List of Eyeshield 21 characters

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The following is a list of major characters from the anime and manga versions of Eyeshield 21, concentrating on the teams encountered by the Deimon Devil Bats.

Contents 1 Deimon Devil Bats 2 Koigahama Cupids 3 Ojo White Knights 3.1 Seijuro Shin 3.2 Haruto Sakuraba 3.3 Ichiro Takami 3.4 Makoto Ootawara 3.5 Daigo Ikari 3.6 Gunpei Shouji 4 Zokugaku (Zoku to Gaku en) Chameleons 4.1 Habashira Rui 4.2 Megu Tsuyumine 5 Seibu Wild Gunmans 5.1 Shien Mushanokoji, aka Kid 5.2 Jō Tetsuma 5.3 Riku Kaitani 6 Taiyō Sphinx 6.1 Mamoru Banba 6.2 Kiminari Harao 6.3 Niinobu Kasamatsu 6.4 Ken Kamaguruma 7 Shinryūji Naga 7.1 Unsui Kongō 7.2 Agon Kongō 7.3 Ikkyū Hosakawa 8 Nasa Aliens/Nasa Shuttles 8.1 Patrick "Panther" Spencer 8.2 Jeremy Watt 8.3 Homer Fitzgerald 8.4 Gonzales (Big Brother) 8.5 Gonzales (Little Brother) 8.6 Leonard Apollo 9 Amino Cyborgs 9.1 Atsushi Munakata 9.2 Suguru Aoyanagi 9.3 Kadoguchi 10 Yuuhi Guts 10.1 Atsumi Daisuke 10.2 Konzo Katsuko 10.3 Haibara 11 Hashiratani Deers 11.1 Onihei Yamamoto 12 Dokubari Scorpions 12.1 Kanagushia 13 Kyoshin Poseidon 13.1 Kengo Mizumachi 13.2 Shun Kakei 13.3 Kobanzame Osamu 13.4 Ohira Hiroshi 13.5 Onishi Hiroshi 14 Bando Spiders 14.1 Akaba Hayato 14.2 Koutarou Sasaki 15 Hakushuu Dinosaurs 15.1 Maruko (Marco) 15.2 Rikiya Gaō 16 Misaki Wolves 16.1 Kamiya Taiga 17 Sado Strong Golems 17.1 Iwashige Ganjyo 18 Northern Light Blizzards 18.1 Morgan

[edit] Deimon Devil Bats

For full article see: Deimon Devil Bats (Eyeshield 21)

(泥門デビルバッツ)

• Logo: Red Devil Bat, a nonexistent creature which bears a striking resemblance to Hiruma Yoichi.
• Helmet logo: black, white facemask, and red bat-wings (with a white outline) along each side.
• Team colours: Red, white, black
• Notes: This team represents the Deimon Private Senior High School (私立泥門高等学校 Shiritsu Deimon Kōtōgakkō). The high-school incarnation of the middle-school club, the Maou Devil Bats, the Deimon American Football Club started out with only three members: Yoichi Hiruma, Ryoukan Kurita, and Gen "Musashi" Takekura. After its inaugural year, its membership was further reduced with the departure of Gen Takekura. This remained the case until Hiruma found Sena Kobayakawa and his amazing running ability. The team's chant is "Kill'em! YA-HA!"(ブッツバス!YA-HA!!Buttsubasu! YA-HA!!
• This team is opposite to that of Ojo, who's philosophy is made on ultimate defense. It is based on extreme offense, partly due to the fact that it initially lacked a kicker and also based on the ideals of its captain Hiruma, who totally focuses on offense. It does not matter if the other team scores, so long as you score MORE points. See the section on Doburoku Sakaki.

[edit] Koigahama Cupids

• Logo: Cupid
• Team colors: Crimson and Pink
• The Cupids are a very weak team that is well known for all of their team members having girlfriends and bringing them to the games, which aren't very many, since they usually lose and get eliminated within the first or second matches. The quarterback has an annoying habit of teasing the opposing side by stating that his team has at least ten girls cheering for them while suggesting that his opponents come from an all-boys school. It was against this team that Eyeshield 21 made his debut by scoring a comeback touchdown victory. The quarterback's girlfriend is rather stupid, and persists in thinking that her boyfriend is a rugby player, even though he has repeatedly told her that it's American Football. Eventually he just gave up. The Cupids set the worst record in the Kanto Tournament, losing to the Seibu Wild Gunmans (10-125). But even though Koighama was practicly crushed in the game, they still managed to score 10 points off them, showing Seibus extremly weak defense. As a result, they surrendered during the 3rd quarter and never finished the game. The quarterback and his girlfriend have made appearances in the crowd at several of Deimon's games, including the match with Taiyo.

[edit] Ojo White Knights

(王城ホワイトナイツ Ōjō Howaito Naitsu)

• Mascot: Knight with lance on horse.
• Helmet logo: Blue shield with a white crucifix.
• Team colours: White and blue - akin to the Indianapolis Colts' away kit.
• Jerseys feature a lightning bolt across each shoulder.
• Notes: Oujouu Private Senior High School resembles the Notre Dame Cathedral to indicate that the school has a long, proud American football tradition like the University of Notre Dame in the United States. Their team's chant is "Glory on the Kingdom!" The team coach is Gunpei Shouji, a man who played football with Doburoku when they were young. A pony-tailed girl named Koharu Wakana is the team manager.
• The team is based on the old football maxim "Offense Wins Games, But Defense Wins Championships". If the opponent can be prevented from scoring, then only one point is needed to win. This is the direct opposite of the Deimon Devil Bats, in which ultimate offense is the best strategy. Hiruma: "If we can score 100 points to their 99 points (the number of points Oujouu scored on their first game against Deimon), then one point is all we need to win."
• Like Zokugaku, Oujouu also has a university school, whose football team are the "Silver Knights". Currently, their players consist of the legendary "Golden Generation", known as the pinnacle of the ultimate defense and who came the closest to defeat the unstoppable Shinryuji Nagas during their time (prior to Deimon doing so this football season).

[edit] Seijuro Shin

Seiyū: Naoya Goumoto

(進 清十郎 Shin Seijūrō) The ace linebacker of the Oujouu White Knights American football team and Sena Kobayakawa's main rival. Shin is a silent, seemingly unsociable person. Despite this, his friends include his teammates Haruto Sakuraba and Makoto Otawara. After the Oujouu's coach, Shoji Gunpei, noticed his talent when he first tried out for the Oujouu American football team with Sakuraba, he told the seniors to make sure Shin never gets recruited by any other club than the American football club.

Shin is the fastest and strongest linebacker in all of Japan. His signature move is the Spear Tackle, a powerful one-arm thrust that can stop any opponent (much more honourable than a spear in a real game, where the tackling player leads with his helmet). He is one of the few characters who figured out that Sena was Eyeshield 21 right away. He does consider Eyeshield 21 as a formidable opponent, as he admitted during the interview before the Kantou Elimination Rounds. This is due to the fact that Sena is able to achieve the legendary Speed Of Light pace (40 yards in 4.2 seconds), and was the one person who actually beat him and his Spear Tackle outright with pure speed (no cuts-moves, etc.). It was through this experience that Shin was driven to improve on his running as well as his strength. He's very good at analyzing a person's moves and how to react accordingly to stop him. Shin somewhat resembles Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, which is used humorously in the manga to show Sena's fear of Shin (as a delusion - it's suggested that "Delusion Shin" can probably use "Hokuto-shinken" as well).

Shin's mind is constantly on his physical conditioning. While the Devil Bats are celebrating their first victories in the Fall Tournament, they meet up with the White Knights part-way, and the two teams go to eat together at a buffet restaurant. Even then, Shin uses the hoarding on the restaurant, which is a model of a bull's head (horns and all) to exercise on, by doing push-ups and one-handed chin-ups on. Shin was based on legendary martial artist and actor Bruce Lee - his facial features seem to confirm this.

He is always serious when it comes to his training, but is at an absolute loss when it comes to technology. He will break any kind of device within one minute of being handed it, since he has no idea of how the device works. So far, he's broken a camcorder, a GPS device and later on, a laptop. In a Jump advertisement for the Eyeshield 21 Nintendo DS game, Shin accidentally breaks the DS he was playing with. He is also so absorbed in American football and training to the point that when he was asked what kind of girls he likes, he replied with the requirements to become the team manager.

During the summer before the Fall Kantou Tournament, he trains at Mt. Fuji to perfect the 'Ballista' technique. He has yet to show it in the manga or anime. At end of the Fall Tournament he is voted as the MVP (Most Valuable Player), and prepares to face off against Eyeshield 21 in the Kantou Tournament.

In the anime, Shin does go up against Sena and his new Devil Bat Ghost maneuver early on. Initially he was shocked that his traditional one-arm Spear Tackle was useless against the Ghost. Sena succeeded in passing him twice. This was a rare moment in which he doubted his own ability. This led him to develop the Twin Spear Technique, using both arms to stop Eyeshield 21. Later on, he witnesses Sena develop the Devil Bat Tornado, causing him to realize that his rival was fast-evolving. He vowed to train even harder for when he and Eyeshield 21 would meet in the final showdown. Unfortunately, unless there is a major twist in the story, this is fated not to happen; Oujouu and Deimon were drawn in the same half of the Kantou tournament and, providing they win their quarter-final matchups, would meet in the semi-finals.

Prior to the start of their game against the Sado Strong Golems in the quarterfinals, Shin approaches Rikku of the Seibu Wild Gunmen, telling him of a combination of the Spear Tackle with his "Rodeo Drive", creating a new technique called the "Trident Tackle". Used to crush Sado easily, the technique is actually preparation for the semi-final opponent: Sena and the Devil Bats!

At present, Shin is preparing for the semifinal game with Deimon. With the possibility of a perfected Ballista and his own Trident Tackle, combined with his belief that all of Deimon's tricks have been revealed against Shinryuji, he has total confidence in both Oujou defeating the Devil Bats and his final domination of Sena. In chapter 210, his theory seemed set to be put to the test as both players collide during Deimon's opening drive. However, this turned out not to be the case, as his fellow teammate Ikari tackled Eyeshield first. However, as Deimon's first drive continues, Shin immediately realized that the Devil Bats had a distinct advantage over Oujou in terms of stamina. With the Devil Bats members playing both offense and defense, and using Seibu's Shotgun Strategy, they went with 100% effort regardless of risk while the Knights only used 99%. He then persuades Sakuruba to join him on defense as he knows that only he could match Raimon in terms of catching.

Though the Knights were able to stop the Devil Bats from scoring the first touchdown of the game, Deimon still took the lead with a field goal. Shin recognized the power and ability of Musashi's kicking leg, but was unable to deflect the ball, due to being blocked by Sena. With the score 0-3 in Deimon's favor, Shin now comes to play on offense. Using the Ballista tactic, the White Knights take the lead 6-3, with a touchdown by Sakaruba, but a failed extra kick attempt. Realizing that Deimon could still score with field goals, Shin and his team must prevent the Devil Bats from scoring any touchdowns.

When the Devil Bats reclaim the ball, Shin surprises everyone by revealing his greatest secret: he has finally reached the "Speed of Light Pace" that only Sena himself had reached! Using the power of his new-found speed and the Trident Tackle, he both catches up and stops Sena's rushing attempt, saying he has finally proven once and for all that he is the better player. At this time, Sena has not found a means to either avoid or surpass Shin, proving that the Oujou player has ultimately become the perfect player of the tournament.

• 40-yard-dash: 4.37 seconds (beginning), 4.36 seconds (later), 4.35 seconds (more recently), Speed of Light Pace (4.2 seconds) (chp. 217)
• Bench Press: 140 kg. Newer chapters: 180 kg
• Position: Middle Linebacker
• Jersey Number: 40
• 2nd year student (11th grade)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Spear Tackle - Shin uses a one-arm thrust aimed at his opponent's midsection, which is usually enough to stop him in his tracks. It can stop Sena's normal running tactics, Panther's Zero Gravity Run and Riku's Rodeo Drive, but it proves useless in the anime against the Devil Bat Ghost.
• Twin Spear Tackle - By using both arms in the thrust, Shin is able to counter the Devil Bat Ghost. Shin also uses this on other players to stop them and make them fumble, as seen in the rematch against the Sankaku Punks. Whether it can overcome the Devil Bat Tornado is yet unknown.
• Trident Tackle - First seen in the 203rd Down. In order to counter Sena's light-speed running, Shin asked Riku (Sena's childhood friend, now playing for the Seibu Wild Gunmans) on how to do his Rodeo Drive. By combining this method along with his Spear Tackle, Shin is able to suddenly shoot forward at 120% of his maximum speed during the instant he charges his opponent. This also delivers a more powerful thrust. It has proven effective against Sena's Devil Light Hurricane move by chapter 218.
• Ballista - In chapter 206, it was revealed that the Ballista is a formation that involves putting Shin into offense. This was information that Takami, the Knights' quarterback, offered up freely when Hiruma gatecrashed the Oujouu Festival Quiz. When it comes to the first Oujouu drive of their game against Deimon, Takami is so confident of the formation's success that he actually tells the Bats which way the play will go - and he doesn't bluff them either. The nature of the Ballista is to use a Spear (Shin's trademark move) to open up a hole for the ball carrier to get through - and Shin's power is such that he actually lifts up Kurita! Whether Shin is using his Spear or Trident tackles is unclear yet, but it is likely to be just the Spear for the moment - the game is still in the first quarter. When the game comes down to the clutch, that'll be when he will pull out a Trident-based Ballista.

