Developed the personality of a stone-cold bitch and warmonger so that humanity would focus on that rather than attaining godhood.

Himeko

The Hero of the story. She actually is Kurohime.

• Absolute Cleavage: Himeko's most recent outfit.
• Action Girl
• All Love Is Unrequited: This and It's All My Fault cause her latest BSOD moment in 78. Onimaru and Sword's response to it is basically "Yeah. And?"
• All Your Powers Combined/Fusion Dance: Does this occasionally to avoid pulling off that final lotus petal.
• Back from the Dead: Twice. The first time is involuntary, as it's a side effect of Asura's time reversal scheme. The second time occurs after she commits suicide in Zero's arms; however, she's effectively a Black God Tree skeleton.
  • She Came Back Strong from that, thanks to Yamatohime.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Spends much of the story as one. She gets better.
• Character Development: Goes from a Bratty Half-Pint to a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. In terms of skill, Faux Action Girl to Action Girl.
• Cute Bruiser: When she finally gets enough of her powers back.
• Cruel and Unusual Death
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Yamatohime's power purifies the Black God Tree and those absorbed within it, Kurohime is able to resurrect those people, Zero and the rest of her Nakama live and the human race lives to see a few more billion years. This comes at the expense of the planet, Yamatohime... and Yashahime. Win some, lose the rest.
• Healing Hands: The most common bullet she uses is the Healing Bullet.
• The Hero
• Hot Chick with a Sword: Upon attaining the Yamato Senryuutou, and later, the Ultimate Sword.
• I Have Many Names: Kurohime, Himeko, Hime, Momohime and Himekojo.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Once by Yashahime and again by Dark Zero. Apparently, this is the optimal way to deal with her because Darkray did it too.
• Infinity+1 Sword: The Ultimate Sword, which seems to double as a Laser Blade AND a Wave Motion Gun.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: With Onimaru and Sword's help, she realizes the situation with Zero stopped being about whether or not he returned her love a long time ago.
• Lack of Empathy: Early on in the story, genuinely. It became a god.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: In the first arc, as a result of losing her ability to love, she can't recall just why she hates the gods. In the current arc, her memories act as a self-inflicted curse, since the pain of losing Zero keeps her from using her full potential. If she loses her final memory of Zero, she will become Kurohime for good.
• Laser-Guided Karma: A metric-fuck-ton of it.
• Love Redeems: Finding love and/or re-discovering love ultimately made her a better person.
  • Love Hurts: Of course, suffering also tends to bring out the Character Development.
• Manipulative Bitch: Dark Zero calls on her this, concerning her trips to the past. When you think about it, he's absolutely right.
• Meaningful Name: Himeko means "young princess" or "child princess."
• Nay Theist
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: It takes her awhile to get out from under this.
• Plucky Girl
• The Power of Love: It literally powers her up. Also, she only agrees to help Asura if Yamatohime resurrects Zero.
• Shoot the Dog: Hime ultimately DOES end the world. Of course, the world had been subsumed by Yashahime at that point so it's not like it was worth saving anymore.
• Sleep Mode Size: Curses tend to do this to her since she wasn't as powerful as a child.
• Small Girl, Big Gun: As the smallest Himeko.
• The Three Faces of Eve: Himeko, Himekojo and Kurohime.
• Took a Level in Badass
• White-Haired Pretty Girl

Zero/"Rei" from the Past Arc, in the Present Day

A good-hearted young man with fast hands and a strong sense of idealism and justice. Kurohime saved his life as a child, and he dedicated himself to fighting for justice afterwards.

