Urusei Yatsura, a manga (1978–1987) and anime (1981–1986) series created by Rumiko Takahashi, has a large ensemble cast which includes many cameo appearances from Japanese mythology and history. Names of some of the characters are below. They are in Western order, with the surname after the given name.
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(諸星あたる)
Ataru Moroboshi is the main protagonist of the series. A lazy student at Tomobiki High School, Class 2-4, Ataru suffers from an incredible amount of bad luck, having been born on Friday the Thirteenth, during a major earthquake, and Butsumetsu, the unluckiest day of the Buddhist calendar.[1] Thanks to this lack of good fortune, his triumph in the game of tag that saved Earth from Oni invasion turned into a defeat for him. His victory statement, intended to confirm his then-girlfriend Shinobu's promise to marry him if he won, was misinterpreted by Lum to be a marriage proposal. Much to his chagrin, she accepted.[2] (Note: The only sources giving the year of his birth indicate that he was born in 1967, but April 13 of that year was a Thursday, not a Friday. Also, a rokuyō calculation indicates this date to be a Shakkō, unlucky except within an hour of midday, not a Butsumetsu.)
Ataru is very lecherous. His main goal in life is to live in the center of a harem composed of exotic and beautiful women, including Lum and most of her alien friends. Usually, he just walks up to a woman he's never met before and asks for her name, phone number, and address. It was physically proven in the film Always My Darling that he is the biggest pervert in the universe. If Lum, who views him as her husband, should witness these usually futile flirting efforts, she regularly zaps him with massive quantities of electricity, but they do nothing to slow him down.[2]
Once he decides to go after a particular female, virtually no force on Earth or any other place in the galaxy can stop him. This tenacity can work to his advantage in dire times, as it makes him determined to succeed regardless of the odds. Ataru may come across as stupid and lazy, but he is actually quite intelligent, able to manipulate situations to his advantage. Though he often tries to escape from Lum and openly flirts with other women, he truly loves Lum but steadfastily refuses to admit it.[1]
Voiced by Toshio Furukawa (original Japanese) and Michael Sinterniklaas (Those Obnoxious Aliens dub), Steve Rassin, and Vinnie Penna (English Movies).
In the French dub of the Urusei Yatsura anime, Ataru's name is Ronnie.
(ラム)
Lum (also referred to in some Western versions as Lamu - since her name in Japanese is technically pronounced "Ramu") is the female protagonist of the series. She is a beautiful Oni alien who is capable of flying and generating electrical shocks and even lightning (resembling the thunder oni Raijin, even in one instance Ataru dreamt of Lum wearing the same drums on her back as Raijin).[2] She is extremely popular and is famous for ending her sentences with ~daccha (loosely translated as “yes?” or “you know?”).[3] Except when in her school-girl’s uniform, human-style common clothes (consisting of jeans, sneakers, a tee-shirt with a jacket), or a swimsuit, she usually wears her standard outfit consisting of a tiger-striped bikini and knee-high go-go boots (of which she has only one of).
While generally good-natured, sweet, faithful, and innocent, Lum also has a very hot temper. Her dream in life is to live in a “Sweet Home with Darling” in which she keeps house and raises the children while Ataru, her "Darling," works a job. Unfortunately, there are some problems with this plan, such as how Lum's idea of "cooking" is to take very spicy ingredients like jalapenos, cayenne peppers and Tabasco sauce and irradiate them with an alien energy bazooka until they carbonize into inedible, crystallized nuggets (though it doesn't seem to bother all non-earth-based life). As an alien she has access to many bizarre gadgets whose use she doesn’t always understand completely, leading to comic results. Differences between human and “Invader” physiology also drive many stories, like the time Lum’s horns begin to grow larger after she is bitten by a cow, or the time she becomes drunk by eating pickled plums (which is similar in manner to the later created Ah! Megami-sama's goddesses).
Voiced by Fumi Hirano in Japanese, by Martha Ellen Senseney in the English Those Obnoxious Aliens, by Larissa Murray in BBC Choice's Lum the Invader Girl dub, by Shannon Settlemyre (in movies 1, 3-6 in English), and Roxanne Beck (Movie 2 dub).
