Angel Beats!/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Loads and Loads of Characters here.

Consistent character characteristics
"That's right. Our main weakness is that we're stupid."
—Yuri
Tropes exhibited by all characters include:

Main Characters

Yuzuru Otonashi

"When it all ends, what will happen to us?"

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (JP), Blake Shepard (EN)

The Protagonist. He wakes up in the afterlife, not knowing where he is, or who he is really. He lost all of his memories.

He only remembers his last name.

When he regains his memories, he learns that his first name is Yuzuru. He had a little sister who was ill. He lived and saved money only to see her. When she dies, he realizes that she had more life than he did despite the fact that she was confined to her bed. He then starts studying medical terms, cuts his hair, and moves out. He was on a train when it crashed. However he did not die instantly. Both ways in the tunnel were blocked by rocks. He helped the survivors live for seven days despite suffering from an internal wound himself. His last act was to fill out an organ donor card, and died just as rescue arrived.

Tropes exhibited by Otonashi include:
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: To Kanade.
  • Bishonen
  • The Caretaker: To his sister, the survivors of the train wreck, and to help his friends pass on in life.
    • His final living actions in episode 9 can be seen as this in the way that they inspired everyone around him, although they're more unambiguously a Tear Jerker moment (see below).
  • Dead Little Sister: Otonashi's sister, Hatsune
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Decoy Protagonist: Hinata is the protagonist of the Manga, which pretty much depicts the beginnings of the SSS.
  • The Everyman: Subverted. Otonashi may initially be presented as an average guy onto whom we're meant to project, but he ultimately proves to be far more virtuous than your average person.
  • Fan Nickname: Brotonashi. Because, just look at the list of what he does when alive and dead!
    • Otonashi is such a bro, he's basically the Brototype.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Debatable. Helping other passengers in the tunnel probably didn't do much for his own condition. Seeing as he died right before everyone was rescued, it's reasonable to conclude that he would have been strong enough to survive until getting help had he only looked after himself.
  • Hypocrite: After successfully sending away his friends to the other side, Otonashi choose to remains in the afterlife with Angel, thankfully it didn't work, though it's left ambiguous whether he left right away or if he was there for years.
  • Important Haircut: when he was still alive.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: in episode 9.
    • Wasn't it internal bleeding?
  • Ironic Hell: For someone who sacrificed everything for the happiness of his friends he himself is denied of his own happiness and is left all alone; however, it all depends on how you interpret the ending.
  • The Medic: Subverted. Otonashi never shows his skills in purgatory. Not that he needs to.
  • The Messiah: If episode 9 doesn't make you think of Otonashi as this, you're probably watching the wrong show.
    • Hell, he should be marked for this by episode 6. Ayato is taking over the school, has beat the hell out of the entire SSS, and is threatening to force them to disappear via hypnosis and brainwashing. The most obvious solution, in Otonashi's opinion? Tackle the guy, yell at him, and hug him. It works, too.
  • The Mole: Otonashi is determined to fix all of the SSS members' regrets, so he has Angel become the villain again so he can stay close to the group and find out their pasts.
    • Starting at the end of episode 9; this just reinforces his neutrality.
    • Apparently, Yurippe already knows about his plan, as shown in Episode 11.
    • From a different perspective, that also makes him a Reverse Mole.
  • Only Sane Man: He has touches of this amongst all the various quirks of the SSS, and defintely qualifies in the OVA.
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Hinata's Blue.
  • Right Man in the Wrong Place: Otonashi lived a fulfilling life and died content. The setting is specifically designed to help people experience the youth and happiness they never had in life. When he regains his memories, he helps everyone move on to the next plane.
  • Secret Stab Wound: The train crash left him with internal bleeding, though he hides the injury from the other survivors to avoid demoralizing them.
  • Shirtless Scene: In the first episode.
  • Super Window Jump: Courtesy of the SSS.
  • Tear Jerker: Otonashi's final actions were not panicking or feeling sorry for himself, he signs his organs to be donated for medical use.
    • Foreshadowing: Since his body was probably the only one in good condition when the digging crews finally came for rescue right after his death, it was used for just that purpose. His heart was donated to a still-living Kanade.
  • They Killed Kenny: Three times within the first six minutes--of the first episode, yet!
    • Averted after episode 1, not counting his death in the real world that is.
  • Trauma Conga Line: First his little sister dies from a terminal illness. Then he gets in a train accident. While trying to find an exit, he finds out that both sides of the tunnel are blocked, and the remaining survivors have very little supplies. Then he finds out he's got some serious internal injuries when blood soaks through his shirt. Finally, he dies just moments before a rescue crew is able to breach the rubble.

Yuri Nakamura

"Operation, Start!"