• Badass Normal: Keeps abreast of Kurohime thanks to his incredibly itchy trigger fingers.
• Bishonen: Very much so, especially after becoming the next Death God.
• Determinator
• Driven to Suicide: Several times.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He lives, Hime lives, they manage to make it to a new planet so that the human race ultimately survives and some billion years later, they meet up again and fall in love a second time. For someone who's life seems to be a never-ending stream of pain, Zero really lucked out this time.
• Guns Akimbo: Up to Eleven: He shoots four guns, not two.
• The Gunslinger: An even better shot than Kurohime.
• Face Heel Turn: When Yashahime transforms him into the Death God. Does a Heel Face Turn once Himeko manages to convince him of her love again, though it costs her her life.
• Heroic BSOD: He began showing signs of it in chapter 76. It finally hits in 79 after Hime dies trying to convince him of his worth to her.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Also in 79.
• Heroic Sacrifice
• Hidden Depths
• Iconic Item: His Scarf of Asskicking, his tuff of black hair.
• Justice Will Prevail: Except when it doesn't.
• Kid with the Leash: Keeps the smallest Himeko from being an even bigger Jerkass.
• Knight in Shining Armor
• Likes Older Women: How much older than him is Hime?
• Love Hurts: Oh yes. All of his pain and suffering can be traced to either love of his family or love of Kurohime.
  • Love Redeems: After Himeko willingly commits suicide in his arms, he is able to believe in love again, and rejects the powers of the Death God entirely.
• Manipulative Bastard: Temporarily mimics his pre-Death God voice and self in order to make Kurohime hesitate.
• Meaningful Name: "Zero" can be read as "Rei."
• Morality Pet: Post-mortem. Himeko's not a complete jerk anymore but she wouldn't do many things if not for his sake.
• Mr. Fanservice
• My Hero Zero
• Nietzsche Wannabe: As Dark Zero.
• Precocious Crush: Fell for Kurohime as a child.
• Pure Is Not Good: Himeko cites this as the reason Zero wants to end the world. He is a problem solver and an innocent, seeing the world in black and white. By his logic, if humans cause the world's strife and the world is going down in flames in some thousand years anyway, why not just cut out the middleman and put the world out of its misery now?
• Red String of Fate: Zero believes in this. He thinks it's his Scarf of Asskicking, and he's so attached to it because Himeko gave it to him.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Zero loves his scarf. Even as a Shinigami.
• Shallow Love Interest: Lampshaded in comic by Himeko herself when she realizes that next to his being in love with her and her with him, she knows nothing about him.
• Super-Powered Evil Side: According to his reaper self, the "good" Zero was this.
• Take Over the World: Decides to do this as the new Death God.
  • And the streets ran red with blood...
• Troubled but Cute: GOD, SO MUCH.
  • Trauma Conga Line
• The Atoner: "Zero" took on his brother's name in order to make up for the part that his own anger and irresponsibility played in the real Zero's death.
• Tomato Surprise: This "Zero" IS Rei from the Past arc.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Dear Himeko, you are the WORST GIRLFRIEND EVER.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Definitely lives, breathes, and owns the part. However, he was, at least on some level, doing it to honor the real Zero. Since becoming the nihilistic Grim Reaper hasn't dampened his belief in the Red String of Fate, he may have it honest.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Literally. Even admits to Yamatohime that that's more or less why he's doing it.
• Yandere: Part of him loves Himeko to pieces. Another part of him wants to cut her into pieces. A lot. Occasionally, there is dissent.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Asura

A fire spirit trying to rescue her master. Has contempt for gods and humans, though the former more than the latter.

• Action Girl
• Because Destiny Says So: Her fate is to complete Yamato Senryuuto. She's NOT pleased with this plan at first, but thanks to The Power of Friendship and her mother's apology, she comes to realize that she was the only one that was devaluing her life.
• The Big Guy: She's also The Lancer.
• Broken Bird: You've no idea...
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Her opinion of humans raises over the course of the series, to the point she is willing to risk her life saving one. It did drop again for a short time, but she was able to reconcile her views once she got a hold of herself again.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She convinces the Spirit Kings to send her consciousness back in time and takes the bullet that Himeko refused to shoot at her, completing the Ultimate Blade.
• Half-Human Hybrid: According to the elder of Asura's village, Asura is actually a human "blessed" with the power of Yamatohime. This is why she can serve as Yamatohime's sacrifice for the Yamato Senryuuto.
• Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Kurohime often turns her into a dragon for extra bite.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Her true form.
• Playing with Fire
• Rapunzel Hair
• Sacrificial Lion: And it takes her awhile to stop being bitter about it.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
• Unstoppable Rage: After Taking the Bullet for an innocent little girl named Sara, continuous fighting for the sake of the people who are inadvertently weakening the Spirit Kings with their actions drives Asura to abandon her humanity and attack everyone and everything in sight. She is also harboring intense resentment about being forced to serve as Yamatohime's substitute within the Ultimate Sword.