(面堂 終太郎)
Shutaro Mendou is heir to the Mendou Zaibatsu with staggering wealth and its own private army. He commutes to school in a gigantic helicopter that is more like a flying mansion. A descendant of a samurai family, Shutaro often carries a katana with him, which at any moment could be flying at Ataru's face, who has become adept at blocking it with his bare hands.
Although very handsome and intelligent, he is truly just as foolish and lecherous as Ataru, just much more sophisticated in his approach. He takes his role as heir to the vast Mendou fortune extremely seriously. Mendou is vain, narcissistic, charming, overly dramatic, claustrophobic and afraid of the dark, as well as tight spaces. This resulted when he and his friends went back in time to try and cure him of his phobias, and they ended up leaving his child-form locked inside of a large pickling jar. His claustrophobia incredibly disappears as long as a girl can see him, but is often combined with his fear of the dark by a bell being put over him, making it a closed area where a girl can't see him. However, this has resulted in him breaking these bells out of sheer terror, resulting in him becoming considerably stronger than most other characters.[4] In the anime, he will normally scream exactly "It's cramped! It's dark! I'm scared!" over and over again until he is freed from confinement. The girls at school have formed a fan club for him and they will do anything to protect him. Though Shinobu is the closest thing he has to a girlfriend, he loves Lum, tolerating Ataru's presence in order to be close to her. His name can be translated as "trouble maker". Voiced by Akira Kamiya (Japanese), Robert Rogan, Brian Hudson, and Vinnie Penna (English dub).
(三宅 しのぶ)
Ataru's childhood friend and classmate. Until Lum showed up she was also Ataru’s girlfriend. She claimed that if Ataru won the tag game, she would marry him, which while encouraging enough Ataru to win, became his victory cry that led to Lum deciding to marry him. She is a neat, sweet, petite young lady (her name means "patience"). Despite these feminine characteristics, Shinobu often displays super-human strength, with her being one of the strongest characters in the story, able to easily throw the desks of the classroom and almost any other large/heavy object/structure at hand as needed (which has earned her the nickname "Desk Throwing Shinobu", that people she hasn't actually met commonly refer to her as), though not nearly to the extent of Asuka Mizunokoji; however, this strength tends to only show itself in anger involving either Lum or Ataru.[2] In the third movie, she loses her strength in an inaccurate timeline where Lum is stolen away for over a year.
Like most females in her class she develops a crush on Mendou at first sight. She is often part of the main "foursome" consisting of Ataru, Lum, Shutaro, and herself. By the end of the series, however, she gives up on Shuutaro (she finds out that he is engaged to Asuka), but ends up meeting Inaba (see below), who she eventually goes steady with.
Voiced by Saeko Shimazu, Katherine Burten (Those Obnoxious Aliens), and Danielle Sullivan (English Movies). -In the French dub of the UY TV series, Shinobu is renamed Gaelle.
Fujinami Ryūnosuke (藤波 竜之介)
Ryuunosuke is a classmate of Ataru. She is a girl, but her eccentric father has raised her as a boy, demanding that she hide her breasts in a tight sarashi chest-wrap (with him using the excuse that they are "tumors" on his "son" if this action is questioned). At school she wears the same uniform as the male students (due to her father not allowing her to have female clothing of any kind, including even a bra, let alone a girl's class uniform), and is often treated as a male. Even her name sounds masculine. Ryuunosuke is kind, but her father constantly antagonizes her and pulls her into destructive fights, one of the reasons for their extreme poverty as they manage to destroy everything around them. They run the school store, and live on-campus. In the summer they also continue to run a decrepit seaside restaurant called Hamajaya (Hama Tea Shop)... when it isn't destroyed by their fighting.[2] She is quite sensitive about being called a boy, and will do almost anything to convince the unknowing person that she is a girl; many times that this happens, her father will suddenly show up, just to interfere and try to convince them that she's a boy.