Voiced by: Harumi Sakurai (JP), Brittney Karbowski (EN)

Leader of the SSS. She hates God and is willing to lead a rebellion against him. She fought and nicknamed her Angel because people were disappearing because of her, and she presumes that she is an angel from God.

When she was little, robbers broke into her house, and told her that if she brings something worth value, her 3 little siblings held at gunpoint would be spared. Every 10 minutes that pass they kill a kid. Yuri could not find anything worth value, and the police came 30 minutes later. By that point she'd been pushed over the Despair Event Horizon and wouldn't recover until late in the series.

Tropes exhibited by Yuri Nakamura include:
  • Action Girl: Borders on Dark Action Girl given her questionable grasp on morality.
  • Affably Evil: When she's at her worst... See here. Check this one too.. Ultimately limited by the fact that she never does permanent harm to anyone - she's just a very mean boss.
    • Taken Up to Eleven in the Special episode where she makes everybody starve to death for her mistake.
    • Both those instances put her dangerously close to the Moral Event Horizon; however, she never crosses it, which shouldn't be surprising since she's redeemed at the end of episode 12.
      • Depends on your perspective - the NPCs that she threatens to kill are just that, mindless programs (very evident from their behaviour) - and whilst starving everyone to 'death' is incredibly cruel punishment, they cannot *actually* die. The morality scale in Angel Beats! is a rather hard one to judge.
  • A God Am I: Yuri actually thinks about becoming God. Then she realizes that she came there to save everyone.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III. Until episode 11, this often blended with Villain Protagonist. Following the cementation of her Heel Face Turn at the end of episode 12, she becomes Type II for the rest of the series.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: She is capable of fighting one on one with Angel.
  • Badass Adorable: See above
  • Broken Bird: Due to the tragedies she suffered in real life, this caused her to start the SSS.
  • Byronic Hero: Though mitigated by the light-hearted nature of the story.
  • Cool Big Sis: To the SSS.
  • Dangerously-Short Skirt: Dangerous indeed. Short... even more indeed.
  • Decoy Protagonist: in the first couple of episodes, it seems as though she is the main heroine of the story. That role actually belongs to Kanade. Subverted towards the end where it becomes clear that Yuri is arguably the true protagonist of the story, it's just that she's been a Villain Protagonist for most of it while Kanade/Angel has actually been The Hero.
  • Despair Event Horizon: The murder of her siblings at the hands of thugs.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: Has the tendency to act as though she is one at times.
  • Disney Death: In episode 12
    • To elaborate: while Disney Deaths are the norm in Purgatory, episode 12 deserves a special mention because Yuri managed to escape with her soul despite being assimilated by the shadows seconds earlier.
  • Easily Forgiven: Especially in the Manga.
  • Hair Decorations
  • Evil Laugh: In episode 4, when she thinks Otonashi's team is about to win against Angel's team.
    • Another in Episode 12, but for something real serious--when she's considering becoming the new God.
    • Lampshaded by Yusa in the first OVA. Even better, in the OVA she is obviously imitating Lelouch.
  • Expy: Yuri is often referred to as Haruhi with a different hair color and outfit. Although her headband is supposedly inspired by Yukiko Amagi
  • Heel Face Turn: It's difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when she pulled this, but it's quite obvious she made the turn by the time she officially "redeemed" herself at the end of episode 12.
  • Fiery... Purplehead?
  • Hey, It's That Voice! : To those who played Little Busters! You probably guess this, sort of.
    • If you need a hint, listen to her Evil Laugh in the Baseball Episode. It should sound very familiar...
  • Knife Nut
  • Moe: she has her moments.
  • Nay Theist: Naturally due to her intense hatred of God.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: She is called "Yurippe" by some of her comrades.
    • Hinata is the first one to call her because his mom has the same name as hers
  • Rebel Leader
  • Redemption Equals Disappearance: She disappears just one episode after she redeems herself by eliminating the source of the Shadows.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Angel's Blue.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: "Humans don't have the patience to wait even ten minutes for something!" Cue destruction of computers and the halt to the shadow attack, as well as her redemption.
  • Team Mom: In episode 11, when she orders her entire militia to put some serious thought into passing on lest they get assimilated by the Shadows. If that didn't seal her Heel Face Turn, her actions at the end of episode 12 certainly did.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Yuri's rivalry with Angel can be interpreted as this.
  • The Rival: Of Angel.
  • Tsundere: Very heavy on the Tsun.
  • Villain Protagonist: At least at first. Especially evident in the OVA. In the main series, though, this tends to blend with either Type V or Type III Anti-Hero, and she goes to pure Anti-Hero around episode 11, when she decides to have everyone in the SSS pass on before they can get assimilated by the Shadows, eventually going on to Adopt the Dog at the last second by blasting every computer into oblivion that was responsible for the Shadows and cementing her Heel Face Turn in the process.
    • If anything, this is largely Played for Laughs. Much as she may try, how much of a true villain can she really be when she and her SSS honestly assume that Angel is evil and disappearing from the afterlife is bad, and when she personally assumes God to be cruel and unfair? So far in all the material available set prior to the anime, they are not given reason to assume otherwise. The right and wrong in this story is very much down to personal judgement (ie. in the Bhuddist faith of the author, reincarnation is obviously a good thing, but to other audiences, the fear of being re-born as a plankton seems like a perfectly reasonable one).
  • You Gotta Have Purple Hair
  • Zettai Ryouiki

Angel/Tenshi/Kanade Tachibana

"I am not an Angel."