Onimaru/Tsucchi

The former leader of the Onimaru Brigade and Kurohime's former Dragon. Was betrayed by her and branded with the kanji for "dog." Has sworn vengence on her but funnily enough is still attracted to her. Sword attempted to turn him into a snake minion, but his willpower enabled him to resist the change, causing him to turn into Tsucchi, a small, mute, lizard-like...thing.

• Big Damn Heroes: Helped Kandata find people for the ark.
• Butt Monkey: Amusing things happen to Onimaru. Often.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Does this to Himeko. With Zero's scarf.
  • He does it again in Chapter 78 after Sword changes him back into his true form.
• Heroic Willpower: Resists becoming a snake thanks to this.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Himeko.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For a warlord, he's a decent guy.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Wanted to be a god so he could peep at girls.
• The Smart Guy: He knows a lot of what's going on. Too bad he can't talk.
• Team Pet: As Tsucchi.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Where is he these days? Helping to be the next Noah, obviously.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Points out to Shirohime that she has strayed from her path of helping humans.

Kazuma

The son of the shogun of Oedo. Decides to assist Hime and Asura in their quest to free the Spirit Kings after they save him from mermaids. Also in love with Hime.

• All Love Is Unrequited
• Back from the Dead: After the End and after being absorbed by the Black God Tree.
• Badass Normal: Pray you are never on the other end of his sword.
• Big Good: The remains of the forces of Oedo, plus O-yuki, Yukio and Asura before she loses it are under his command so he qualifies.
• The Chew Toy: Only Tsucchi seems to have it worse than him.
• The Chick: He's easily the most awed by the things happening around him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He uses the last of the Spirit King jewels and his lifeforce to save Hime from Dark Zero and Yashahime.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He knows he has no chance with Himeko but does his best to assist her cause.
• James Bondage: How we meet him.
• Katanas Are Just Better
• Power At a Price: The gems he keeps on him drain his lifeforce for their power.
• Replacement Goldfish: He looks and behaves a lot like Zero. It's implied that should Kurohime lose her final memories of Zero that she could fall for Kazuma.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: When shit hits the fan in Oedo, he and his family fly into action.
• Samurai
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Zero, but he eventually becomes his own character.
• Troubled but Cute: Being in charge is starting to get to him.
• Warrior Prince
• You Are in Command Now: And he does fairly well, considering the situation.

O-yuki and Yukio

A pair of snow gods from Mt. Oosore who decide to tag along on Himeko's quest.

• Badass Adorable
• Beautiful All Along: Yukio. He Cleans Up Nicely.
• Broken Bird: Being a snow goddess can make making friends a little difficult.
• Kid Appeal Character: They're rather enthusiastic for folks of their age bracket but are generally not bratty. Oh, and they kick large amounts of ass.
• Collector of the Strange: O-yuki used to collect bishounen as a hobby. Considering her own previous thoughts to do so, even Himeko comments on how creepy it is.
• Cute Bruisers
• Defrosting Ice Queen: O-yuki. Literally, at one point.
• Fusion Dance: The two of them can combine to perform some rather impressive snow magic as O-yuki or throw houses around as Yukio.
• Heel Face Turn: After Himeko helps O-yuki notice Yukio's worth, they help her fight off Yashahime.
• An Ice Person: Obvious trope is obvious.
• Just the Way You Are: It takes O-yuki awhile to grasp that Yukio genuinely does love her, iciness and all.
• Love Makes You Evil: Yukio. Himeko plays along to preserve his dignity.
• Love Martyr: Yukio for awhile.
• Meaningful Name: Their real names, Yuki-onna and Yuki-otoko, mean "Snow Woman" and "Snow Man," respectively.
• Older Than They Look
• Sleep Mode Size: Their bodies are mostly hard-impacted snow, so after Kurohime melted them using Asura, they take the form of small children. They can Fusion Dance to take on a teenaged form of whoever's in control.
• White Haired Pretty Kids

Darkray

The Grim Reaper and High God. Colossal asshole. Zero takes his place after his death.