[edit] Haruto Sakuraba

Seiyū: Mamoru Miyano

(桜庭　春人 Sakuraba Haruto) A typical, good-looking pop idol (he has a CD single due to recording technology, despite the fact that he can't sing), he works in an advertising company called Jari Productions. When he was young, he used to watch sports all the time and dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. In high school, he managed to enter the team as a Wide Receiver after drawing much attention from the seniors due to his height; however, the coach, Shoji, was more interested in Shin. Shin soon surpassed Sakuraba, becoming the ace of the team. Sakuraba felt a little envious of Shin's success and achievements, and was disappointed with himself for not being able to soar to greater heights. He eventually became less interested in training and sports in general. One day, Miracle Ito of Jari Productions noticed him and decided that he would be a good model. Feeling wanted and pleased to be in the spotlight for once, Sakaruba agreed to work for him. Now, he is constantly misunderstood; because of his popularity, people mistake him for the genius of the Oujou team, and disregard the true ace, Shin. In fact, his football skills are mediocre at best, especially his catching ability. Sakuraba always felt pressured to do well and to live up to assumptions people made about him. An accident in the Oujou vs. Deimon game changed it all, though: Sena, as Eyeshield 21, accidentally tackled Sakuraba while running, injuring him. The reason that Sakuraba was hit, even though he was not playing at that time, was that he ran onto the field to grab a card that Miracle Ito told him to wear as advertisement. In the hospital, after meeting Sena, Monta and his die-hard fan Torakichi, who admires Sakuraba for his catch in the game against Deimon the year before, he finally decides to stop being pessimistic and to succeed just as Shin has done. Just before the Fall tournament started, he decided to quit working with Jari Productions and focus on American football with the help of his friends after he heard Takami complimenting him and how he had waited for a friend like Sakuraba, someone like him who understood his predicaments. Before the opening ceremony, he cut his hair in a crew-cut style and started growing a goatee to show his renewed vigor in pursuing success in American football, much to the dismay of Miracle Ito, who had depended on Sakuraba's good looks to make money. This has turned out probably for the best, as if Ito had seen Sakuraba at the end of 207th Down, he would have had a coronary on the spot. Due to Ootawara's usual thickheaded nature, he and Sakuraba lost the quiz game that Oujouu ran as part of its Autumn Festival by a mile - which meant they had to do a forfeit: dress up in maid costumes. Ootawara looked ridiculous - no change there - but Sakuraba was a sight to behold.

His skills as a wide receiver have rapidly improved and Sakuraba can now be considered a real ace. He was also complimented by Shouji as the player with "the strongest heart" in Oujou, and by Unsui as one of the big four in the wide-receiver battle (along with Ikkyū, Monta, and Tetsuma). As of now, Sakuruba joins Shin on defense to challenge Monta of the Devil Bats. He does manage to stop Monta from receiving the ball and on Oujouu's first drive, scored for the White Knights, making it 6-3. It is interesting to note that the high-school league that is featured in Eyeshield 21 only requires one foot to land in-bounds for a caught pass to count, instead of both feet in the pros. Sakuraba was way over the touchline (though not on the ground) when he caught Takami's pass, a deliberate ploy by the Oujou passer as he knew nobody could reach that far but his intended target - and Sakuraba still managed to get a foot in bounds once he caught the pass.

However, with the start of the second half, Sakuraba now has something more formidable to deal with. Monta knocks the ball out of his hands, preventing another touchdown pass, then displays a new talent: catching passes from BEHIND his head, newly dubbed as the Devil Backfire. With this skill, Monta doesn't even have to look for the ball after Hiruma launches it. With this new tactic, the Devil Bats march down the field and tie the score at 13-13.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.0 seconds, 4.92 seconds in Volume 11, 4.86 seconds in Volume 24
• Bench-press: 50 kg, 70 kg in Volume 11
• Position: Wide Receiver
• Height: 186 cm
• Jersey Number: 18
• 2nd Year student (Grade 11)
• The teams once nearly made a total loss to Sankaku Punks by 6-7, but thanks to Sakuraba's improved receiving skills, they dominated the rematch and won 82-0 in the Fall tournament.

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Everest Pass - Sakuraba's height plays to his advantage as a receiver, especially since Oujou's quarterback Ichiro Takami is also tall. He launches the ball at a high angle over the field, in which Sakaurba leaps up to catch it. The pass is at such a great height that the opposing team can do little about it, even if they know where it will land. It's simply too high to intercept. However, this technique has a weakness since Sakuruba still relies on SEEING the incoming ball in order to catch it. Blocking his field of vision will stop him from properly receiving the pass. This weakness is evident as he is now unable to intercept passes meant for Monta, since the Deimon receiver can catch balls from behind his head, without even looking. Sakuraba cannot keep his eyes on the ball with Monta charging straight at him without turning around.
• Sagittarius: A combination of Sakuraba's Everest Pass and Shin's Trident Tackle, the duo take a formation where Shin blocks any opponents approaching them (such as Sena and Monta) while Sakuraba reaches for Takami's pass. Unlike the Everest pass, Takami throws a short pass to prevent Monta from using the Devil Backfire to intercept.

[edit] Ichiro Takami

(高見　伊知郎 Takami Ichirō) When Ichiro Takami entered the Oujou White Knights, his dream was to become a quarterback. However, a childhood leg injury left him unable to run as quickly as Otawara. After the coach told him he could not play due to this drawback, he decided to take on more training and study calculations for passing to other players. Finally, after his fourth year on the team, he officially became the team's quarterback for the Kanto Tournament. He is analytical and has some ability in reading the movements and strategies of opposing teams. His passes are done with precision and accuracy, though they are not on the same level as Hiruma's or Kid's. It has been recently revealed that he had been waiting for someone like Sakuraba to be his Wide Receiver, since both of them are tall, and are able to use that fact to compensate for their shortcomings, (ie: Takami's slow running, and Sakuraba's lack of drive and feelings of inadequacy). Together, they develop the Everest Pass.

With the rematch between Deimon and Oujou approaching, he has worked with the team to perfect the Ballista, using it in match against the former "Golden Generation". However, Hiruma is trying to find a way around it, even sabotaging a game show at the Oujou school festival to get answers from him! While Shin stepped in to save him at the last minute, Takami still believes the Ballista is what makes Oujou undefeatable in the tournament. What Takami doesn't know is that Hiruma had already read over the summary of the Ballista tactic, and that he and Doburoku are planning something in preparation for the game against Oujou. Now with the score 13-7 in favor of the White Knights, Takami realizes that he'd have to match Hiruma in terms of drive and mind games if he hopes to win.

With the start of the second half, he becomes a bit rattled. The Deimon players begin to fight back, as Monta and Hiruma intercept a touchdown pass meant for Sakuraba and display a new technique, the Devil Backfire, which effectively stops the tall receiver from intercepting.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.7 seconds
• Bench-press: 85 kg
• Position: Quarterback
• Jersey Number: 3
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Everest Pass - See Sakuraba's entry.
• Ballista - See Shin's entry. Takami is, like Hiruma, a cunning player (in 215th Down he is described as using "black tactics" while pushing up glasses- a reference to One Piece's Captain Kuro). He seems to tell the Bats about which way the play will go, but all he's really saying is which way the Ballista will go - the ball doesn't necessarily go the same. This is revealed with the second Ballista play, when Takami says "The Ballista will be released to the right", conning the Bats' defense into following the call - while Takami sets ready for a pass to Sakuraba on the left. Hiruma figures it out just as the Knights' passer is letting fly with an Everest pass to Sakuraba - who is being covered by the diminutive Monta, whom Hiruma calls out to. Monta is unable to stop Sakaruba, but Hiruma almost manages to push the Oujouu receiver out of bounds.

[edit] Makoto Ootawara

Seiyū: Kenji Nomura

A VERY large lineman for the White Knights, with huge frame, muscles and ego. Ootawara is a very loud and brash person, who always says what's on his mind, in spite of the fact there's not much up there to begin with. He has a flatulence problem (he farts a lot) and he makes no effort to hide it. Ootawara doesn't even notice when his pants fall off (usually with many spectators present), even when Takami Ichirou (Oujouu's quarterback) tells him about it, he doesn't even feel embarrassed. And he seems to have difficulty telling the difference between the Japanese Katakana "ヘ" (he) and the number "7". Furthermore, he has a bad habit of picking his nose in front of people. As Shouji, the White Knight's coach puts it, Ootawara is plain stupid, (and even he admits it freely). However, Ootawara can be very insightful, which genuinely shocks just about everyone.

However, that is also his strength, since his overall power and simplistic way of doing things makes him perfect for the line, both on offense and defense. When he's really motivated, he could rip apart two opposing rookies. In spite of how crude he can be, he's a nice guy at heart, though he is the epitome of the dumb jock. Always competing with Kurita, Ootawara usually ends up on the short end of the stick, thanks to Kurita's drive.

During the game with the Sado Strong Golems, it was revealed that he too has been training to increase his speed in order to use his strength and bulk more effectively, (though it took Shouji a week to explain the principle to him). Ootawara is now able to smash through the stoutest of opponents like a battering ram. Like Shin is with Sena, Ootawara is looking forward to his rematch against Kurita, who had defeated him in a personal contest of strength during the Spring Tournament.

During the second half of the game against Deimon, he and Ikari are used to block Monta from receiving since Sakuraba was unable to stop the Devil Backfire technique. However, Monta easily caught the ball anyway and with Sena's help, got through the two linemen and scored Deimon's first touchdown.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.4 seconds initially, most likely faster by the time of the Fall Season.
• Position: Lineman
• Bench-press: 135 kg, 140 kg in Volume 11
• Jersey Number: 60

[edit] Daigo Ikari

A silver-haired freshman on the White Knights team, plays mostly on the defensive line with Ootawara. Ikari is kept chained up because irrational behavior. He has absolutely no respect toward the graduated 'Golden Generation' members, since he never played with them. Managed to get himself ejected from his first game against the Sankaku Punks by attacking their coach, who had just insulted Sakuraba. In fact up to the semifinal against Deimon, he never played a single down, never mind a game, because of his anger problems. However, he does have great respect for Shouji, White Knights' coach. During the celebration party after the White Knights' first victories in the Kantou Tournament, he gets very competitive against Kurita and the Devil Bats, after seeing him eat 20 servings in almost no time at all. This makes him order 30 servings on the spot. The two teams get involved in an eating contest, in which they had to consume 500 servings each. The losers had to foot the bill. The White Knights lost, but luckily it was an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Ikari finally gets to play in the game between Oujou and Deimon; Shin has brought forth the idea that the Knights throw everything they've got at the Bats - including this nutter. Prior to this game, he finally broke free of his chains, being allowed to play alongside the other White Knights in their climactic showdown.

Indeed, on the very first play of the Oujouu-Deimon game, in which Sena's running the opening kickoff back, Ikari pre-empts Shin's Trident tackle with a tackle of his own - resembling Kenshiro's fighting style, specifically the Hokuto Hyaku Retsu Ken (ironically, as some believe that Shin himself was based on the Fist of the North Star hero). However, when the play was blown dead, Ikari wasn't done - he charged headlong for Sena again to finish him off. Had it not been for Juumonji, the Bats lineman (and the Huh Huh Bros' leader) blocking him, Sena would have been history.

The power in Ikari's blocked attack ignited a memory in Juumonji. He knew Daigo Ikari previously, by a different moniker: "Prison Chain" Ikari. Back in his middle-school days, Ikari was famous as a vicious individual - he wore a thick chain over his shoulder, and was so intimidating nobody would even dare approach him. Ikari claimed at this point that he never once provoked a fight in his four years at Oujouu - which turned out to be totally false; he never did anything else. He spent more time suspended from school than anything else - but when he heard about Oujouu's Golden Generation heading to Oujouu University, and a side-comment about the White Knights turning into a poor team, he joined the side.

As previously stated, his white-hot temper has meant he's not played a single down - until the Deimon-Oujouu semifinal; and now he's in the lineup, he can finally show what he can do. And what a devastating effect he has: in the first play from scrimmage, he brushed Juumonji aside after his North Star-style attack, burst through to Hiruma and slammed him into the turf. It looked as if the Devil Bat quarterback had been sacked, but Hiruma did not have the ball when he was tackled. He had already seen Ikari attacking and threw a short pass, resulting in a 1-yard gain.

• Position:Lineman
• Jersey Number: 66
• Ikari shares the same jersey number as a famous NFL linebacker, Ray Nitschke of the Green Bay Packers
• Like he doesn't look insane enough already, he wears eye-black in the shape of lightning bolts, like on the Oujouu jersey.

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Hokuto Hyaku Retsu Ken - not given its name in ES21 yet but it is, for all intents and purposes, Kenshiro's very own Hundred Crack Fist of the North Star stuck on the end of a charging run. This technique is very reckless and causes Ikari to be so focused on stopping an opposing player, that he loses sight of the ball. This is also useless against the Devil Bat Ghost.