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (JP), Emily Neves (EN)

She is what the SSS are fighting against. The Student Council president. She was assumed to be in purgatory to make people disappear, but she just helps people go to heaven and move on. It is assumed she doesn't have any friends because all of her friends have disappeared, and the remaining people do not wish to disappear.

She is now good friends with Otonashi.

Tropes exhibited by Angel/Tenshi include:

Hideki Hinata

"There's an idiot here."

Voiced by: Ryohei Kimura (JP), David Matranga (EN)

The Protagonist of the Manga adaptation of the SSS, who quickly becomes friends with Otonashi. In his past life, he was a baseball player who let his team down at a major tournament and has yet to really forgive himself, and was given drugs to make himself feel better. He died in a truck accident.

Tropes exhibited by Hideki Hinata include:

Hinata: *Death Glare* Huh? What did you just say?
Yui: Yui, nyan!
Hinata: *puts her in reverse swastika* THAT'S WHAT I HATE ABOUT YOU!!!

Girls Dead Monster

Masami Iwasawa

"Just as I was saved, I'll save someone else."

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (JP), Luci Christian (EN)

The original vocalist and also the leader of Girls Dead Monster.

When she was alive, she had a troubled home life, with her parents fighting constantly. As a teenager, she discovered music as an escape and inspiration. Later, she found an abandoned guitar and taught herelf to play, busking on street corners and dreaming of gaining independence from her parents by supporting herself with her music. However, during one of her parent's arguments, her father accidentally hit Iwasawa in the head with a bottle, causing a cerebral contusion which eventually led to a stroke. She woke up in the hospital, unable to speak due to aphasia caused by the stroke, and died in the hospital some time later. In episode 3, she disappears after deciding to inspire others with her music in her next life (see the quote above).

Tropes exhibited by Masami Iwasawa include:

Yui

"Even death can't cure idiocy."

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (JP), Hilary Haag (EN)

The new vocalist of Girls Dead Monster.

As a kid, she was hit by a car. She was then bedridden, due to her being paralyzed. Her mother took care of her every day. She watched TV and admired lots of things on it. She wanted to do a German Suplex, hit a homerun, and dribble by 5 people and score in soccer. And Marriage. Hinata ends up "marrying" her. She passes on in Episode 10.

Tropes exhibited by Yui include:

"It would seem that the contents of your brain have melted and is dripping out your nose."

Hisako

Voiced by: Chie Matsuura (JP), Elizabeth Bunch (EN)

The lead guitarist of Girls Dead Monster. When she was alive, the main vocalist of her band committed suicide. She blamed herself on her death and gave up music ever since.

Tropes exhibited by Hisako include:
  • Informed Ability: According to Hinata, she's very athletic. Zig zagged, as while we never got to see her play in the baseball episode (she was on Takamatsu's team, apparently), in episode 6, she leapt out of the window very quickly when Naoi showed up.
  • Les Yay: With Iwasawa in the manga.
  • Mahjong: She's really good at it -- unless you believe Sekine's account in the GiDeMo short story, in which case she's an incredibly audacious cheater. (In Sekine's account, Hisako palms three tiles and then claims victory with only three melds instead of four.)

Shiori Sekine

Voiced by: Emiri Katou (JP), Serena Varghese (EN)

The bassist of Girls Dead Monster.

Tropes exhibited by Shiori Sekine include:
  • Genki Girl: A lot of fan art portrays her as one.
  • Those Two Girls: With Irie, possibly.
  • Name's the Same: Shiori Sekine is the Base Ball Bear's bassist/back-vocalist.
  • Screwy Squirrel: She enjoys playing tricks on others to see their reaction.
  • Unreliable Narrator: The GiDeMo short stories that accompanied the light novel are supposed to be her journal entries. Each one ends with her band-mates discovering the journal and objecting to how they're being portrayed -- among other things, Iwasawa is depicted as a crazy perfectionist with an Irish accent, Hisako is shown cheating at Mahjong, and Irie plays tricks on the NPCs.
  • Zettai Ryouiki

Miyuki Irie

Voiced by: Kana Asumi (JP), Luci Christian (EN)

The drummer of Girls Dead Monster.