• Artifact of Doom/Soul Jar: This is truly what the God Of Death is: a large dark one-eyed skull shaped core that when placed in someone's soul turns them into the Grim Reaper.
• Bishounen
• Darkray Is Evil
• Dem Bones: Most of his body excluding his head.
• Detached Sleeves: And pants legs and arms and legs.
• Grim Reaper and Shinigami
• Hot Guys Are Bastards
• Jerkass God
• Karmic Death: Mocks love. Meets his death at the hands of someone who claims she loves him. Twice.
  • One counts as Hoist by His Own Petard.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Uses the souls of the dead and the living as shields, mocks Kurohime and Zero, impales her and tells his most loyal follower to her face that her love for him means absolutely nothing to him, after impaling her as well.
  • The last one could count as his Moral Event Horizon since until then it was understood that gods cared about each other.
• Killed Off for Real
• Lack of Empathy
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Can make extra arms to hold all of his weapons.
• Pet the Dog: It seems even Darkray would think twice about leaving someone to Yashahime. SHE IS THAT MENTAL.
• Tall, Dark and Snarky

Sword

The leader of the Death Angels and The Dragon to Darkray.

• Amazon Brigade: Led one.
• Ambiguously Brown
• Anti-Villain
• Berserk Button: Kurohime, the defilement of Darkray's name and the deaths of her Nakama.
• Bodyguard Crush: To Darkray.
• Broken Bird
• The Captain: Sword is a capable leader when her emotions don't get the best of her.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She was very attached to her boss and never liked Shirohime. She was ecstatic when Darkray decided to kill Shirohime.
• Dark Action Girl
• Dark Is Not Completely Evil: With the exception of going after Kurohime (who did provoke her) she never seemed interested in doing anything other than her job.
• Enemy Mine: Helps Kurohime kill Venus in the past and faces off with her against Yashahime in the Present/Future arc... because NO ONE should have to face Yashahime ALONE.
  • She also decides to help her fight Dark Zero.
• Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Yes.
  • Cute Monster Girl
    • Vampires Are Sex Gods
  • Dark-Skinned Redhead
    • Dark-Skinned Blond: Eventually.
  • Eyepatch of Power: Gets one to keep her Unstoppable Rage in check. It hides an eye of gold.
  • Furry Fandom: Her more animalistic forms.
  • Stripperiffic: Always.
    • Absolute Cleavage: Her earliest and current outfit.
    • Chainmail Bikini: Not sure what else to call that thing she's always wearing.
    • Vapor Wear
  • Voluntary Shapeshifter
  • White-Haired Pretty Girl
  • Woman in Black: Default "outfit."
    • Woman in White
• Heel Face Turn: Effectively. It takes her longer, and she is not quite as willing to let it go, but ultimately she quits holding her grudge in such high priority since Kurohime living will help solve the more IMMEDIATE problems at the moment.
• Hot Chick Who Is A Sword/Equippable Ally
• Love Martyr: To Darkray.
• Meaningful Name: Guess what she can turn into. Go on, guess.
• Ms. Fanservice
• Never My Fault: Though Kurohime did interfere with her work, there are certain things (specifically, the death of her teammates) that Kurohime was absolutely not responsible for that she holds a grudge over anyway.
• Our Angels, Vampires, And Werewolves are Different: And they can be combined.
• Painful Transformation: As a result of being a vampire werewolf. She also has Unstoppable Rage when utilizing the form.
• Plucky Girl: She and Kurohime are Not So Different in this regard.
• The Power of Blood: Powers her natural form and appearance once she becomes a vampire.
• Sleep Mode Size: After becoming a vampire, she can't maintain her normal size and appearance without blood.
  • Fun Size
• True Companions: The Death Angels and the Kurohime Punishment Squad are this for her.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Admits that she will NEVER truly forgive Kurohime for what she has done but decides that if they should somehow meet in another life, they will try to get along.
• Winged Humanoid
• Yandere: To Darkray.