[edit] Gunpei Shouji

Shouji is the head coach and trainer of the Oujou White Knights. During his years in university, he had been an ace player for his football team, along with Deimon's trainer Doburoku. Together, they were known at the Twin Japanese Blades. Unlike his former teammate, Shouji had avoided seriously injuring himself during the Death March Training. He's a harsh but fair coach and he firmly believes that victory can only be achieved though ultimate defense. He had immediately recognized Shin's potential and had instructed the upper classmen of the team to make certain that Shin was not recruited by any other clubs. At present, he believes that the current team of White Knights is the strongest ever.

Though he and Doburoku are now on opposite sides of the field and are now facing each other as rivals, both still hold great respect toward one another. The two meet on the field prior to the game, in which their teams will face each other in the semi-finals, and both reminisce on their past and how far the Devil Bats and the White Knights have come to get to this point. Only time will tell which team will go to the Christmas Bowl.

• Position: Coach/Trainer

[edit] Zokugaku (Zoku to Gaku en) Chameleons

• Logo: Chameleon
• Uniform: checkered squares on the shoulders
• Team colours: Green and Blue, but different shades to Kyoshin Poseidon - closer to the former World League team Orlando Thunder.
• This team has a look-alike team at Zokugaku University. They are known as the Zokugaku Frilled Lizards, which are led by Rui's older brother.
• This entire team consists of gang members, who are not above using dirty tactics to win. The team was disqualified from the Spring tournament when some of the players beat up the referee. Like the chameleon, Zokugaku's philosophy is to adapt in order to win. They specialize in targeting an opponent's weakness in either past strategies or team members. However, they have a problem, whenever the opposing team does something that they don't expect.
• Their leader accepts a challenge from Deimon where 5 million yen goes to the victor of their match. The game against the Devil Bats ends in a 28-48 loss for them. When Deimon defeats Zokugaku, the team believes that Hiruma was joking about the money, until Hiruma busts out numerous guns and grenades strapped to his body in response to Rui's unsheathing of his butterfly knife. After all, Sena once said in response to an anecdote about Rui's constant possession of a butterfly knife, "We know someone who always carries firearms." The Chameleons are forced to become his slaves to pay off their debt to him. Otherwise, Hiruma would have disassembled their motorcycles, and sell the parts for money. They help the Hah Brothers to train and learn a new technique called "rascal killing" (sometimes known as "delinquent deathblow" or "scumbag scuffle"). In the English manga, it's called "The Juvenile Deliquent Murder Method". The team was later released from their debt when the Devil Bats went to America. Hiruma wanted them to train for the Fall Tournament.
• In the anime, the Devil Bats and Chameleons have a practice scrimmage just before the second matches of the Fall Tournament. The team from Zokugaku showed a better performance than before, but they still lost 28-30, due to the addition of Deimon's new Tight End. Afterwards, they were forced to carry their motorcycles home by their manager/trainer.

[edit] Habashira Rui

(葉柱　ルイ) The leader of the Zokugaku team. Basically, he is a punk's punk, leading his team like it was a street gang (which in fact it is). Not short on skill, Habashira's long arms make him a good linebacker, because he can intercept passes and stop runs, though he's not on the same level as Shin. Habashira's trash-talking of Shin is what motivates Sena in their game. However, he does show a more serious side, after his team is defeated by the Kyoshin Poseidon team. Hiruma noted that only Habashira tried his hardest to win. At this point, the Zokugaku linebacker begged Hiruma to tell him why, when the two of them were so much alike (both using force to rule their teams), his team lost heart while the Devil Bats fought on.

During the start of the 2nd half of the game between the Devil Bats and the Nagas, he and Tsuyumine both witness the on-side kick, which was the start of Deimon's counterattack. Habashira leaves afterwards, saying that Deimon didn't stand a chance, but he is seen with tears in his eyes.

• 40-Yard Dash: 5.2 seconds
• Bench Press: 80kg
• Jersey Number: 42
• Position: Inside Linebacker
• Height: 174cm
• Weight: 67kg
• Blood Type: B
• Birthday: January 25
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Firecracker Kick - Also known as a Squib Kick, the ball is kicked at an extremely low angle, causing it to bounce all over the place. This causes the opposing team members to run after it during the kick return, scattering them and making them disorganized.

[edit] Megu Tsuyumine

The team's manager/trainer. (露峰 メグ Tsuyumine Megu) She is a rough, no-nonsense woman who carries a wooden practice sword and is not above torturing the team members in order for them to train harder (she and Hiruma would probably get along). Some of her known tactics are towing the players behind her motorcycle, hitting them between the legs with her wooden practice sword, and making them carry their own motorcycles home (with herself sitting on Habashira Rui's motorcycle, as he is the leader), rather than ride them. She rules the team with an iron fist and even Habashira's afraid of her. She is also an expert of surprise attacks, and interrogates the team members sereverely to "strengthen them". Tsuyumine is considered as a beauty, but because of her brutal and torturous personality, she is more feared than admired. While it was left unclear by the creators if Tsuyumine and Habashira are dating, it was said that the two are good companions who share a great deal of trust and understanding. Since Tsuyumine refers to him as "Rui", his first formal name, instead of Habashira-kun (which is Japanese custom, even for close friends, and especially for women), the possibility that they are in a serious relationship is quite strong.

• Position: Team Manager/Trainer
• Height: 169cm
• Weight: 55kg
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

[edit] Seibu Wild Gunmans

• Team Logo/Mascot: A cactus wearing a cowboy suit
• Team colours: Brown, Gold and Dark Blue - Close match to the now defunct AFL team, Iowa Barnstormers
• Helmet logo: cross-section of a six-shooter's bullet chamber. Helmets are copper-coloured.
• The engrish name of Wild Gunmans has been corrected to "Wild Gunmen" in the Viz Comms translation.
• Like Deimon, Seibu is highly focused on offense, with passing being the major component, (though the run with Riku has been recently added).

This is one bizarre team, but the second best team in the Spring Kantou Tournament. Their coach is an old Japanese man who acts like a real cowboy, the cheerleaders are Japanese girls who wear sexy cowgirl outfits (they even weild real guns). Their captain is the lineman Buffalo Ushijima. The most active team ever seen in Eyeshield 21 manga. During spring break, they train in Houston, Texas. Once Tetsuma, Kid and their coach team up with Sena, Mamori, Monta, and Hiruma to become Devil Gunmen in a beach football tournament, as the Seibu coach didn't want the prize, a bull, to be eaten by anyone. He also wanted it for their ranch. The teams chant is "GUN&GUN that will do"

[edit] Shien Mushanokoji, aka Kid

"Kid" is a nickname. His real name is "Shien", which Hiruma mentions after Deimon’s sports day. He is a quarterback, and has one of the fastest pass speeds in Japan, possibly in the world. Kid and Tetsuma make up one of the strongest quarterback-wide receiver combinations in Japan (by high school standards), like the legendary Joe Montana-Jerry Rice combination, although to a lesser extent. Kid specializes in quick-draw shooting, where he throws the ball as soon as he receives it from the center to Tetsuma, Seibu's wide receiver (this kind of quick release is more akin to Miami's Hall of Fame passer Dan Marino). His personality is very laid-back. However, whenever he gets the feeling that things go too well, he always predicts that something bad will happen, (which usually does, such as in the Spring tournament when they were ahead of the Oujou White Knights during the first half, Tetsuma drank too much water and could not participate in the second half). His quote is "Something bad has to happen after something so good." Recently the manga has shown that Kid is the son of an Olympic class pistol shooter, which might account for his inhuman accuracy. He's also known Tetsuma since they were kids, accounting for how "in sync" they appear to be. Originally Kid couldn't throw and Tetsuma couldn't catch, but they practiced all the time as kids and got better.

• 40-yard dash record: 5.6 seconds
• Bench Press: 70 kgs
• Position: Quarterback
• Jersey Number: 7
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)
• A great sharpshooter like Hiruma, he's half-American and half-Japanese. The name 'Kid' is derived from the name of a famous cowboy, Billy the Kid.
• In America, he once teamed up with Hiruma in the beach football match and used a special technique named Super Quarterback Tag. Their tosses were so fast that everyone assumed that they were using the Too Tattoos' Dancing Flea technique.

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Quick-Draw Pass - Kid is a specialist with short fast passes as soon as he gets the ball. The time it takes for him to raise and pass the ball is 0.15 seconds, as opposed to a normal quarterback's speed of 0.5 seconds. Catching him in a blitz is near-impossible. His throwing technique is odd as well - as opposed to releasing the ball from over his throwing shoulder, Kid throws the ball from in front on himself using both hands to generate an incredibly fast spiral, in a similar fashion to pass training machines that wide receivers use.
• Shotgun - A strategy that relies totally on passing. Instead of having one or two receivers ready to catch passes, the number is increased to four or more. The receivers spread out like buckshot pellets once the ball is snapped. This increases the number of directions in which the Kid can pass the ball. Even linebackers like Shin find it difficult to cover so many receivers at once.

[edit] Jō Tetsuma

A fast and quiet guy, he has a habit of following orders to the letter, and that can lead to disaster. It is very important to give him specific instructions and to watch him carefully. Otherwise, he will follow any general directions to the extreme. For example, the coach once said to him, "Go run a bit!!" so he kept running for 3 days and 3 nights, until he collapsed from hunger. Another time, was when Kid told him to wake him up after 5 hours while riding on a bus, Kid got off the bus earlier, but Tetsuma still waited 5 hours, then burst out of the back window of the bus to go look for Kid so he could wake him up! Whenever Kid calls a pass route, he dashes and uses it as followed, no questions asked. This makes him perfect for his position as a Wide Receiver, since the Kid doesn't even have to look for him in order to pass. In spite of his seemingly robotic demeanor, Tetsuma is a nice person, who has been friends with Kid since they were in middle school.

One important note is that after the game with Deimon, Tetsuma invokes a penalty, by striking Monta when he was about to attack the referee for ruling in favor of Seibu. This was actually done to save Monta from destroying the Devil Bats' chances of playing for third place in the tournament. As a result, Tetsuma was banned from playing in the finals of the Fall Tournament against Oujou. Without him, the Gunmen lost out to the White Knights again, but Monta vows to meet up with Tetsuma again during the Kantou Elimination Tournament.

• Position: Wide Receiver
• Jersey Number: 15
• 40-yard-dash: 5.0 seconds
• Bench-press: 115 kg
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

His name also means Iron Horse. In America they use this nickname for the steam-engine train in the old west. This gives meaning to the pass routes he is ordered to follow, which likens him to a train that cannot be altered from the track it runs. He will bowl over anyone who gets in the way on the tracks. In the game against Deimon however, Monta does manage to upset his route and cause him to fumble.

In a match against the Oujou White Knights, he was the cause of a huge lead 20-7. But because he drank too much water during half-time, he cannot continue as he has to go to the toilet the entire time, causing his team to lose 20-21.

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Pass Routes - Tetsuma has drilled all known pass routes into his head and can run them like a conditioned reflex. All he needs is to hear the route called out by Kid and he'll perfectly execute the movement. Nothing can disrupt him when he runs his routes, although Monta has made him fumble once.

[edit] Riku Kaitani

An extremely fast grey-haired boy and happens to be the one who taught Sena how to run. When Riku was in elementary school, he saw Sena being bullied and he used his speed to save him. After that Riku taught Sena that if he could run fast, he would never be bullied again. Sadly, Sena used his speed to be a gopher, (though it's ironic that being a gopher is what helped build up his speed). Riku soon left Sena's school because his family needed to move, but he and Sena met again in chapter 127. Like Shin, he was able to quickly deduce Sena's identity as Eyeshield 21. When his team went up against the White Knights, Riku proved to be no match against Shin and was unable to get by him once.

During the Kantou Tournament, Riku faced off against Gaō when he was about to beat up, possibly kill a fan who had insulted Banba, (and anyone else who was in the way). Fortunately, the incident ended without any bloodshed. After the Seibu Gunmen devastate the Misaki Wolves with a score of 82-14, they now prepare to face off against the Hakushuu Dinosaurs in the semi-finals.

Before the match between the Strong Golems and the White Knights, Shin approached Riku and asked him for the secret of the Rodeo Drive. Initially he refused, thinking that Shin had already defeated him during the Tokyo Fall Tournament and that he didn't need such a technique. However, after learning that Shin was going to use it in a method against Sena, Riku agreed to show him, thinking that Eyeshield 21 might be the one to beat him.

• 40-yard dash record: 4.5 seconds
• Bench Press: 60kg
• Position: Running Back/Safety
• Jersey Number: 29
• 1st Year Student (Grade 10)
• Sena's top speed for a 40-yard-dash is 4.2 seconds, while Riku's is 4.5. However, Riku can run at his top speed for long periods of time, while Sena's normal speed during a match is 4.5 seconds, making them roughly the same in terms of speed in a real game.

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Rodeo Drive - Riku's special running technique known as Rodeo Drive is very similar to Panther's Zero Gravity run. He uses this technique to make an immediate statement at the start of game against the Devil Bats by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Sena paid him back by doing the same during Seibu's first kickoff. He also uses this technique to stop opposing runners. However, it is not effective against Shin's Spear Tackle nor Sena's Devil Bat Tornado.