Tropes exhibited by Miyuki Irie include:

Other SSS Members

Shiina

"How shallow-minded/thoughtless."

Voiced by: Fuko Saito (JP), Melissa Davis (EN)

Ninja of the SSS. Also very strange.

Tropes exhibited by Shiina include:

TK

"Get chance and luck."

Voiced by: Michael Rivas (JP), Adam Van Wagoner (EN)

A mysterious person in the SSS. No one knows about him at all, or his past.

Tropes exhibited by TK include:

Matsushita

"I feel like I could do the 100 man kumuite!"

Voiced by: Eiichiro Tokumoto (JP), Rob Mungle (EN)

Judo expert. Everyone calls him Matsushita 5th Dan out of respect.

Tropes exhibited by Matsushita include:

Noda

"Do you want to die? 100 times?!"

Voiced by: Shun Takagi (JP), Leraldo Anzaldua (EN)

The supposed rival of Otonashi, Noda wields a massive halberd compared to the guns favoured by the rest of the SSS. However, this is mostly played for laughs rather than taken seriously, as Otonashi doesn't take their 'rivalry' even remotely seriously.

Tropes exhibited by Noda include:

Ayato Naoi

"You are toilet paper."

Voiced by: Megumi Ogata (JP), Greg Ayres (EN)

Was Student Council Vice-President. He then became President when Angel was kicked out for her "bad" grades. He believes that he is God. When alive, his brother was his father's apprentice in pottery, while he remained in his room, ignored by the world. Then his brother died and he had to take his place, but wasn't nearly as good at the craft as his brother. Having no choice but to live his life as someone else he began to think that his entire life was a charade.

Tropes exhibited by Ayato Naoi include:

Fujimaki
"You're next."
—Fujimaki to Otonashi.
Voiced by: Yuki Masuda (JP), Andrew Love (EN)

Uses a shirasaya and gives off a tough guy vibe.

Tropes exhibited by Fujimaki include:

Takamatsu

"Are you trying to get me naked?"

Voiced by: Takuhiro Mizushima (JP), Kalob Martinez (EN)

Gives off the vibes of The Smart Guy, but is actually an idiot.

Tropes exhibited by Takamatsu include:

Christ Takeyama

"Call me Christ."

Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki (JP), Dylan Godwin (EN)

A genius hacker who Yuri enlists to infiltrate Angel's computer. He insists on being referred to as Christ, but at the time of writing no-one has ever used this name for him.

Tropes exhibited by Christ Takeyama include:

Ooyama

"Ah! I forgot!"

Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi (JP), Corey Hartzog (EN)

A member of the SSS and Hinata's roommate. Was thought to be an NPC until Hinata figured out that he wasn't. Notable for excelling in absolutely nothing.

Tropes exhibited by Ooyama include:

Yusa

Voiced by: Yui Makino (JP), Serena Varghese (EN)

In charge of communications.

Tropes exhibited by Yusa include:

Char

Voiced by: Hiroki Tochi (JP), Illich Guardiola (EN)

He leads Guild, the SSS branch that develops weapons from dirt, using their memories.

Tropes exhibited by Char include:

Other Characters

Shadow

Shadows multiply from NPCs. Even worse they can consume the souls of humans, effectively making them NPCs for all eternity.

Tropes exhibited by them include:

Yuri's three little siblings

They were murdered when robbers invaded Yuri's home. They depended on her to find something valuable so that the robbers wouldn't have to kill them. Every 10 minutes that pass, they kill a child. Yuri couldn't find anything and the police came 30 minutes later.

Tropes exhibited by them include:

Hatsune Otonashi

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (JP), Jessica Boone (EN)

Otonashi's younger sister. The only reason why he lived is to see her and buy her random Manga. She dies, and because of her death, Otonashi sees that his sister had more life than he did despite being bedridden.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Igarashi

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (JP), Mark X. Laskowski (EN)

A man who helped out Otonashi when they were caved in the tunnel. After Otonashi treated his wounds, Igarashi aids him in assisting the other victims. Little is revealed about his character.

Tropes exhibited by Igarashi include:
  • The Lancer: to Otonashi in the train wreck.
  • Ho Yay: With Otonashi, of course, especially when Otonashi dies.

Non-Player Characters

The remaining student body who do not resist God's influence, willingly or unwillingly.

Tropes exhibited by them include:
  • Cannon Fodder: Any student is fair game for a shadow.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Their uniforms contrast strongly with those worn by members of the SSS.
  • The Stoic: Takamatsu. Other NPCs do display emotion, especially during a Girls Dead Monster performance.
    • The NPC controlling the computers behind the Shadows in episode 12 plays this straight, even admitting that he's incapable of emotions.
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