The Death Angel Squad

A group of five angels that serve Darkray. Their names are Axe, Mace, Hammer, Dagger and Lance. Their captain was Sword.

• Amazon Brigade
• Fetish Fuel Squad: Of the Taste the Rainbow variant:
  • Cute Monster Girls
  • Darkskinned Redheads
  • Stripperiffic
    • Absolute Cleavage
    • Chainmail Bikini
    • Vapor Wear
  • Voluntary Shapeshifters
  • Women In Black
• Fan Service
• Heroic Sacrifice: For Sword.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Their deaths.
• Living Weapons:
  • An Axe to Grind
  • Blade on a Stick
  • Drop the Hammer
  • Epic Flail
  • Knife Nut
• Meaningful Name/Theme Naming
• Our Angels Are Different
• Pet the Dog: Their sacrifice for Sword. Also, Lance admits that she finds Zero's affection for Himeko to be genuinely sweet... not that it changes what she plans to do to him.
• Sinister Scythe: Their default melee weapons.
• True Companions
• We Hardly Knew Ye
• Winged Humanoids

Yashahime

The High Goddess of earth and lover of Darkray. Eek.

• All Love Is Unrequited: More than likely. Unlike everyone else, she hasn't realized it yet.
• Ax Crazy: Has to stab herself to keep from killing Kurohime outright.
• Big Bad
• Clingy Jealous Girl: These links should tell you ALL you need to know.
• Complexity Addiction: It's pointed out over and over that Yashahime could kill almost anyone who's appeared in the manga so far. Yet when faced with the prospect of doing just that to Kurohime, she has to devise some sort of scheme and draw it out, which ends with Kurohime either escaping or getting stronger.
  • Amusingly enough, the one time she decides to just kill Kurohime would have ended with her OWN death, if it wasn't for the fact that she just doesn't die.
• Dark Action Girl/Lady of War
• Dishing Out Dirt and Green Thumb
• Earthshattering Kaboom: Her FINAL death, via Ultimate Sword.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kurohime and Sword. Like them, she is an incredibly powerful woman empowered by her emotions. While the former is motivated by love of humanity and later Zero, and the latter is motivated by love of Darkray, Yashahime's real motivations are madness and love of killing.
• Evil Gloating
• Evil Is Petty: It's usually not petty to want to exact vengeance for the death of one's beloved. However, Yasha could have easily saved Darkray and while the other gods want Kurohime dead for more pragmatic reasons, she rarely gets beyond "Kill Darkray's murderer." Even her reason for killing Darkray is petty.
• Eviler Than Thou: When the Grim Reaper fears YOU, you are officially a bad bitch.
• Fan Girl: Of the Grim Reaper. No matter WHO he is.
• Game Face: She looks like a traditional Japanese ogre crossed with a tree when she decides to get serious.
• Half The Woman She Used To Be: Thanks to the Ultimate Sword. Sadly, it didn't take. The first few times, anyway.
• Hypocrite: She has:
  • Killed Darkray whom she claims to be madly in love with while holding the MacGuffin that would save his life for no reason other than seeing his soul breaks her cool perception of him.
  • Stabbed herself to keep her from killing Kurohime and then claiming the resulting scar is Kurohime's fault.
  • Claimed that the God of Death isn't supposed to be concerned about anything or anyone and then blushing because he asked if her wounds had healed.
• It's All About Me: Initially, she comes into the plot because Ghandara was killed. But eventually, her revenge against Kurohime becomes less to avenge Darkray and more Kurohime took her favorite stalkee away from her and HOW DARE SHE. Even with The End of the World as We Know It going on, she still doesn't see much outside of "Kill Kurohime for killing Darkray."
• Jerkass Goddess
• Karmic Death: She wants to become one with the planet. She does.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Her Weapon of Choice is the White God Tree Sword, which she most often dual wields. She at one point grows two extra arms to quadruple-wield just to screw with Kurohime's head.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Tries this and fails against Kurohime. Not that Yasha has given up trying.
• Kimono Fanservice: Whoever her tailor and seamstress is, they kick ass.
• Light Is Not Good
• Loony Fan/Psycho Supporter: And SHE'S the stronger one.
• Mad Love
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Rounds out her irritating and psychopathic image quite nicely.
• Oh Crap:When she realizes that, yes, Kurohime really IS going to SLICE THE ENTIRE WORLD IN HALF and no, she will NOT be talked out of it.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Is quite pleased when Dark Zero decides to take over the world.
• One-Winged Angel: She actually has a tree-like appearance.
• Planet Eater
• Psychopathic Manchild: Type C and D.
• Satellite Character: Take away her love of Darkray and she's a just violent maniac with way too much time on her hands. Not that she isn't still creepy as hell.
• Selective Obliviousness: She seems to be completely incapable of thinking that the Death God is not in love with her despite saying herself that the Death God cares for no one, which would logically include her.
• Slasher Smile
• Tempting Fate: Fools! I'm already one with this planet! Ultimate Sword or whatever, there's NO way to kill me!! Guess what happened next?
• We Can Rule Together: With the Grim Reaper. NEITHER of them are interested.
• When Trees Attack
• White-Haired Pretty Girl
• Why Won't You Die?
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Believes herself to be a Broken Bird trying to avenge her beloved's death. No, Yasha, the woman you're thinking of is Sword.
  • Also, she assumed that Dark Zero MUST want to be a High God and rule the heavens with her. After all, why else would he just destroy the world? Because he hates the world and really DOES want nothing more than to watch it burn.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: She looks the part with the kimono and katana and sometimes even acts the part with a polite and calm demeanor, but she's actually a cruel and jealous bitch.
• Yandere/Cute and Psycho: Not necessarily a most triumphant example, but very much textbook; she would have murdered Sword just because Sword was standing next to Darkray when he turned down Yashahime's offer to spend time together.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When Zero finally expels the Shinigami from his body, Yashahime turns on him. Since she's YASHAHIME, no one's shocked.