[edit] Taiyō Sphinx

• Logo: Sphinx
• Team colours: sandy yellow, turquoise-blue (closest NFL match: Jacksonville Jaguars). Team uniform is striped.
• This strong team is one of the best in the Kanagawa prefecture. The entire team is made up of idiots except for Banba. Their players act like Egyptians because their headmaster, after excavating a ruin, became obsessed with the Egyptians and opened a school that looks like a pyramid. Their philosophy is based on the importance of the line and they are reputed to have the heaviest. However, their backfield is substantially less than Deimon's.
• Due to their philosophy of the importance of the line, Taiyō is considered more of a defensive team. They focus on stopping the advance of the opposing side and protecting the quarterback.
• They were originally chosen to go against the Nasa Aliens, due to the fact that just about every member of Taiyo Sphinx was massively built, in which the sponsors assumed they could take the hits from the large American players. However, thanks to Hiruma's computer hacking skills, they get involved in a match against the Devil Bats for the chance to play against the Americans.
• Their game against Deimon ends in a tie (20-20), but Banba surrenders the chance to play against the Nasa Aliens to his opponents after they had shown his team the true spirit and drive to win, despite the difference in power, size, and especially climate (the Taiyo field is an arid dustbowl). One thing to note is that all of the students look somewhat Egyptian (their skin is dark). This is explained in a small snippet: all the students are into surfing since Shonan beach is right next door, hence the tans.

The four players to take note of are:

[edit] Mamoru Banba

Massive center of the team. The team captain and powerhouse. He holds the high school record for the squat. Although he is more skillful than Kurita, he does not have as much raw strength. Due to his harsh training for the Fall Tournament, Banba's face has more scars. His build also is much more powerful looking as shown in chapter 200 of the manga, so it's presumed his strength has increased as well.

Unfortunately, whatever training he had undergone was insufficient to match the Dinosaurs' powerhouse lineman Rikiya Gaō. Despite the new formation called Tutankhamun's Mask, Banba was pushed down easily at the start of the match. At the end of the game, he is seen being carried out on a stretcher, as he had sustained the most injuries in protecting Harao, Taiyou's quarterback.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.5 seconds
• Bench-press: Unknown as of most recent appearance (200th down), previously 140 kg
• Position: Center/Defensive Tackle
• Jersey Number: 50
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Pyramid Line - The signature formation of the Sphinx. The Pyramid Line involves the linemen going into a V-shaped "pyramid" formation, which takes advantage of the heavier-built players. This gives high protection for the quarterback and makes a formidable obstacle when on defense. However, it can be defeated by certain tactics like the Ha-Ha Brothers' Juvenile Delinquent Murder Method, random player arrangements, and the Devil Bat Dive. Another problem is that Harao has difficulty finding a receiver if the huge line moves backward and blocks his view.

• Tutankhamen’s Mask - The linemen arrange themselves more tightly together than normal, making the spaces between them narrower and forming closer to the quarterback. This is alluded to the Death Mask of the Pharaoh. In theory, the line was made even more secure and harder for the opposing team to break through to sack the quarterback.

[edit] Kiminari Harao

(原尾　君成 Harao Kiminari) The whining quarterback. He bosses everyone around and puts the blame on them until in Volume 6, Banba sets him straight. For some reason, he's popular with the ladies and has his own harem. He acts like a pharaoh. However, compared to Hiruma, his skills as a quarterback are substantially less. His over-dependence on the Pyramid Line has made him slower and less able to avoid sacks. If he can't find a receiver, then he will just stand in place, rather than try to run the ball himself. He also tends to hold the ball too high when passing, which can lead to fumbles when he's tackled.

Though he appears to be an arrogant snob, Harao is actually quite sensitive about his skills as a quarterback. He knows that others consider him as a second-rate player; even his own team members think so. Like Sakaruba was, Harao is seen as the ace of the team by his fans, though his skills do not match that of his image. He admits to Banba that since the game against Deimon, that he has been trying to improve himself, but he still has doubts, especially since every Kantou Tournament, the Sphinx participate but never win due to the other teams being like monsters. Like Banba, this will be his third and last Kantou Tournament. Banba assured him that the new Tutankhamen’s Mask formation would protect him, so all he had to do was throw the ball. However, as the formation crumbles easily under the power of the Dinosaurs' monstrous new lineman, Harao began to experience true fear.

At half-time, with the entire roster of linemen sustaining injuries, (including broken bones), and Banba out of commission, Harao was forced to forfeit the match. He was the only member who had not been seriously hurt, since Banba had tried his hardest to protect him. He was also the first QB that had faced Gaou of the Dinosaurs, that was still standing at the end of the game. However, the once-proud quarterback takes no solace in this.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.4 seconds
• Bench-press: 50 kg
• Position: Quarterback
• Jersey Number: 8
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

[edit] Niinobu Kasamatsu

The second-largest lineman on the pyramid line. He talks too much and is always getting the blame from Harao and apologizing to him. He starts picking on the Ha-Ha Brothers, but is beaten by Juumonji twice, first with the Juvenile Delinquent Murder Method, then with just a normal block. He's not very bright and is easily fooled by trick plays and trap blocks.

During the game with the Dinosaurs, he is among the casualties and his team is forced to surrender at half-time.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.9 seconds
• Bench-press: 100 kg
• Position: Tackle/Defensive End
• Jersey Number: 66

[edit] Ken Kamaguruma

Kamaguruma is a large first-year who plays cornerback. He's a bit dim-witted, but a pretty good player. He gives Monta some trouble when he comes in during the second-half of the Taiyo game. He is "The Chariot" for Taiyo. His moves include "Chariot Bump" and "Chariot Attack".The bump is incredibly strong, when Ken smashed down a watch tower over 60 FEET practicing his bump. However, Monta's catching ability far outstripped his skills. It is also shown that his Bump Technique has no effect against Seibu's receiver Tetsuma.

Like his teammates, Kamaguruma is stopped at the quarter-finals at the Kantou Tournament, when the Pyramid Line's new formation fails against the brutal power of the Dinosaurs' new lineman.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.3 seconds
• Bench-press: 85 kg
• Position: Cornerback
• Jersey Number: 98
• 1st Year Student (Grade 10)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Chariot Bump - Before the receiver can catch the ball, Kamaguruma thrusts out with both hands to knock the receiver off-balance, throwing off his timing. Technically speaking, this could be considered as pass interference.
• Chariot Attack - Basically it's a running version of the Bump. It is done in motion and is used to knock away opposing blockers and receivers.

[edit] Shinryūji Naga

• Logo: Dragon
• Team colours: somewhere in-between the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals - charcoal-grey or black, with two-tone gold/orange detail.
• Team uniform bears flames down the side of both the jerseys and pants, and across the top of the helmet. Team dress outside of games kind of resembles a Buddhist monk's robes.
• Before the start of each game, the linemen go into a kind of meditation exercise to achieve a Zen state of mind. Supposedly, this is to get them mentally prepared for the game and nothing can disturb them when they are like this... that is, until Ikkyu commented on some cute girls.
• The strongest team in the Kanagawa area by far. Known as the "Gods of Kantou", they've won the Kantou tournament for 9 years straight. Four of the players resemble the main characters from Journey to the West (or as they call it, Saiyuki). The name Shinryūji can translate to "Temple of the Dragon God".
• The team is made up of members who are good all-rounders, with two aces, (Agon and Ikkyu). As a result, they are well-balanced in both offense and defense, which is directly opposite to Deimon's team of specialists.
• Their coach is Sendou Dasumito, an old man who looks much like a hermit martial arts master would look like in a martial arts movie. He guides the team with seeming wisdom and tactics, though he always turns a blind eye toward Agon and his lack of discipline, due to his God-Impulse Ability.
• Another fact about the team is that they had never allowed any opponent a two-point conversion against them. This record is destroyed along with their bid for a 10th Kantou Championship when they lose to the Devil Bats in the opening round in quite possibly the most unbelievable upset in their entire history.

[edit] Unsui Kongō

A very strong player. Not much is known about him, but in the previous year's match between the Oujou White Knights and Shinryūji Naga, both he and his brother (as first-year players) were sent out with 5 minutes to play and Oujou holding a 16-3 lead. Their entrance resulted in a 17-16 victory for Shinryūji. During their second-year Spring Tournament, the Nagas trounce the White Knights by a score of 40-3, without Agon playing at all. Unsui is passionately devoted to football, but is considered merely a "good" player. In contrast, Agon takes a casual, cynical, almost scornful approach to the sport, but is far better. Far more serious and intense than Agon, Unsui is much better liked, as opposed to feared like his brother is. He is a good player because of his wide range of vision, allowing him to know where all his players are.

Rather than Agon's talent being innate, Unsui has worked all his life to become as good as he is. His workrate seemed to have been recognized when he received a sports scholarship at Shinryūji, but it turns out it was meant for Agon - the school got the twins' names mixed up. He feels his purpose is to back Agon up as much as he can, to make his god-given talents shine even more brightly.

Unsui does recognize Deimon's offensive potential and has taken a more conservative approach to defeat them during the second half of the Kantou tournament game. However, with the Devil Bats counterattacking, he is becoming unsure of the outcome. His greatest shock comes when Eyeshield 21,ignores his brother completely and forces Unsui to fumble, followed by the unbelievable event in which Unsui's seemingly invincible sibling was toppled by Sena.

As the game winds down, Unsui and the rest of the team are taking no prisoners. Despite being pressured by Agon and Ikkuyu to let them have the ball (wanting to get revenge on Sena and Monta respectively for the upsets they've caused), the Nagas had decided to just run out the remaining five minutes and prevent Deimon from getting any more points. The formation they used was an advanced version of the Dragon Fly, their double-quarterback trademark play; the Golden Dragon Fly has a three-quarterback setup, featuring Ikkyu Hosakawa as the third passer and multiple flea-flicker-style lateral passes. Using desperate run-stuffing tactics, Deimon were able to hold all but Agon, who managed to gain a first down as a result of this ploy, but they ended up going three-and-out and were forced to punt.

Shinryūji assume that they have won after pinning the Devil Bats on their own 2-yard line with just one minute left on the clock - and 98 yards separating them. However, even that was not enough to stop the Devil Bats. Instructing the rest of the team to aim for the sidelines (in order to stop the clock when they go out of bounds) Hiruma goes into what is effectively a one-man no-huddle offense. Eyeshield 21 gets the ball and heads straight for the sideline, but the Naga are on to them - Agon chops into him with one of his most scything tackles so far, keeping both Sena in bounds and the clock running. Hiruma then spikes the ball to stop the clock and on the next play, uses a diversion to move the chains. Designating Yukimitsu as a lineman, he gets him to run a motion play route to the other side of the line before the snap, to misdirect Shinryūji into blocking the wrong way. This led Deimon to a first down on their own 13, and 45 seconds left. As time continues to tick away, Hiruma continues to use these sideline/spike tactics and the Bats make it as far as midfield. After an incredible pair of high-risk plays and a touchdown by Hiruma, the Nagas now must deal with the possibility of a Sudden Death Overtime or a loss if the Devil Bats decide on a two-point conversion and succeed. To everyone's surprise, it looks as if Deimon will try for overtime as Musashi is rushing toward the ball to kick it in. Sena is placed at the end of the scrimmage line, which convinces everyone that he is not going to try for the Devil Bat Dive. Now the game draws to a close as Shinryūji attempts to block the kick.

However, this is not to be as Hiruma fakes the kick and rushes toward the goal line with Musashi ahead of him. The two plow into the Nagas defensive line in what appears to be a last-ditch power play to score through brute force. When it appears that the Nagas had stopped them, the Deimon quarterback wheels about and laterals the ball backward to Eyeshield 21. It appears that Sena was placed at the end of the scrimmage line to deceive the Nagas and had used the faked kick as a distraction to get a running start and attempt the Devil Bat Dive. In a spectacular move, Kurita forces down four Nagas, including Agon and Ikkyu, allowing Eyeshield to fall past the goal line. The end result... TWO POINTS!

Final Score: Deimon Devil Bats 36, Shinryūji Nagas 35.

In the end, when Agon warns the Nagas not to slack off in their training for the next Spring Tournament, and showing his intent to defeat the Devil Bats, Unsui feels that his brother is finally beginning to see the value of working with others, rather than just depending on his own God-given talents.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.1 seconds
• Bench-press 95 kg
• Position: Quarterback
• Jersey Number: 12
  • 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Dragon Fly - Using both Kongo brothers as quarterbacks, the ball is passed through multiple laterals among the team members. It is a very adaptable strategy, but its drawback is that an opponent can intercept the laterals in flight, causing a fumble (such as Eyeshield did with Agon).
• Golden Dragon Fly - This involves three quarterbacks, normally with the Kongo brothers and Ikkyu. This is extremely difficult to stop, but it is possible with run-stuffing tactics.

[edit] Agon Kongō

The Kongo twins are like chalk and cheese - not only in ability, but also in attitude and personality. Agon Kongo is lazy, arrogant, vicious, invariably turns up late to the matches - often in the second half - and never ever trains, yet his skill is incredible. He is also a chauvinist who does not take rejection well, since when Mamori rejected his advances on the bridge he threw her on the ground and advanced on her, although he made it look afterwards like a accident. Even though Unsui is a solid player, whose skill has come from constant hard work, Agon's abilities go far beyond even the best. Kumabukuro, the reporter, says that he has tremendous talent that is only seen once every 100 years. Even the Naga coach wants everybody in the team not to act the way he does, and tells them that only Agon has the leeway to act in this manner. This is because Agon's natural talent is near-superhuman, and allows him to do whatever he wants. This has made him arrogant and over-confident in his ability. He looks down on everyone else - even his own (older) brother, whom he calls "Unko-chan" as if to scorn him (effectively a tautology, as he's calling Unsui small twice - lit. "Little Unsui the Child"). Initially, he displays his agility to Sena and makes a powerful bullet pass at Torakichi (still in his wheelchair), who teases their team but luckily is saved by Sakuraba, Monta and Sena.