Ryuunosuke's greatest desire is to behave appropriately for her gender, but she has had no female role models while growing up. Shortly after her introduction, she briefly used Ran as a role model, though her gender was confused once again. Any attempt to obtain feminine clothing is thwarted by her father, as well as learning virtually anything about her mother (about the only thing she thinks she can believe him about is that she was beautiful). Despite (or due to) dressing in a masculine fashion, members of both sexes are attracted to her. The boys in her class (especially Ataru) address her as "Ryuu-chan", while the girls call her by the masculine "Ryuunosuke-kun". Additionally, Valentine's Day results in her getting considerably more Valentines than even Mendou, due to getting from boys and girls alike. Ryuunosuke also tends to be a bit clueless about certain things of the world; due to her being motherless since extremely young; her father's extreme selfishness rampaged as he liked, telling Ryuunosuke lies about anything he wanted since she had no way of knowing any different. (Such as saying that a certain food is poisonous just so he can safely eat it while she's not looking, or that Valentines are bad so he can take all of hers for his own purposes.) Since associating with people other than just her father, this has led to a number of embarrassing situations for her (while also clearing up many of these misinformations), as well as her losing faith in almost anything her father claims now. About the only thing he can consistently trick her with is information about her mother, of which he never really reveals anything, using it as yet another way to trick or just make fun of Ryuunosuke. (Though, there may be the possibility that either he has really forgotten or has some special reason for not letting her know)
Throughout the series, a number of boys and girls develop crushes for her, but she is quite straight, though none of the boys commonly around her are of an interest to her, nor is she really looking for a relationship in the first place. However, late in the series, she encounters the ghosts of her father's friend and his son, Nagisa, whom it had been decided would marry Ryuunosuke. Events happen and Nagisa gets brought back to life. However, he has the same, though reversed, quirk in his upbringing as Ryuunosuke: he was raised as a girl, and as such acts like and dresses as a girl (which everyone had initially believed him to be). Despite this, he is even stronger than Ryuunosuke, which she doesn't really like. As things happen, he ends up moving in with Ryuunosuke and her father.
This gender-bending character is seen as the prototype for Ranma Saotome.[2]
Voiced by Mayumi Tanaka and Morgan Jarrett (English).
Shirai Kōsuke (白井 コースケ)
Ataru's classmate and best friend. He is essentially a background character and is often involved with Ataru's usual mischief. Though at times he seems to be in love with Lum (like all of the male students), he has a girlfriend of his own and mainly just serves as a voice for the rest of the class. He does not appear in the TV series, movies, or the original OAV series, and his roles and lines are given to Lum's Stormtroopers, usually to Perm. His name comes from the then chief editor at Shogakukan Kousuke Shirai (白井 康介 Shirai Kōsuke). Voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the new OVA.
Lum's Stormtroopers are four schoolboys from the same class as Ataru who are in love with Lum and have sworn to protect her from Ataru. They are best friends but often end up fighting amongst themselves when the situation involves Lum. These characters do not exist in the manga; however, unnamed characters with similar faces do exist until the first appearance of Mendou. Along with every major character in the series and some of the more memorable one-shot characters, they were included in the cover art for the final chapter of the manga.
(メガネ)
The leader of the Stormtroopers, whose nickname means "eyeglasses".[2] An otaku in every sense, he loves Lum immensely, and has sworn to serve her. Megane has a strong personality and generally directs the schemes of the Stormtroopers to gain Lum's attention (though mostly for himself). He closely monitors the actions of the others to prevent them from looking at other girls, and to ensure their complete loyalty to Lum. Though usually antagonistic towards Ataru, he often hangs out with him in his spare time. He is often given to loud, rambling philosophical musings and outbursts, and seems to have an affinity for fascism and communism. His real name is Satoshi. Voiced by Chiba Shigeru, Marc Garber (Those Obnoxious Aliens), Colin Hackman, and Craig Wollman (Movies).
Pāma (パーマ)
His nickname is derived from his hairstyle ("permanent"),[2] he is tall and skinny (though his nameless Manga counterpart had quite a fatter form). Perm often displays the most character development, including being the only one of the Stormtroopers to have a visible girlfriend. Voiced by Akira Murayama, Adrian Monte, Jonathon Guggenheim (Those Obnoxious Aliens).