Barahime

An old rival of Kurohime's and the second member of the Kurohime Punishment Squad.

• Demonic Possession: Of Yuuka. Fails against Kurohime.
• Green Thumb/Suck My Rose
• Hellish Pupils
• Hot Witch: When she possesses Yuuka. Also, her own previously uncursed form.
• Kick the Dog: Her repeated possession of Yuuka.
• Killed Off for Real: Himeko literally rips her apart.
• Meaningful Name: The Rose Princess.
• Nice Hat: After Kurohime curses her, her true form is a rose-shaped Nice Hat. With teeth.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: She used Yuuka's beauty to lure unsuspecting men to her cottage to drain their lifeforce and fuel her immortality.
• The Rival: To Kurohime, specifically when she and Shirohime were still split.
• Vain Sorceress

Yuuka

A young woman that Himeko and Zero run into in the woods. Later on, she and Hime become good friends.

• Demonic Possession: Barahime really liked being her.
• Green Thumb/Suck My Rose
• Hair of Gold
• Hot Witch
• Nice Girl
• Rapunzel Hair
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the blue to Himeko's red.
• Sidekick: She served as Himeko's in the Journey To The Past arc, doubling as The Conscience.
• Touched by Vorlons: Gains the ability to shoot magic bullets as a result of Barahime's repeated possessions.

Ouka

A member of the Kurohime Punishment Squad. She desires to take Kurohime's place as the world's most powerful witch.