Unknown to any of the main characters, he has incredible strength, as he beat up the entire Zokugaku gang in an instant. Shortly after this incident, Sena and Mamori encounter Agon on their way elsewhere. Agon tries to accost Mamori to help him get to the stadium, but Sena intervenes. Agon weasels his way out of this, however, and as he leaves the pair behind, Sena feels for the first time he has encountered someone with evil intent.

While growing up with his twin brother, it was discovered early on that Agon had a talent for learning complex physical tasks within minutes, just after seeing it. This is called the God-Speed Impulse reaction. He was able to balance and ride a bicycle on his first try. His reaction time is at the human limit and is triggered by sight. As he grew up, his brother Unsui encouraged him to develop his amazing ability, while he stayed mostly in the background. Unfortunately, this also led to building Agon's ego and his tendency to regard everyone else, including his own brother as inferior. Eventually, the two began leaning toward American Football and were recruited by the Nagas. Agon's God-Speed impulse is similar to the Marvel Comics villain Taskmaster and his ability of photo-mimetic/reactive reflexes.

During the draw to decide who faces who in the Kantou Tournament, Shinryūji and Deimon are fated to meet in the first round (Gods against Devils, as it were). When the time came for Shinryūji to draw for their place in the tournament, Agon took the ball upon seeing Sena - and threw another bullet pass like the one he threw at Torakichi, this time aimed directly for Sena's right eye. Sena dodged the ball with the slightest of movements, and the pass struck a coke bottle behind him held by Maruko, the Dinosaurs' quarterback. In an interview at which Hiruma is also present, Agon is shown to have a history with the Deimon passer, and his laid-back cool attitude becomes somewhat rattled whenever he is involved. Agon's arrogance in his own natural talents cause him to look down on and want to crush those he feels are less talented (absolutely everyone else, basically - he even considers the perfect team to be "22 of myself"). These are his reasons for playing football - as opposed to Hiruma's: "Because it's fun." He does, however, recognise Hiruma's ability - though he immediately counters this by saying he doesn't consider the Deimon player a threat. Agon wants everyone, without exception, to acknowledge his superiority, and is willing to destroy anyone who doesn't do so or gets in his way. He also doesn't care for normal people who work hard, thinking that only those who are truly gifted are the ones that matter. However, Hiruma is aware of this and plans on using this attitude to cause Agon's downfall.

As the game against Deimon continues, Agon starts to lose his cool, as the Devil Bats begin to fight back from a 32-0 first half thumping. He is first upset by the Devil Bats' onside kick, then is caught completely off-guard when Yukimitsu (the weakest member of the Deimon team) scored a touchdown, despite being double-covered by both him and Ikkyu. He was able to do this by analysing the Nagas' defense patterns, and picking out option routes - third pass-route choices in the middle distance, as opposed to short passes to Taki or long-distance bombs to Monta - on the fly. This, and Yukimitsu's sheer determination to succeed at something other than studying, got Deimon's first points on the board.

Afterwards, Eyeshield 21 successfully intercepted a lateral pass meant for Agon, followed by Juumonji recovering the ball (as this is classed as a fumble) and scoring the second Deimon touchdown, despite being tackled by the arrogant dreadhead. Agon ended up being dragged into the endzone by Juumonji's sheer force of will. Eyeshield's interception of Unsui's lateral got to him, but being unable to prevent Juumonji's touchdown return truly rattles him, as linemen are not known for their speed (however, the Huh Huh Brothers are built more like linebackers, as opposed to the line build possessed by Kurita and Komusubi).

In recent chapters he witnessed the one team-mate that he does give credit to, cornerback Ikkyu Hosokawa, fail to stop Deimon from scoring. His version of Eyeshield 21's Devil Bat Ghost surprises everyone, but now he is becoming even more enraged as Sena forces yet another fumble on his brother, ignoring Agon completely when the whole Shinryūji team thought he was still marking him. This is most likely the one thing that can truly upset him... not even being bothered with by the ones he most wants to crush.

In the following chapter (191st Down), the red mist descends on Agon. After a lifetime of being praised for his innate skills, to be disregarded so completely is something that he is not prepared to stand for, and in a fit of fury he tries to take Sena down... permanently. Amazingly, he fails - as he goes to chop the ball out of his grasp, Sena motions as if he was going to stiff-arm Agon away. Agon's surprise is such that he is caught off-guard for a split-second - all the time Sena needs to whip a DevilBat Ghost on him. Even that is not enough to put off the smug Naga, however - with his lightning-reaction time, he wheels round to have another shot at Sena. Agon then receives one of the greatest upsets of the entire game as his tackle to stop Eyeshield 21 is countered, and he is ground face-first into the turf! Since he was in a fit of rage, Agon had not considered the possibility that his shorter, weaker opponent would even try to down him.

In the game's dying seconds, Agon is the only person who realises what Hiruma's up to with Deimon's final drive. The final frame of the 194th Down shows his menacing stare behind the sports goggles he wears. At 18 seconds left in their final drive, Hiruma takes the snap and makes a fake spike to catch the Nagas off-guard. Yukimitsu stayed on the line of scrimmage for this play, which allowed Monta to go in motion. Thinking the play was dead because of the fake spike, Ikkyu (who was meant to be covering Monta) switched off - all the chance Monta needed to get a head start on him. Hiruma heaved a bomb in the air for him - which Ikkyu managed to get a hand to, but all he could do was deflect it directly into Monta's clutches. Agon, the only person who could see this coming, tackled the receiver at Shinryūji's red zone with 4 seconds left. During this, Monta shouted "CATCH MAX!" again, for all he already had the ball. Agon assumes that he meant catching the ball and arrogantly retorts that it didn't matter if he did catch the ball, as long as he was brought down. With the clock ticking inexorably down to 0, and Shinryūji still a touchdown up, it looks as if he had permanently ended Deimon's dream to play in the Christmas Bowl. Agon's plan was to let Monta get so far away that the rest of the Bats wouldn't have time to get back into formation for a spike.

However, the referee ruled the play as out-of-bounds after seeing a lump of turf had been ripped up. Monta's scream of CATCH MAX! was nothing to do with the ball, as he already had hold of that - he was aiming to touch the sideline. He opened his fist and revealed the missing bit of turf. The ref has the clock reset to 4 seconds because of this. Now, with this being Deimon's final play, both Kongo brothers wonder what Hiruma is up to as the Deimon quarterback pumps Devil Bats' fans up into a frenzy.

Apparently, the cheering crowds were just a diversion. Hiruma was actually going in motion as he ran side to side, pumping the crowd up. The play started unexpectedly when the ball was hiked directly to Sena. The Nagas were thrown off-guard again as it seemed that Sena would use the Devil Bat Ghost with the Nagas all over him. However, he lobbed the ball upwards. The Nagas were all in disbelief, as they had already covered all the receivers. Who would the ball go to? The crowd was also another distraction so that Sena could make a pass to.....Hiruma?! The Nagas were already in disbelief in the beginning, as the ball was hiked directly to Sena. After Hiruma caught the ball, Agon still arrogantly believed that he could catch up to Hiruma, since he remembered that Hiruma's best time at the 40-yard sprint was 5.2 seconds when he tried out for the Shinryūji Nagas. However, to his complete shock, he found out that Hiruma had gotten 0.1 seconds faster and that was all he needed to outrun him and score. Now the score is only 34-35 in favor of the Nagas as Deimon prepares to go for either a 1-point kick or a 2-point conversion.

Agon then receives the final insult and defeat as the one other Deimon member that he despises becomes instrumental in Deimon's two-point conversion play. No other team has ever scored a 2-point conversion against Shinryūji. Sena lined up on the extreme left of the line; the huddle before this play boiled down to his decision - take the kick and risk overtime with his failing legs, or risk the whole game and go for the win. This, combined with the Nagas' perfect record against 2-pointers, led all to believe that Deimon was going to go for the easy kick and take the game into OT. Indeed, Musashi came on for the kick and Hiruma went into a holder's position.

Once again, however, it was a fake. Hiruma held the ball and picked it up, rushing with Musashi into the middle of Shinryūji's goal-line defense - behind Kurita who, through sheer determination and willpower, pushed Agon and Ikkyu diagonally, altering their centre of gravity, before they could get to the ball. Hiruma, meantime, lateralled the ball high into the air for Sena to catch and perform the Devil Bat Dive, thereby shattering the Nagas undefeated record both in games and 2-point conversions.Yeah. Shocked and dejected, Agon leaves the field, and warns his teammates not to slack off on their training for the Spring Tournament, where he vows to defeat the Devil Bats.

• Position: Running Back (but is also known to play Free Safety as well as Special Teams, Receiver, Kicker and Quarterback)
• Jersey Number: 2
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)
• Reaction time: 0.11 seconds (Human Limit - surpassed in 191st Down)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• God-Speed Impulse - This is Agon's innate talent which allows him to move and react with near-superhuman speed. However, this ability has a fatal weakness; it only works if he can SEE the movement. When Sena placed his hand on the side of Agon's helmet, this was round the back of it on his blind side, and Agon was unable to react to it in time. Also, he can use this ability to learn complex physical maneuvers in a short time.
• Dragon Fly and Golden Dragon Fly - See Unsui's entry.
• Chop - Agon's preferred method of tackling. Using the side of his hand in a devastating chop, he can send most players to the turf groaning in pain. Would probably draw a flag and a double-digit penalty, and likely an ejection for repeated offences, in the pros.
• Imitation Devil Bat Ghost - Thanks to his God-Speed Impulse ability, Agon was able to copy Sena's move.

[edit] Ikkyū Hosakawa

The only person who has an attitude like Monta (but doesn't eat bananas like Monta does). His hair resembles Vegeta from the manga/anime series Dragon Ball Z, and he has a red mole in the middle of his forehead. By the look of him, no one should be intimidated, but his true skill lies in his running technique. He has the record of 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard-dash while running backwards, making him the best cornerback in the Kanto Zone. He is the only player on the Nagas that Agon has any respect for, since he is considered a genius. He has great respect for Agon and is probably the only one on the team who doesn't fear him and actually looks forward to playing with him. Ikkyu is proud of his jumping and catching ability. He tells Unsui that no one can beat him on air. However, Kanto's best cornerback is nothing compared to Japan's best linebacker- Shin proves this to him in his first match against him.

He is always bullied by his teammates because he gets more remarks than they do. Ikkyu is one of the nicer, more friendly players on the team, but that doesn't make him any less serious when game time comes. He's considered a genius with high-jump catches, but he is caught off-guard when Hiruma fakes a Hail Mary Pass and uses an incredibly fast and low bullet pass instead - Ichiro Takami of the Oujouu White Knights christens it a Hail Devil pass. He still intercepts it, but he gets the shock of his life when Monta strips the ball out of his hands, resulting in a Deimon touchdown. Like Agon is acting with Sena and Hiruma, Ikkyu is starting to lose his cool with Monta. He tried to face down the Deimon wideout after the touchdown, but Monta was unimpressed with Ikkyu's posturing.

Near the end of the game, Ikkyu begs for Unsui to let him have the ball, in order to make up for the upset that the Deimon receiver had caused. However his request is turned down in favor of just running out the clock. He does manage to deflect a pass that was meant for Monta and had a chance to catch a loose ball during Deimon's two-point conversion. However, in the end, he and the Nagas lose out to Deimon.

He seems to have a crush on Mamori; in his less serious moments, he sometimes tries to praise his upperclassmen, but his attempts are thwarted by his teammates, who practice a faux ventriloquist act on him, pretending to make him say such things as "in fact, you can't match the great Ikkyuu"--to which he's told "unforgivable...indeed unforgivable".

With the game between Deimon and Oujo heating up, Ikkyu becomes even more determined to beat Monta as the Devil Bat receiver displays his new technique, the Devil Back Fire. Even he admits that catching a ball from behind the head is the most difficult method of receiving.

Character Statistics:

• 40-yard-dash: 4.9 seconds (Backwards)
• Bench-press: 65kg
• Position: Split End / Cornerback
• Jersey Number: 33
  • 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Golden Dragon Fly - See Unsui's entry

[edit] Nasa Aliens/Nasa Shuttles

• Team Mascot: Alien
• Team colours: blue and yellow (different shades to Taiyou - closer to that of the Swedish flag)
• Helmet logo: an atom with electron paths traced around it
• This is the American team that Deimon plays when they represent Japan. The whole team is white, because their coach, Leonard Apollo, is racist. The best player on the team, Panther, only picks up balls and is not allowed to play because of his previous mistake in a game and not following through with the coach's instructions, although it was later found out that this was merely a rationalization.
• The Aliens first play a practice game against Zokugaku University's Frilled Lizards and slaughter them with a score of 73-0.
• There was a bet before the game with Deimon and the terms were that if a team didn't win by more than 10 points, then that team would stay in the opposite country (Japan for NASA, US for Deimon). Deimon lost by one point (32-33), but only because they lacked a kicker and Sena was too exhausted to try the Devil Bat Dive at the end. Neither team succeeded in one-upping each other by 10 points. So Deimon went to America, while NASA stayed. In actuality, this was all according to Hiruma's plans since he wanted the Devil Bats to gain more experience against a veteran team and get some training in the United States.
• The more muscular members of the Nasa Aliens have a habit of getting into a group pose and flexing their muscles, in which they believe show off their physiques to all female spectators, thereby getting them dates and such. So far, it hasn't worked.