(チビ)
His nickname is derived from his height ("chibi" means "small" or "short"),[2] he is a timid crybaby, speaks with a cracked voice, and is often beaten up by the rest of the Gang of Four. He is often together with Kakugari. He also has buck teeth like that of a beaver's (though his nameless Manga counterpart did not have this). His real name is Akira. Voiced by Issei Futamata, Steven Paul.
(カクガリ)
His nickname is derived from his hairstyle ("kakugari" means "crew cut"), he has a large build. He is the least used of the stormtroopers, often seen with Chibi. He is also the one who beats up Chibi the most. His real name is Hiroyuki. Voiced by Shinji Nomura, Langley McArol.
(弁天)
Lum's childhood friend. Her character is named after Shichifukujin Benzaiten (one of the Seven Lucky Gods), the Shinto goddess of knowledge, art, and beauty.[2] This Benten is a "space biker chick" who wears a plate-mail bikini, sports a "butch" hair style, tears around the sky on a red airbike, curses like a longshoreman, and carries a high-tech bazooka. Her arrival on the scene is often heralded by artillery fire. She holds an annual battle against Lum's Oni clan on Setsubun. Aside from being a good hand-to-hand fighter and having the aforementioned bazooka, she appears to have no special powers. As children, Benten and Lum often instigated trouble that usually resulted in Ran getting hurt. Voiced by Yūko Mita, Satu Rautaharju, Natasha Malinsky (English).
(おユキ)
Oyuki is the princess of Neptune,[2] which in the series is a frozen, snowy planet populated entirely by women, as most of the men have to go off-planet to find work. As a child she used to hang out with Lum, Ran, and Benten when they were all in elementary school. Of the four of them she is the only one who wasn't ever in trouble (likely to her cool level-headedness, even at a young age, she would stay just out of being part of the trouble).
She is clearly patterned after the yuki-onna (literally "snow woman") of Japanese folklore. As such, she has the power to control and create ice, snow, and extreme cold. Typically dressed in a long, elegant kimono, Oyuki is soft-spoken, regal in demeanor and very slow to show anger (though Ran seems able to simply feel Oyuki's anger, real or imagined, though she is usually not believed when she shows her fear about it). However, once roused to actually display her abilities she proves to be the most powerful character in the series. Because of the wrath she displays when angered, Oyuki is the only person in the entire galaxy that Ran genuinely fears; after a certain incident Lum and Benten recognize why, having barely avoiding getting themselves crushed, frozen, or icicle-speared when Oyuki rampaged. Her name means " noble snow ".
She met Ataru after a portal to Neptune opened up in the back of his closet.
Voiced by Noriko Ohara and Jaime Phelps (English).
(ラン)
Lum's 'best' childhood friend. She appears to be a sweet and lovely redhead, but in actuality has a violent, evil side. Her special power is the ability to suck the vitality out of a person’s mouth while kissing them, making her resemble a hone-onna (the Japanese equivalent to a succubus). She can also use this power in reverse. As a child, Ran was often hurt or got into trouble because of the antics of the more carefree and irresponsible Lum. Also, she is in love with Rei who unfortunately still loves Lum.[2] For these reasons, she came to Earth in order to get revenge against Lum. To do this, she pretends to like Ataru, flirting with him consistently (Ran is the only other character than Lum who calls Ataru "darling"), just so she can kiss him and drain his youth away; however, after she finally does manage to do so, it failed (due to a youth potion made by Cherry that Ataru mistook for medicine). Since then, she has changed tactics to getting revenge 'directly' at Lum, usually dragging in everyone nearby as well; these bouts of revenge are usually triggered by her calm and friendly reminiscing of the past leading her to remember something unpleasant.[2] Ran is an excellent cook, always hoping against hope that the way to Rei's heart is through his stomach. She is also the only other alien who studies in Tomobiki High, but she is in a different class from Lum. Her name means " orchid " but also " civil war ". Voiced first by You Inoue in the first two seasons, then Kazue Komiya onwards in the Japanese version, and Morgan Jarrett (English).