• Broken Bird
• Cold Sniper: Himeko admits even she can't do that.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Remember that kid who tried to stab Kurohime with a dagger? Yeah, that was Ouka.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: In the final chapter, the souls in the Black God Tree are all purified and resurrected, including Ouka's father.
• Forgiveness: She ultimately decides to forgive Kurohime for killing her father, though only after realizing the karmic burden that she's shouldering.
• The Gunslinger
• Heel Face Turn: In a similar vein to Sword. As Ouka sees it though, nothing they could do to Kurohime could be worse than what she's doing to herself, which generally takes the wind out of revenge's sails.
• Hot Witch
• Stable Time Loop/You Can't Fight Fate: When Ouka tries to save her father from dying in the past, he attacks her and her witch-beast kills him in her defense. In front of her younger self's eyes.
• You Gotta Have Green Hair
• You Killed My Father: To Kurohime. The second time around, Ouka does it herself. Oops.

Saika and Aika

Two lovers who are the final members of the Kurohime Punishment Squad. Saika was once an accomplice of Onimaru.

• Bishounen
• Butt Monkey: Saika.
• The Casanova: Saika. Unfortunately, he forgot his girlfriend is a Clingy Jealous Girl.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Despite knowing Saika wasn't genuinely interested in Kurohime, Aika castrates him and joins the Squad to kill Kurohime.
• Disabled Love Interest: Aika is blind. She was often accosted and attacked because of it. Saika counts this as a plus since she will love him no matter what he looks like.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Saika.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Saika appears in the early chapters as an accomplice of Onimaru. No one took him seriously then either.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Aika.
• Groin Attack: As a result of his cavorting with Kurohime (nothing happened) and her jealous nature, Aika takes Saika's "most precious thing" from him. He's still walking around so it couldn't have been that bad.
• Handicapped Badass / Lady of War: Aika.
• Hot Witch and Sexy Wizard
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Saika: proud, narcissistic pretty boy jerk, but so very in love with Aika.
• Love Redeems
• One-Winged Angel: Apparently all Death Gods must be male, as the Materen decide to turn Saika into a Shinigami in the Past Arc. Kurohime and co. manage to turn him back though.
• Suck My Rose
• Tsundere/Yandere: Aika is normally rather polite and well-behaved. However, she won't tolerate any cheating and her response to the "other woman" is to kill her.
• Unholy Matrimony
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Saika.
• Your Cheating Heart: Saika learned his lesson. Well.

Rei

A young, angry boy from the past. Zero's older twin brother.

• Defrosting Ice King: Spends most of the Journey To The Past arc warming up to Hime. Then falling for her.
• Determinator: He's willing to put up with a huge amount of abuse for his goal: Killing Doc.
• Driven to Suicide: Because Redemption Equals Death.
• Freudian Excuse: Saw his mother die at an early age and swore he would have his vengeance. Is angry and bitter as a result.
  • Jerkass Woobie
• Half-Identical Twins
• Hidden Depths
• Love Epiphany: Re: Hime.
  • Love Hurts
• Meaningful Name: "Rei," which means "soul." However, Rei can also mean "zero", which is a nice bit of foreshadowing.
• Please Don't Leave Me: His mother's soul. And later, when Hime returns to bring him his iconic scarf. An even bigger Tear Jerker because this is the moment that Hime (and the reader) realizes that after she leaves him this time, Rei will be alone for the next ten years. He brings it up the next time he sees her.
• Redemption Equals Death: Realizes that past!Zero, in the last moments of his life, was trying to direct Rei from danger, not ask for his help. Shoots himself through the stomach when he realizes he left his younger brother to die for no reason.
  • Disney Death: Zero has Hime resurrect him so that he can sacrifice his body and soul to keep the shinigami from possessing the barely living Rei again.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: A piece of shinigami attached to his body. As angry as he is, it's only a matter of time.
  • The time came.
• Take Up My Sword: To honor his brother's death and all he stood for, Rei resolves to become the new Zero.
• Tomato in the Mirror/Tomato Surprise: Rei IS "Zero."
• Trauma Conga Line: And it keeps going around and around...
• Troubled but Cute: YES.
• Twin Switch
• You Killed My Mother: Killing Doc is the only thing that keeps him going.

Doc

Zero and Rei's foster father, after their mother died. The greedy leader of the Wolf Brigade.