[edit] Patrick "Panther" Spencer

Panther is a good-natured person who has extraordinary running talents, but has been reduced to being a ballboy, due to Apollo's predjudice. He trains everyday by running across rooftops. Panther's dream is to become a pro NFL player and make money so that his grandmother would no longer have to work. He is also one of the few people who is able to eat his grandmother's horrendous oatmeal recipe.

Initially, he wasn't interested in going to Japan since he really wanted to compete against Shin. Then he saw Eyeshield 21's running ability on Hiruma's web video and wanted to run against him. Eventually, he and Sena became good friends and promised to play on equal terms the next time they met on the field, (Sena was nearly at his limit by the time Panther had entered the game).

• Position: Running Back
• Jersey Number: 20
• 40-Yard Dash: 4.5 seconds
• Bench Press: 70kgs

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Zero-Gravity Run - Panther's specialty is called the Zero-Gravity Run, which allows him to run at great speeds with extremely light footsteps. Unlike Sena's method of sharp turns and cuts, Panther can run like water, using the minimal amount of movement needed to slide around obstacles. Shin noted that Panther's running is too clean and easy to predict which route he will take.
• Stiff-Arm - Panther also uses one hand to hold onto the ball, while the other is extended to ward off opposing blockers. This is a standard block used commonly by other Running Backs in the NFL. However, this gives his opponent a chance to slap the ball away, causing a fumble. Sena and Shin both show this flaw to him, and this teaches Panther that he needs to get more practice against opposing players.
• Moon Salute - This strategy arranges the linemen in a crescent formation. This allows for maximum frontal protection for the Running Back. This is similar to Deimon's Sweeper tactic, but is done in a straight line rather than diagonally. The Aliens team had been developing this tactic for a long time without Apollo's knowledge.
• Panther Ghost - (Anime) This is Panther's version of the Devil Bat Ghost that he recently learned, when the Devil Bats returned to America for a tournament between 4 great teams. He can do this at the same speed Sena can.

[edit] Jeremy Watt

Watt is the best Wide Receiver of the Nasa Aliens, and he also serves as team's translator, though he's more of a pseudo-Japan scholar (meaning that he's more of an otaku than a Japan-ophile). As a result, he often gets translations wrong, and has some misconceptions concerning Japanese culture but is shown as well-meaning and would not take offense if corrected. He is able to calculate the landing point for Homer's Shuttle Pass with pinpoint accuracy like Mission Control. Being taller and faster than Monta does give him an advantage over the Deimon Receiver. Watt has been seen using computers and upon discovering a humorous though disrespectful webvideo of Coach Apollo, he shares his find with his team mates. Watt is also skilled at video-games.

• Position: Wide Receiver
• Jersey Number: 81
• 40-Yard Dash: 4.8 seconds

[edit] Homer Fitzgerald

Homer is the quarterback of the Nasa Aliens and his specialty is being able to heave a football from over half the length of the field. Along with Watt, he's one of Panther's closest friends, and helped him endure Apollo's racial attitude against African Americans. Homer's biggest problem is throwing control as the ball tends to go off-course. Another thing to note is that due to Homer's upper-body strength, tackling him at the waist is not enough to sack him. However, by going for his passing arm, his ability to throw the ball is stopped. Given his large frame and powerful throwing arm, not to mention his tendency to misfire his passes, Homer could be modeled on Green Bay Packers quarterback, Brett Favre.

• 40-yard dash record: 5.6 seconds
• Bench Press: 130kgs
• Position: Quarterback
• Jersey Number: 5

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Shuttle Pass - The Shuttle Pass is considered the signature move of the team. Homer starts by counting down from three and throws the ball for his receiver to catch, usually near the goal line of the opposing team. The problem with this tactic is that it requires a longer time to initiate the pass, which leaves the quarterback open to blitzes that result in sacks. The Muscle Barrier, the name given to the line, is crucial in ensuring the success of the pass.

[edit] Gonzales (Big Brother)

The largest member on the Nasa Aliens, (even bigger than Kurita), he plays center on the line. His massive size and crushing power will reduce any lesser player to pulp. However, his slow speed makes it easy for faster opponents to dodge. His catch-phrase is "Big Useful!" Before going to Japan, he wanted to get a kanji tattoo which meant 'big and useful guy.' He asked Watt about the kanji for 'big' and 'useful.' However, (due to a mis-translation by Watt), when putting those two kanji together, the end result was POOP! In the end, his tattoo means Big Poop Guy.

• Position: Center/Guard
• Jersey Number: 50

[edit] Gonzales (Little Brother)

Though lacking in size and overall strength of his sibling, the younger Gonzales makes up for it in speed and tenacity. He's about the same size as Komusubi. He admires his brother and wanted to be known as the Small Helpful Guy. In a way, he is to his big brother like Komusubi is to Kurita. His catch-phrase is, "Don't look down on me!" Unfortunately, he went to Watt for a kanji tattoo as well and the kanji for 'small' and 'helpful' translates as PEE, and that gives him the title of Little Pee Guy. He is also easily fooled by handoff fakes.

• Position: Linebacker
• Jersey Number: 70

[edit] Leonard Apollo

Apollo is the coach of the Nasa Aliens team and has an extreme prejudice against those who have innate talents, rather than using skills earned by training. This is the main reason why he does not allow Panther to play during games and had him picking up balls. He's also racist against African Americans, and he dislikes the Japanese as well, thinking that they are weak and submissive as compared to the Americans. Due to this attitude, he cancels the game against the Devil Bats.

In response to this, Hiruma creates an insulting web video. He sends it over the Internet, which directly calls Apollo a chicken for refusing to face Deimon and humiliates the Nasa coach worldwide. Outraged, Apollo reschedules their match, stating that if the Aliens do not crush the Devil Bats by at least 10 points, then the Americans would not return to the United States.

In truth, the coach's real motivation for excluding Panther is really jealousy. It is a somewhat tragic story. In his days as an NFL player, Apollo, despite his considerable efforts (such as training three times more than anyone), was never more than a benchwarmer. When it looked like he would finally play, the bigwigs of his team hired Morgan, an extremely talented sprinter and, yes, an African American, much like Panther. He was cut from the team, and the flashback he had during the Deimon game showed him asking for one more chance, but being denied another chance. Bitter about it all, Apollo went on to found an ideal high school team that relied solely in perfectly executed and superior strategies without leaning on the performance of white talented aces. Also, whenever any one of the team members of the Nasa Aliens made a mistake, he would immediately be substituted.

When Apollo's strategies during the Deimon game crumbled in front of Hiruma's tricks and Eyeshield's speed, Apollo reluctantly allowed Panther to play, after the whole team begged him to. Panther himself said that he would quit the team if he failed to stop Eyeshield and win the game if he were to be given "one more chance". This caused a flashback for Apollo.

While Panther was playing on defense, Watt and Homer revealed that for a long time, despite how badly Panther was treated, Panther had always admired Apollo, because he was a hard-working man (Panther, like Apollo had, trained three times as hard as a ballboy and secretly with the rest of the team). There was another flashback of Panther when he was little, in which he declared that he had to be on Apollo's team no matter what. Despite the failure to win by ten points, the coach commented with his back turned during the hand-shaking that it was a good game. When the Alien's change their name to the NASA Shuttles and board a bus to leave Japan, Apollo reminded Panther of the deal, which Panther didn't exactly accomplish on his end ("Never call yourself a NASA Alien again"). However, Apollo told him that there would be a number 20 uniform for the Running Back (Panther) of the new "NASA Shuttles" team (#20 was Apollo's uniform number during his NFL days with the San Antonio Armadillos). This was the loophole which allowed the team to go back to America and let Panther play as a part of.

One note in the anime, is that Apollo meets up with Morgan during the tournament between the 4 great teams. At this point, Morgan was the coach of the Russian team. Though the Aliens/Shuttles put up a good fight against Morgan's team, the Blizzards, they still lose. Dejected, Apollo considered quitting football altogether, but changes his mind after Hiruma invites him to watch the game with the Devil Bats against the Blizzards. Seeing the Bats work hard to come back from a lopsided first half, (and even cheering for Eyeshield 21), Apollo regains his drive and determination.

• Position: Coach

[edit] Amino Cyborgs

• Mascot: Cyborg
• Team members dress like doctors off the field - facially, they have a very chiselled look similar to US comic book hero Captain Marvel - but are very strong and the only school using modern technology to grow stronger. They have a firm belief that victory can only be achieved through medical science, rather than spirit and determination.
• They're known as the Tournament Breakers, since they always choose one sport every year to enter, and win the championship of that sport. Previously, it was soccer and basketball. The cheerleaders wear nurse outfits.
• The Cyborgs make their first entry in the Autumn Kantou Tournament, where they faced the Devil Bats in Round One. However they failed to defeat Deimon, (8-38), even after Linebacker Munakata proclaims that he can defeat Eyeshield 21. The rest of the game was an easy win for the Devil Bats. Even though the sports medical science did make the Amino players stronger, they lacked the stamina and training to keep up with Deimon. Compared to the intensive Death March training, the whole Amino team, including the offensive and defensive players were panting while Deimon's players, who play both sides of the ball (offense and defense), weren't even tired.

[edit] Atsushi Munakata

The team captain and Linebacker of the Amino Cyborgs. He was also the team captain of Amino's basketball and soccer clubs, winning the championships of those as well. He's a massively built player with a politician's personality. However, he had made a serious mistake during the summer in which the Devil Bats were in the United States. He had assumed that Eyeshield 21 would be the same as he was during the Spring Season, so he had practiced to counter Sena's habit of stopping before accelerating. However, during the Cyborg's first and ONLY Fall Game, he was soundly defeated by the Devil Bat Ghost. He soon suffers a nervous breakdown as his faith in medical science is shattered.

• 40-yard dash record: 5.3 seconds
• Bench Press: 115kg
• Position: Linebacker
• Jersey Number: 29
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Route Direction - Both Shin and Panther instinctively use this technique to lead opposing players toward them. Munakata shifts his position slightly in order to get the runner to go in the opposite direction, then Munakata tackles the player as he slows down for the turn. This method is nothing against the Devil Bat Ghost since Sena doesn't slow down at all and can change his direction in an instant.

[edit] Suguru Aoyanagi

He used to be a scrawny student until he took the Amino Training Program for 6 months. This included going to the gym twice a week and taking an unbelievable amount of vitamin supplements and whatever else medical science could provide. He thought that he was unstoppable, and in the first few minutes of the game against Deimon, it seemed to be true. Then the Devil Bats' trainer reminded them of the proper techniques, and Suguru was crushed along with the rest of the Amino Line. He also suffers a breakdown as the muscles he gained through medical science fails against the Hah Brothers.

• Position: Lineman
• Jersey Number: 64

[edit] Kadoguchi

Kadoguchi's face seems to be made up of polygons and he moves like a stiff robot. He trained himself to run by using motion-capture videos, in order to attain the 'perfect running form.' However, this means absolutely nothing when going up against Monta and his catching ability. Compared to the Devil Bat Receiver's drive to be the best at catching, Kadoguchi gave up too easily when the ball seemed out of reach.

• Position: Cornerback
• Jersey Number: 48
• 40-Yard-Dash: 4.8 seconds

[edit] Yuuhi Guts

• Logo: A burning sun over an ocean horizon. The sun has angry eyes on it.
• Uniform and Helmet Designs: Light brown with orange flames on the bottom of the jerseys. Helmets have a sun pattern on the tops. Team colours out of uniform are maroon and gold - close to the Washington Redskins when they wear their throwback gear.
• Their team chant is "Patience, Determination, Endurance!"
• Yuuhi High is famous for having ace teams in all sports except for American Football. As a result, the team is made of mediocre players with low morale, little to no club funds, second-hand equipment, and a small team roster (about 10 players).
• The team is considered weak as compared to the other clubs at Yuuhi, but this fact only spurs them to train harder. Training sessions include marathons on the beach in loincloths, squat-jumping up and down steps, towing tractor tires behind them and so forth.
• They go against Deimon in the Fall Tournament and lose miserably (6-56), but one should take note that the coach had used aces from the other sports teams while benching the regulars. When it was apparent that the aces couldn't win against the Devil Bats, the regulars were allowed to play and they did manage a touchdown (in the manga). An important note is that Hiruma believed that Yuuhi had 0% of winning with their aces teams on the field, yet raises them upwards to only 1% when the regulars finally take over.
• In the anime, the aces scored the touchdown while the regulars only managed first down, but they still showed a better performance and dedication than the aces.

[edit] Atsumi Daisuke

The team captain of Yuuhi Guts as well as the Quarterback. He's been leading the members though a series of intense training for 3 years, though it's not like the Death March the Devil Bats underwent. Atsumi is considered slightly below average as a player, (or as Hiruma put it, he's the best of the worst), and the Devil Bat quarterback gave Atsumi's team a 1% chance of beating Deimon. He seems very grounded, and is one of the few players shown that sees through Hiruma's 'scare tactics' immediately (like Kid).