(レイ)
Rei is a very handsome oni, to the point of wooing almost any girl just by them seeing his face (which often causes despair to other males who were popular from just their good looks, or seeing their girlfriend/wife go after Rei). While he is constantly interested in eating, he has a muscular yet slim build, which furthers his good looks. He has the ability to transform into an "ushitora," a huge creature resembling a cross between a tiger and a bull.[2] Rei has not yet learned to speak Japanese fully, so he can only speak 1-5 words at a time in Japanese. When younger, Ran and Lum were both in love with him, for his looks, with him becoming engaged to Lum, breaking Ran's heart and driving her to hate and seek revenge against her childhood friend. Lum eventually broke up with him, no longer able to tolerate Rei's low, simple intelligence and obsession with food; however he followed her to Earth to regain her love, becoming extremely jealous of Ataru and would transform when enraged. The name Rei have many means but in this case it means " zero " . Lum's rejection to him is quite similar to Ranma 1/2's Shampoo to Mousse. Voiced by Tesshō Genda and Jeremy Griffin (English Movies).
In the English dub Lum the Invader Girl aired on BBC Choice in the UK, Rei's name was Anglicized to Raymond.
(テン)
Lum's infant cousin. He is often called "Ten-chan" by Lum and many of the other main female characters, the male characters often call him by his full-name “Jari-Ten” (in Japanese, adding "jari-" is similar to "brat"). In the anime he comes to earth after flying in a spaceship inside a "peach" (a reference to the Japanese folktale of Momotaro) to live with Lum in the Moroboshi household when his Oni powers first manifest. He appeared much earlier in the anime (making his debut in Episode Two) than in the Manga.
Ten has a single horn on his head, can breathe fire, flies very slowly, and wears a tiger striped diaper. He and Ataru utterly loathe each other and often fight, though in some ways they tend to display some similarities in their personalities, including girl-chasing. in some ways they are similar to brothers. Ten has a crush on Sakura, but unlike Ataru he is more successful in getting close to her because of his age-based cuteness.
Voiced by Kazuko Sugiyama, Mindi L. Lyons (Those Obnoxious Aliens) Shannon Settlemyre (Movies 1, 3-6 dubs) and Paula Parker (Movie 2 dub)
Also holds a cameo appearance in "Gokudo" episode 17.
A trio of teenage girls who currently attend the same junior high school that Lum, Benten, and Oyuki did. Due to their seniors' reputation for causing mischief, the Gang of Three seeks to outdo their predecessors by defeating them in combat, but most of the time, they resort to simple pranks and underhanded schemes. Each of the girls have a special ability that they can use at will. They also hold the rare distinction of not being pursued by the lustful Ataru although he did try to ask for their number in their debut episode. In the next episode after their debut appearance, they had a cameo appearance sitting on the far right of the tomobiki classroom.
Sugar is the leader of the gang and devises all plans to defeat Lum, Benten, and Oyuki. She wears a Chinese-style tunic and bun hairstyle. Sugar has the ability to blend in with her surroundings to the point of invisibility but isn't difficult understand where she is. Voiced by TARAKO.
Ginger has cat ears, and is able to slow down her bodily functions to the point that an untrained observer will believe that she is dead. Voiced by Chika Sakamoto.
Pepper can shed her skin at will, which remains a single piece. She remains fully clothed when she uses this power. It is worth noting that other characters can pick up her discarded skin and wear it as a suit, and which Ataru tries, much to his sorrow. Voiced by Rumiko Ukai.