• The Atoner: After he is killed, he becomes Kandata, the ferryman of the Styx, to try and figure out why Rei spared him. In the process, he makes up for his misdeeds by helping out Himeko and the others, not only at the river Styx but also by turning back time to let Himeko get a second shot at saving Rei.
• Big Damn Heroes: Made an ark out of his and Kairyu's bones to help save the last living humans.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Everytime we saw Kandata.
• Greed: His motive for just about everything.
• Karmic Death / Laser-Guided Karma: He is killed by one of his foster sons for being a monstrous father. No, not Rei. Raida.
• Kick the Dog: Just about everytime he's onscreen.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After death, it finally hits him how horrible a person he was, especially when Rei admits to him (as Kandata) that as horrible as Doc was, there was still something likable in him.
• The Power of Love: Himeko cites this as the reason why Rei spared him. Even as horrible as he was, he was still counted as a father figure to Rei, if only because Rei and Zero never KNEW their REAL father. Yup, Doc won simply by default.
• Too Dumb to Live: It's easy to count on one hand the things in the Past arc that aren't his fault.

Raida

A member of the Wolf Brigade alongside Doc, Rei and Zero.

• Badass Normal
• Big Brother Mentor: To Rei and Zero.
• Eyepatch of Power
• The Gunslinger
• Improbable Weapon User: A sledgehammer gun thing.
• In the Hood: When he leaves Doc.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Kills Doc when Rei doesn't because, really, it needed to be done.
• Mr. Fanservice: Homina, homina, homina...
  • Ten years later, grizzled, missing an eye but still hot.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Raida or Rider?
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He got an eyepatch and boarded a boat.
• Ugly Guy's Hot Adopted Son

The Spirit Kings

The four kings of spirits. By enslaving them and harnessing their powers, the gods became all powerful. They are Yamatohime, Genbu, Byakko and Seiryuu.

• Asskicking Equals Authority: Yamatohime. While it's doubtful we'll ever see them take on the gods, this trope still seems to be in effect, since the spirit the gods are the most afraid of escaping is Yamatohime and it seems everyone defers to her.
• Badass Beard: Genbu's Wizard Beard.
• Benevolent Boss: All of the Spirit Kings react favorably to Asura, another younger spirit. Also, they could have just killed the humans.
• Bishounen: Byakko's human form is quite fit.
• BFG/BFS: The Spirit Kings make Senryuu even BIGGER.
• Blow You Away: Seiryuu. Actually, from what he says, his power, Time Stands Still, seems more like void than wind.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Seiryuu's oddly goofy for a fountain of wind power.
• Cool Old Guy: Genbu.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Byakko.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Remember Kairyuu?
• Elemental Powers: Duh.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Yamatohime gives the last of her power and life to resurrect Kurohime for the last time, since at that point Yashahime had succeeded in taking over the planet and there was nothing to be gained by holding onto it anymore.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: More than the gods enslaving them, the humans corrupting the land and polluting it hurts the Spirit Kings like hell. Subtle.
• An Ice Person: When Kurohime manifests Genbu in Senryuu, she shoots ice dragons.
• Instant Armor: Genbu. Not even Yashahime can pierce his shell.
• Life Energy: They are the world's life energy, especially Yamatohime. She creates the sun, for crying out loud.
• King in the Mountain: Literally in two cases, and one where he kind of is the mountain.
• Making a Splash: Genbu.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Seiryuu. Very different.
• Panthera Awesome: Byakko.
• Pet the Dog: All four eventually come to Kurohime's aid, sometimes even before they realize what she's up to.
  • Genbu actually doubles his moment by also helping out for the sake of Asura.
• The Phoenix: Yamatohime.
• Playing with Fire: See above.
• Power Gives You Wings: Seiryuu aka Kairyuu after The Reveal.
• Sealed Good in a Can
• Secret Test of Character: Kurohime manages to impress all of them.
• Sleep Mode Size: As a result of sealing her powers even further, Yamatohime shrinks.
• This Is a Drill: When Kurohime manifests Byakko in Senryuu, she shoots drill bullets.
• Time Stands Still: This is how Seiryuu uses wind and air.
• Turtle Island: Genbu.