When the coach decided to replace the regulars with aces from the other sports clubs, (soccer, sumo, karate, baseball, etc), Atsumi reluctantly agreed that they had better skills. At that point, Hiruma dropped Yuuhi's chances of winning down to 0. A newly-formed team of aces couldn't deal with Deimon's explosive offense power and the addition of their tight end, Taki. By half-time, the Yuuhi Guts were trailing by more than 20 points.

The other players, knowing that Atsumi really wants to face Deimon, feign injury and illness, and the coach eventually gives up, allowing Atsumi and the rest of the real football team to enter the game. They managed to put up a better showing than their replacements, even though they still lost by 50 points. At the end of the game, the Guts members cheer Deimon on to win the championship.

• Position: Quarterback/Safety
• Jersey Number: 9
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

[edit] Konzo Katsuko

She's the team manager and one-girl cheerleader squad of the Yuuhi Guts. She helps train the players and fixes up all of the second-hand equipment that they are forced to use. She can get extremely pumped up while trying to boost team morale. She is often seen waving the team flag, holding a megaphone and most noticeably, wearing burûmâ, (the Japanese version of bloomers). She believes in Atsumi and also takes part in some of the training sessions with the team members. According to the manga, it is rumoured that she is being scouted by Zokuto University as their first cheerleader squad member, due to her intensity at cheering on the team to win.

• Position: Team Manager/Cheerleader

[edit] Haibara

Haibara is one of the linemen of the Yuuhi Guts, in which Atsumi places his faith in, since he does have a solid knowledge of blocking. Haibara is also frustrated that the team has no club funds and is considered weak, despite their constant efforts at training. When Hiruma decided to rattle the Yuuhi Guts at the beginning of the game, Haibara could only say in frustration that he is honored that the Devil Bats would show their full strength, while the 'true Yuuhi Guts' could not (meaning that all the members of the football team were replaced by other teams' members).

• Position: Lineman/Guard
• Jersey Number: 14

[edit] Hashiratani Deers

• Logo: A Deer (but it looks like a moose)
• Uniforms and Helmets: Brown with yellow trim on the jerseys. Helmets are yellow wit a brown top.
• A strong veteran team. They make the most of their small size, using their speed to disarm opponents. Playing opponents of the same size, they are still superior.
• Hashiratani had an easy time in their match against the Kyoushin Poseidons, scoring fourteen points in the first half and crushing what seemed to be an easy opponent. But after Kyoshin sends in two of its secret weapons (Kakei and Mizumachi, two of the taller players on the bench) the Deers don't score any more points. The Kyoshin Poseidons proceed to dominate the Deers by a score of 31-14.

[edit] Onihei Yamamoto

Onihei is an cunning ultra veteran with a small body who even fellow lineman Kurita greatly admires! In fact, Onihei is the reason why Kurita came to play football in the way he does now and because of him he now has the "Funnuraba!" chant. Onihei is known for his ability to block effectively despite not being a particularly large person. He has enough strength to lift or stop Kurita single handed. He apears as a spectator at the Poseidon - Devil Bats game and has conversations with Ojo players.

• Jersey Number: 71
• Position: Lineman
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

[edit] Dokubari Scorpions

• Logo: Scorpion
• Uniforms and Helmets: Black with white trim on the jerseys. Helmets have the scorpion logo imprinted on the side.
• This team did very well in the Spring Season with 10 wins and one loss. The things to note are that they won five games by forfeit, while the other games were won by taking out the opposing team's aces.
• They were able to win so many games by predicting the actions of their opponents.
• The Scorpions face off against Deimon in the third round, but their style of play proved to be no match against Hiruma's deceit. They lose with a score of 14-42 in the anime, 0-42 in the manga.

[edit] Kanagushia

He's the team captain and safety. His belief is that football is a mind game. He wears his long hair in a braid that stands up like a scorpion's tail whenever he's excited or angry. Kanagushia is able to predict the opposing team's strategies by reading the telltale signs of the players. Things such as glances, body movements and certain behaviors allow him to figure out what kind of play the other team will use. However, Hiruma already knew about Kanagushia's strategies and used several tricks (including lipstick), and his own brand of psychological warfare to confound him. In the end, the Scorpions were stung by their own poison. In an omake, it shows that he's slapped around frequently by his father ("I've predicted your movements! You're going to slap me on my left cheek now, aren't you?"), who's often annoyed by his abrasive personality; so, while he can predict the movements of others, it's somewhat useless.

• Position: Safety
• Jersey Number: 14

[edit] Kyoshin Poseidon

• Logo: The Greek god of the sea holding a trident (Poseidon)
• Uniform: colour scheme similar to the Seattle Seahawks - greyish-blue and green.
• Uniform detail is of scales down the side of the uniform
• Helmet logo is a pair of fins, one on each side
• The team's Cheerleading Squad Captain, Otohime is said to have a crush on Kengo Mizumachi because of his pure (and immature) heart, and apparently joined the club because of a diet.
• The team is highly focused on using its members' height to their advantage, both in stopping passes and runs from their rivals, making them a defensive team.
• Unexpectedly, this team manage to defeat the strong Hashiratani Deer in their first match by gaining 31 points without letting Hashitarani Deer get any more points after sending out their team's secret weapons. Defeated the Zokugaku Chameleons in their second match and lost to Deimon Devil Bats by one point.
• During their match against Deimon, Oujouu's Takami comments that Hiruma is Deimon's true 'hidden ace', due to his ability to make instantaneous decisions on who to pass to, as well as his tactical knowledge.

[edit] Kengo Mizumachi

(水町　健吾 Mizumachi Kengo) The third tallest player on the team and a natural athlete. Was on the swimming team but quit due to the lack of challenge. Plays on the line and uses his height and speed from a "swimmer's start" to great advantage. He has a bad habit of saying inappropriate and insensitive remarks. He is also known to strip down to his boxers in front of people, and seems to hate football equipment, saying that "It's too heavy, I can't move properly". Apparently, modesty is not an issue. Initially, he looks down (no pun intended) on Komusubi of the Deimon team due to how short he is, but learns there is a lot of strength in Komusubi's small frame and was defeated by him at the end of the game. Also, Mizumachi seems to understand Powerful-go, the "true language of truly strong men," as he responded positively to Komusubi's post-game grunt of "HOT!". He also likes swimming and spying on the females' half of the bathhouse when the Kyoshin team relaxes, stating that "The only thing to do when you go to a public bathhouse is to swim or peek, right?". It was also revealed in volume 10 that the head cheerleader has a crush on him.

• 40-yard dash record: 5 seconds
• Bench Press: 90kg
• Jersey Number: 71
• Position: Tackle/ Defensive End
• 1st Year Student (Grade 10)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Swimmer's Start - Mizumachi assumes the position that Olympic swimmers use on the starting block. This lowers his center of gravity and allows him to spring forward, much like Komusubi can with his Fast Start technique. However, Mizumachi's method has a fatal flaw. As soon as he brings his arm upward in the 'swim' position, his chest is exposed and he is slightly off-balance. This allows Komusubi to knock him down like a bowling pin.

• Formation: Poseidon - Mizumachi leaves the line and joins Kakei and the other linebackers behind the defensive line. Though this weakens the line, it strengthens the passing defense, while Kakei controls the opponents run. This formation can be summed up as as a 3-4 defense, where a defensive linemen leaves the line and joins the linebackers(3 linemen and 4 linebackers).

[edit] Shun Kakei

The fourth tallest player on the team and the de facto captain. Went to school in America for a year and met the real Eyeshield 21. This was during his middle school years, and at that time, he had lost interest in American Football, until he went up against Notre Dame's Eyeshield 21. The encounter inspired him to train with new enthusiasm as he promised to meet up with him again at the finals. However, when the game against Notre Dame finally came around, Eyeshield 21 was nowhere to be found. Shun asked around for his whereabouts, but no one seemed to know who he was or even if he existed. Shun claimed that Sena was a fake, since the Eyeshield he knew was far taller. He then declared to defeat the Devil Bat's imposter. He later admits that Sena is deserving of the title of Eyeshield 21 and tells him to keep fighting until the final game. And he's like the Shin of the team except he has shinier hair and is actually more serious than Shin. Shun seems to be used to his teammates immature actions. He is so use to it, he can even ignore the fact that Sena, Monta and his other teammates were trying to stop Mizumachi from peeking at the bathhouse (and making a big fuss out of it), who were then pushed right through the wall by Urashima, Kyoshin's cheerleader vice captain, even saying calmly, "Yes, Akaba Hayato's block is as powerful as that".

• 40-yard dash record: 4.9 seconds
• Bench Press: 95kg
• Jersey Number: 41
• Position: Linebacker
• 1st Year Student (Grade 10)

STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES

• One Handed Block- Shun sticks his hand out and blocks the opponent down by way of pushing him in the face. This move is similar to the now illegal "Head Slap Maneuver" used by former NFL player, Deacon Jones

• Moby Dick Anchor- Shun uses both of his arms and tackles his opponent in a cross grapple across the waist similar to Shin's Double Spear tackle. Shun was able to stop Sena's Devil Bat Ghost with this move, however, it was ineffective against the Devil Bat Tornado.

• High Wave - This strategy assembles all tall players at the scrimmage line and has them leap upwards simultaneously, thereby preventing the opposing quarterback from passing. It is also used for defensive blocking against a run. However, this strategy is countered by Hiruma's Wishbone tactic.

[edit] Kobanzame Osamu

Kobanzame is the short, nervous captain of the Poseidons. Unlike the underclassmen on the team, Kobanzame and the other members in their last year are unusually short. During the match against the Deers, the announcer mentioned that the Deer and the Poseidons were two of the shortest teams in the league. This was until the Poseidons revealed their new freshmen who used their height to their advantage. Kobanzame is a comic character who has a tendency to stutter and mess up quotations in his attempts to raise the morale on the team. You first see him when he travels with another upperclassman (or Ohira and Onishi in the anime) to go spy on Deimon's training. When his friend protests that they should not be doing something underhanded, Kobanzame claimed that there was no harm in simply taking a peek as they happened to walk by. While climbing up the fence to get a better view, however, he was hit in the head by a ladder during Monta's attempt to imitate Mizumachi's height.

Kobanzame's spying did allow him to recognize Sena right away when Hiruma sent him disguised as a delivery boy to the Poseidon's clubhouse. Kobanzame immediately called Sena on his deception (ignoring that he had done the same just hours before...the lump remaining on his head to prove it) and brought the Devilbat to Kakei's attention. This later led Sena to learn more about Kakei's personal feelings towards the 'fake' Eyeshield 21 from Kakei himself as well as being expanded upon by Mizumachi.

Kobanzame's relationship to the other Poseidons is revealed through several flashbacks in the manga as well as their conversations. According to the author, Kobanzame is ranked second in the series in terms of shyness. Only Sena himself is worse. Because of this, he is often unsure of what to do and will wait for Kakei to decide on something before saying ' Right, that is exactly what I was thinking' and trying to maintain his role as captain. He has a tendency to complain a lot, but Kakei mentioned that Kobanzame was the only other Poseidon to complete the same hellish amount of training as Mizumachi. Mizumachi and Kobanzame seem to be fairly close to one another, and Mizumachi even attempts to convince Sena that the Poseidons deserve to win the game more because the Devil Bats have no third years on their team, while many of the Poseidons, including Kobanzame, are in their last year. Of course, Mizumachi did not realize that it was the last year for the second years from Deimon as well, since they have a no-play policy in their third year. When the Devil Bat/Poseidon match comes down to one final play to determine the game, Kobanzame confesses to Kakei and the others in a joking manner that once again he is forced to sit uselessly on the bench while they do all the hard work. This surprises his team mates who have never even considered the possibility that Kobanzame and the other upperclassmen have been holding them back. They promise to bring Kobanzame his ticket to the finals and head out to the field, leaving Kobanzame alone to think about all the times he tried to make up for his lackluster abilities by doing other things such as gathering information on the Poseidon's opponents and boosting morale. Of course, the Poseidons lose, and Mizumachi feels so dejected that he starts wailing on the field because the dreams of the third years are over. Kobanzame, overcome by emotion, concludes the match by saying that eighth is not so bad and that even though the last summer was the hardest in his life, it was also the best.

Kobanzame unfortunately does have a poor body unsuited for football. He is short, slow, and weak. However, he does have the skill to be a quarterback, and is sort of a quietly skilled player that is overshadowned (literally and figuratively) by his larger than life team mates. In the entire tournament, he has never been intercepted. His passes are always accurate, and much like Hiruma he can react quickly when an opponent attempts to take the ball. His quick reaction time is more driven by fear than quick thinking, however. Takami even praised Kobanzame, calling him a good quarterback. In the anime the Devil Bats managed to intercept his pass when Hiruma, in true Hiruma style, frightened Osamu so badly he threw the ball too fast and the Devil Bats were ready to catch it.

• 40-yard-dash: 5.7 seconds
• Bench-press: 40kg
• Position: Quarterback
• Height: 163 cm
• Weight: 54kg
• Jersey Number: 14
• Birthday: September 9
• 3rd Year Student (Grade 12)

STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES

• Tempest formation (anime)- Many receivers rush out and cover the field, and between Mizumachi and the other linemen's blocks and Kobanzame's own ability to escape quickly, Kobanzame is able to make short, accurate passes down the field.