Sakuranbō/Cherī (錯乱坊/チェリー)
Sakura's wandering monk uncle. Cherry's real surname is Sakuranbou, which literally means “cherry” in Japanese.[2] But because the word's kanji can be read to mean "deranged monk," a phrase that is quite accurate in describing him, he prefers to be called by the English word as he thinks that the monastic life is very similar to a cherry " sweet ouside and all cor inside ". Cherry has amazing spiritual powers (or so he claims) and he often predicts doom for Ataru. He has a habit of popping up out of nowhere, often from very strange places, and, in the anime, followed immediately by a large explosion (which can be merely comedic or causing actual damage to the area).[2] His ugly face and very short stature are frequently used for comedic effect, or even as a defense against attackers. Cherry has made a vow of asceticism, living in a tent in an empty lot not far from Ataru's house. However, his vow apparently doesn't apply to food, as he is exceedingly gluttonous, and often offers his services in exchange for a free meal (or simply blatantly eating other's food despite not planning to help with anything, often eating everything before anyone else can have any). He is often seen in the company of cats, especially Kotatsu-neko. Voiced by Ichiro Nagai and Eric Paisley (Those Obnoxious Aliens).
(サクラ)
In Japanese “Sakura” means “cherry blossom.” She was once a very sickly girl who suffered from a variety of ailments. Many of them were the result of spirits that infested her body. After meeting Ataru the first time, she tried to exorcise him, during which process, the demons who inhabited her transferred themselves to the unlucky young man, rendering her perfectly healthy. Soon afterward, she took a job as the Tomobiki High school nurse, where she again encountered Ataru and half accidentally exorcised the disease spirit still haunting him from that encounter. Like her uncle she loves eating and sometimes gets into a fight with him over it.
Sakura makes her living as both a school nurse and as a Shinto priestess or miko.[2] Unlike her mother (Cherry's twin sister), Sakura is tall, slender and physically attractive, the latter of which causes her incredible amounts of problems; from the lecherous boys of the school to Mr. Onsen to even hordes of demons, her beauty draws a lot of unwanted attention (It doesn't help that she's already in a relationship). The boys have been known to purposely injure themselves in order to see her. Like her uncle, she possesses an unbelievably enormous appetite, and has been shown to be able to not only eat as much as him, but out-eat him by far, despite never seeming to gain an ounce (and then still be interested in eating afterward). Sakura is extremely powerful and can summon foul and baleful creatures from Japanese folklore, by virtue of her mystical training. Sakura's relationship with her fiance Tsubame would later serve as an inspiration to Godai and Kyoko's relationship in the series, "Maison Ikkoku".
Voiced by Machiko Washio and Karen McIntyre (English Movies).
Ozuno Tsubame (尾津乃つばめ)
Sakura's fiance,[2] Tsubame is mellow and somewhat weak-willed in comparison to the strong and powerful Sakura. He is also a magician, trained in Western magic but with very little success.[2] Tsubame and Sakura's dates are typically watched by Lum, Ataru, Shinobu, and Mendou, which always causes them to fail, usually a result of Ataru's flirting. When that doesn't do it, something else usually gets in the way. Tsubame strongly resembles Godai from Rumiko's other work "Maison Ikkoku" (which she also worked on while working on Urusei Yatsura.)
Tsubame is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue (original Japanese), Sean P. O'Connell (dub for public TV), and Eric Meyers (dub for BBC 3).
(コタツネコ)
Literally, "Kotatsu Cat." This is a giant ghost cat that goes to great lengths to sit under a kotatsu because it hates being cold. He originally was a kitten who was abandoned centuries ago and froze to death, so the spirit does little else but seek out warmth. He often can be seen as a companion for either Cherry or the Tomobiki High Principal, usually enjoying tea with them. He also occasionally acts as a companion to Ten which could be in part due to Ten's ability to breathe fire. Kotatsuneko's favorite food is taiyaki and is rarely seen not eating one. Although mostly harmless, he can easily defend himself when threatened as he is the most physically powerful character in the series (in one TV episode, he easily defeats an obvious parody of the character Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star). Only Oyuki has managed to defeat him, probably due to his vulnerability to cold. Kotatsuneko doesn't often play a pivotal role in the stories but he always seems to be present in scenes, providing a somewhat comedic presence with the authority that is often given to a school official.
Kotatsuneko is voiced by Tomohiro Nishimura.
Mendō Ryōko (面堂了子)
The younger sister of Shuutaro, Ryoko is a spoiled girl whose only amusement seems to be the creation and execution of elaborate plans intended to drive her older brother mad. Sometimes, just for fun, she flirts with Ataru, whom her brother has banned from setting foot inside the massive Mendou Mansion (not that it ever stops him). Her schemes frequently drag Lum and her friends along and result in massive physical damage to all involved, especially Shuutaro, except herself. She is attended to by masked kuroko who perform her every wish.[2] Ryoko says she is in love with Shuutaro's rival Tobimaro Mizunokoji, but we're not sure if she's serious, since she has said the same thing about Ataru and her brother's personal guard, Shingo. She excels at playing the innocent bystander, even as she sets up all the carnage that surrounds her. Ryoko's surname is spelled Mendo in the English manga.
Ryoko is voiced by Mami Koyama (original Japanese), Michele Seidman (dub produced for public TV and movie 3 dub), Toni Barry (dub for BBC 3).
Mizunokōji Tobimaro (水乃小路飛麿)
The son of the second richest family in Japan and Mendou's rival. Also called "Ton". Although he and Mendou were childhood friends—they still call each other "Ton-chan" and "Shuu-chan"—they had a falling out concerning a long-standing baseball rivalry, even though neither is any good at baseball—Ton can't pitch and Mendou cannot swing, and so Ton returns to settle the score. At first, he is also disgusted by women, a notion that he is unaware of when he orders Lum off the baseball diamond only to learn that aluminum bats conduct electricity. Tobimaro takes a warrior's approach to the game, training in the mountains year-round. Despite his immense wealth, he does not take advantage of it the way his rival does, choosing instead to dress in a ragged samurai robe and carries his bats on his back. He has also shown the odd ability to eat nearly anything (whole) that enters his mouth and fully regurgitate the same, most notably baseballs; however, he apparently can handle other things, such as when his sister fed him an entire bowl of rice he ate the whole thing including the bowl. There is a woman in his life: Ryoko Mendou, who scares him to death because of her love of torture. After he learns of his sister and her quickly developed terror of males, he refuses to accept her mistaken love for him, despite the frequent pain and extreme bodily damage that results. Though he carries himself with an air of nobility, his clumsiness ruins the effect. His eyes have star-shaped pupils, something Takahashi did as a spoof of a 1970s sports manga; she later made it a defining characteristic of the entire Mizunokoji family (except Tobimaro's father, who is the adopted son-in-law of the Mizunokoji family, and Tobimaro inherited the name from his mother).
Ton is voiced by Bin Shimada (original Japanese), Scott Whiteside (dub for public TV and movie 4 dub), David Jarvis (dub for BBC 3).
Tobimaro's sister. The very beautiful and petite girl was isolated, according to the Mizonokoji family's tradition, from any and all males from the moment of her birth until the age of 16, at which time an omiai will be held for her to get married. As such, even her brother was unaware of her existence until then.
Thanks to her daily training and the genetics she inherited from her mother, she is insanely strong (once tearing a completely armored tank apart and fashioning it into a makeshift suit of armor on herself with her bare hands), as well as very athletic (being able to run 100 metres within 12 seconds, while wearing her 200 kilogram suit of armour). Nevertheless she is extremely timid and deathly afraid of males (as a result of her isolation), in part because the first one she ever met was Ataru Moroboshi. Now whenever she sees one, she pushes him away, screams "Eek! A maaan!" ("Aa~! Otokoo~!") (ああ～！おとこ～～！), and runs in terror at high speed from all males, not heeding any obstacles unfortunate to be in her path (such as buildings).
Due to her being raised not even knowing the existence of or what a "male" is, Asuka is very confused about gender roles and family ties. Due to an early explanation on the subject, which was not received clearly, she feels romantic urges toward her elder brother, Tobimaro, and often sneaks into his bed at night. In addition, she believes Shuutaro Mendou is also her “big brother” because she once overheard Ryoko Mendou refer to him that way. Asuka is engaged to Shuutaro in an Omiai, by arrangement of their parents, as a means of ending the age-old Mendou-Mizunokoji family rivalry. Unfortunately, as a simple "light hug" from her causes multiple broken bones and internal injuries, it seems unlikely that this relationship will ever be consummated, as Shuutaro is rather terrified of being crushed.