[edit] Ohira Hiroshi

Introduced part-way into the Kyoshin-Deimon match. At a height of 205 cm, he's the tallest high school football player. He is introduced alongside Onishi (below), both of whom immediately begin bickering about who is 'Kakei-sensei's first disciple'. He has short and spiky black hair, and has very large eyebrows that seem to extend down to the tops of his eyes. He also appears to be very passionate & always crying. He is a first year student. The kanji used in his name are the same as those for the Pacific Ocean. Evidently, he and Onishi have been rivals since before they joined the football team, and compete over useless things, such as 'who pulled more all-nighters' and 'who studied less for an exam'. Upon witnessing Kakei's skill, however, they were motivated to play football and learn from him.

• Position: Linebacker
• Jersey Number: 31
• Height: 205 cm
• 1st Year Student (Grade 10)

STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES

• High Wave - He and the other linebackers leap up, blocking any potential passes and any running tactics. This Stategy is ineffective by Hiruma Wishbone tactic.

[edit] Onishi Hiroshi

At 204 cm, he's the second tallest highschool football player. Introduced alongside Ohira (above). He dislikes having almost the same name as Ohira ("Having a similar name to an uncouth guy like you is bad enough.") as well as their rivalry regarding Kakei. Also a first year student; he wears squarish glasses and has short orange/red hair. The kanji used in his name are the same as those for the Atlantic Ocean.

• Position: Linebacker
• Jersey Number: 32
• Height: 204 cm
• 1st Year Student (Grade 10)

STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES

• High Wave - See above.

[edit] Bando Spiders

• Logo: Spider with a guitar
• Uniform and helmet designs feature spider's webs - black webs on a scarlet background, similar in design to the costume worn by Spider-Man.
• This is the team that the Devil Bats face after losing to the Seibu Wild Gunmen in the qualifying eliminator for the Kantou championship. Monta believed all was lost after a play that could have gone either way was called in Seibu's favour, leading him to rage at a game official. It was following the end of the game that Hiruma let slip that they had another chance - by finishing third in the tournament. The 3rd/4th place repechage game is Deimon vs Bando. Deimon won 37-36.
• The team has a philosophy of being a kick team, due to Koutarou Sasaki's kicking ability, and also because most of the original members of the Bando Spiders transferred to another school, leaving only the members of the kick formation left. This makes them take on an offensive stance like Deimon, in which one point can make all the difference.

[edit] Akaba Hayato

The fullback for the Spiders. Wears a blue tinted visor in his helmet, to set him apart from Sena's which is green. Originally believed by many to be the real Eyeshield 21, the ace from Notre Dame. Tall and thin, Hayato hardly looks like the intimadating figure of an ace player, leading many to underestimate him and his skills, and even Hiruma agrees he deserves the title of Eyeshield 21. In spite of his unimposing build, Hayato can send even Kurita flying with just his arms. He had first transferred out of Bando, but later decided to go back out of loyalty to his teammates. Due to school transfer policy, he was unable to play against Oujou, resulting in the Spiders losing. When he went against the Deimon team he almost single-handedly defeats Sena and Taki. However due to Taki getting serious, the Devil Bats are able to comeback and win. After getting defeated by Sena's lightspeed running, he graciously gives Sena his blue visor, telling him that he deserves to be called Eyeshield 21.

• Position: Linebacker/Fullback
• Jersey Number: 21
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

• Like almost all the students at Bando, Akaba plays an instrument, in this case he plays guitar.
• Akaba's eyes are naturally brown, he wears red contacts

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Spider Poison - By thrusting out with both arms and hitting the shoulders of his opponents, he is able to push them off and cause temporary numbness. The real key to this technique is that by studying the opposing teams in advance, Akaba learns when the opposing players' center of gravity shifts. By knowing this, and Akaba can push the opponent over with ease, no matter how strong they are. Since he also tells his entire team when the other players' center of gravity shifts, so they too implement this technique.

• Run Force - By positioning the blockers in a certain way, Akaba can actually force the Running Back into moving where he wants him to go. This way, Akaba knows exactly where the Running Back will be so he can position himself ahead of time. This technique is similar or maybe even identical to Sena's ability to determine the most appropriate path to run.

[edit] Koutarou Sasaki

(佐々木　コータロー Sasaki Kōtarō) The kicker for the Bando Spiders. He is a direct rival of Musashi, and as noted by Hiruma, he has never missed a try-for-point kick. He even once kicked a soft drink can right into a rubbish bin made specifically for cans - off of a bridge railing. His skills as a kicker is seen when he could easily get a field goal from 50 yards. It is because of him that the Bando Spiders adopted the philosophy of a kicking team, a team that relies on kicks to win the game. However, his accuracy can also be used against him since it's easy to predict where his kicks will land and they can then be returned.

Koutarou's most famous quote is, "That's smart." (Otherwise "That's not smart" etc.), and is seen combing his hair whenever he has time, even during a match. He seems to dislike Akaba Hayato because he keeps talking about music. Koutarou used up a time-out just to explain the history of the Spiders to Deimon. His last name is the same as a famous samurai, Sasaki Koujiro, a rival of Miyamoto Musashi. He asked Bando's manager, Sawai Juri (usually called "Julie"), who is also his childhood friend to go out with him 3 times, but was refused with "Whatever, stop saying stupid things, moron!", but she never actually said "No".

• 40-yard dash record: 5.5 seconds
• Bench Press: 65kgs
• Position: Kicker
• Jersey Number: 99
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES

• Onside Kick - Koutarou kicks the ball right to the opposing team's front line, in order for his team to try to gain possession of the ball once more

• In an interesting note of trivia, a poll conducted in vol. 11 and 12 of the Japanese edition had Sasaki as the only non-Deimon player to win in a showdown, with him winning in the "coolest character" battle against Taki.

[edit] Hakushuu Dinosaurs

• Logo: A tyrannosaurus with stripes down its back
• Uniform: Similar to the Cincinnati Bengals, in design at least; colours are as yet unknown. Thick slashes of a dark colour adorn the whole jersey and helmets. Two eyes peer out on the front of the helmets as well, and a row of sharp teeth are just above the facemask.

Very little has been revealed on this team until recently. In a newspaper article after the Spring tournament, they were mentioned alongside Deimon (and below tournament mainstays like Shinryuji, Oujou, Seibu and Taiyo) as a "Team to Watch", particularly due to some "massive new talent" that they had recruited. As they had made it to the final eight of the Kantou tournament, the team is slowly being revealed, possibly as a potential final opponent in the Kantou final for the Devil Bats. After thrashing the Taiyo Sphinx in the quarterfinals by a halftime score of 32-0, and forcing the Sphinx to forfeit due to a lack of players fit to continue, the team will be playing the Seibu Wild Gunmen in the semifinals, with the winner taking on the Deimon/Oujou winner in the Christmas Bowl. With the talent - or should that be raw power - that has been revealed thus far, it seems the road to the Christmas Bowl for Oujouu or Deimon goes through Hakushuu.

[edit] Maruko (Marco)

The Dinosaurs quarterback, who told Sena and Monta to call him Marco instead of Maruko, because Maruko is a female name (in Japan 'ko' is primarily a feminine name ending), and "Marco" sounds like a male Italian name. He wanted the strong teams to knock each other out so his team could take it easy, so he offered to switch with Deimon. But just then Oujouu's Ootawara drew out number "7" (Deimon had 5), Deimon would meet Oujouu in the semifinals, so he told them to forget it. He was especially glad he didn't switch when the Nagas drew number "6" which meant that they would face the Devil Bats first.

After the Devil Bats defeat the Nagas, his personality takes on a more confident attitude, partly due to fact that he didn't have to face off against the former Kantou champions, and partly because his team has a new monstrous lineman that holds the record for the bench press (200 kg). Marco said during an interview that he likes girls with love.

• Position: Quarterback
• Height: 177 cm
• Weight: 66 Kg
• benchpress: 60 kg
• 40-yard dash: 5.2 sec

In one of the later volumes extra material, Marco was stated as a overall S-ranked player.

[edit] Rikiya Gaō

The gigantic lineman playing for the Dinosaurs, he holds the record for bench press in all of Japan (200+ kg) and whose appearance even scares the similarly massive Taiyou lineman Banba. He's larger than any other player shown in the series and is reported to have sent all of his opponents' quarterbacks to the hospital. A regular plastic mouthpiece will not work, since he'll chew it to bits like gum. He uses a titanium alloy mouthpiece. His power is gradually being revealed as he begins to play against Taiyo. His first devastating move in the Tournament was breaking through the Sphinx's newest formation, the Tutankhamen Mask, and pushing down Banba and Harao with ease. By half-time, with the score 32-0 in favor of the Dinosaurs, the entire Taiyou line was out of the match due to injuries from trying to hold Gaō back. The most devastating loss was with Banba as he was carried away on a stretcher. As a result, the Sphinx team was forced to surrender the game.

Surprisingly, Gaō showed a sense of honor rather than being depicted as a wholly violent brute. He admired Banba for his determination to protect the quarterback, even though Harao had long given up the will to win. Hiruma and Kid also noticed that there was more to Gaō than meets the eye, stating that the huge lineman was not suffering from a lack of control of his strength, but rather that Gaō didn't FEEL like controlling it.

After the quarterfinal match, he nearly lost it when one of the fans openly threw insults at Banba, (this was the same arrogant soccer player that Monta and Sena had mistaken for Musashi--Muro Satoshi). This made Gaō lose his temper, causing him to rip off the steel guardrails of the stadium seats and charge into the bleachers. He would have trampled anyone who got in his way and most likely would have crushed the cowardly soccer player. But before he could get to the fan, Riku from the Seibu Wild Gunmen ran to his aid, protecting him and standing up to the monstrous player. It appears that the two will meet again in the semi-finals when Hakushuu and Seibu play each other.

It seems that, now Agon and the Naga have been knocked out of Kantou, Gaō and the Dinosaurs are being lined up as the next 'boss'-style character and team that Sena and the Bats will square off against (that is, if they manage to overcome the White Knights in the semis and the Dinosaurs defeat Seibu).

• Benchpress: 200 kg (high school record)
• Position: Lineman
• Jersey Number: 70

[edit] Misaki Wolves

• Logo: Wolf
• Uniforms and Helmets: The colour is currently unknown, but the shoulders and chest of the jersey bear parallel 'gashes', mimicking wolves' claws. The helmets have a wolf's head on either side.
• Very little is shown of this team. The team leader, Kamiya Taiga, is one of the players interviewed by Kumabukuro Riko shortly before the match against the Shinryuuji Naga.
• The Wolves hail from Hokkaido; their introduction at the tournament lottery says that they "make their way across the land with their fangs, claws and speed".
• This is the first team the Seibu Gunmen play against at the Kantou Tournament, though they are largely a joke; when Riku faces Gaō after the Hakushuu-Taiyou match, they loosely promise to meet at the next level, while the Wolves protest feebly in the background that they have yet to play against Seibu.

[edit] Kamiya Taiga

The Wolves' captain. His position is unclear. He often boasts about his long legs, which help him to run faster. He has short, light-colored hair, much like Riku's, a horizontal scar across his nose, and a fang poking out of his mouth at all times. From the interview with Kumabukuro's daughter, he appears confident to the point of arrogance, saying "You can see my strong point right here, can't you? It's these long legs," while some of the other players decline to mention their advantages (Shin, Marco, and Kid). When asked what players he would watch out for, he says, "Myself! --is probably not the right thing to say ... Agon? Though I'm stronger than he is." Speed appears to be his only tactic. Before the game with Seibu, he also says "The level of my lead makes it feel like 'Kamiya Wolves' already ... Being called the quick shooter gunman, is it some joke? With these long legs, I'll give you instant death." This joke, of course, is overturned on them, as Seibu wins by a large margin (the scoreboard shows 82-14 with some time left in the match).

• Jersey Number: 26

[edit] Sado Strong Golems

• Logo: Golem
• This team is from the Shizuoka area.

[edit] Iwashige Ganjyo

He is shown as a key player in the Sado Strong Golems. His position is unclear. When asked what his strong point is he said it is his rock hard body. But he is a very naive player, who ends up taking bad advice while being manhandled by Oujou in the quarterfinals. His ability to ram into his opponent with his body is impressive, but it proves to be no match against Ootowara's bulk and Shin's Trident Tackle.

[edit] Northern Light Blizzards

• Logo: Mammoth
• They come from Russia
• A team that the Devil Bats play in the "Shoe Cream Cup" anime filler tournament.
• They defeat the Nasa shuttles and lose to Deimon in the final.

[edit] Morgan

The coach of the blizzard. Originally a NFL star running back and the reason Apollo was kicked out of the Armadillo's. Being an NFL star runner has made him a millionaire having earned 20 million dollars a year. He likes glitter so much, that the walls, floors and pillows in his house are gold ingots. His teeth are gold, he wears gold jewelry and has gold leaf tissues.

Eyeshield 21
Media: Manga volumes | Anime episodes and OVA's
Characters: Deimon Devil Bats
Tournaments: Golden Bowl | Autumn Kantou Tournament | Autumn Tokyo Tournament
Games: MAX Devil Power (NDS) | Devilbats Devildays (GBA) | AmeFoot Yarouze! Ya! Ha! (PS2) | Eyeshield 21: Portable Edition (PSP) | Eyeshield 21: Field no Saikyou Senshi Tachi (Wii)