Voiced by Sumi Shimamoto.
Kurama (クラマ)
The "crow princess". A humanoid female from an alien race of crow tengu, she is destined to mate with the man that awakens her from her slumber with a kiss. Unfortunately for her, that person turns out to be Ataru. Although she has no real desire to sleep with him, for the sake of her race, she goes to great lengths in an attempt to turn the perverted letch into a man worthy of fathering her children while fighting off both Lum and Shinobu.[2]
Her father was Yoshitsune Minamoto, one of the legendary figures of Japanese history, whom Kurama considers to be her ideal man. It was also later found that the current mating traditions of her race were set in place by an ancient ancestor who had his children the same way, and merely wanted that memory to last forever. However, this reason had been untold to the immediately following generation and as such all to follow, leading to Kurama's eventual discovery and great annoyance at it having caused her so much troubles.
Future efforts to find a husband also failed due to some kind of flaw about the person: Mendou is too similar to Ataru, Ryuunosuke is actually a girl, and Rei turns into a hideous ushitora creature. It did not help matters that all of the individuals she sought out to be her mate happened to live in the same area as Ataru, who continues to try to get her to follow through with him.
Kurama is voiced by Rihoko Yoshida (original Japanese), Daisy Talley (dub for public TV and movie 1 dub), Stacey Jefferson (dub for BBC 3).
Ataru no Chichi (あたるの父)
A typical salaryman. Wearing a yukata around the house, he desires a nice and quiet homelife. In the anime his home is frequently destroyed, causing him to lament over the mortgage. He's most often portrayed reading the newspaper, something he appears to have endless copies of as he pulls another one out after the other after someone takes his away or destroys it. Quiet, timid, and possessing very little dignity, he tries his best to hide his face behind the newspaper during bad situations, often wishing he'd be treated better since he's the sole provider for the family. Like his wife, he tends to treat their "daughter-in-law" better than their son as they prefer having a daughter (especially compared to their lecherous fool of a son).
He is voiced by Kenichi Ogata (original Japanese), Marc Matney (dub for public TV), Alan Marsh (dub for BBC3), Jerry Winsett (movies 1 and 3-6 dubs), Larry Robinson (movie 2 dub).
Ataru no Haha (あたるの母)
A typical housewife. In early chapters, she often says "I never should've had him" (産むんじゃなかった Umun ja nakatta) when Ataru causes problems. Mrs. Moroboshi is frequently so embarrassed by Ataru's antics that she is afraid to show her face in public (for good reason, because Ataru is a constant source of juicy gossip for her neighbours), and especially dreads going to his school for parent-teacher conferences. She sometimes dreams that a handsome young man (like Rei) will take her away from her miserable life. At numerous times she has shown to have been part of the source of Ataru's personality, acting selfishly, shifting blame, and yelling (though more often in frustration). Despite this, she also shows her caring nature, such as increasing her husband's lunch money while they were nearly out of money. She narrates the first half of the 1982 Urusei Yatsura Special Episode and later plays the lead role in anime episode 78 Pitiful! Mother of Love and Banishment!? (みじめ! 愛とさすらいの母!? Mijime! Ai to sasurai no Haha!?). She is often portrayed with a kitchen knife, as she is often in the middle of cooking. She claims that her family is from the upper middle income group.
She is voiced by Natsumi Sakuma (original Japanese), Dorothy Rankin (dub for public TV), Stacey Jefferson (dub for BBC3), Belinda Keller (movies 1 and 3-6 dubs), Jackie Tantillo (movie 2 dub).
Lum's father, also known as Mr. Invader, is a huge, pudgy oni, and tends to be loud and scary. However, he is just as afraid of his wife (Lum's mother) as Ataru is of Lum, as evidenced by the time that she threw Mr. Invader out of the house when he got mad at her trying to put him on a diet (he went to live with the Moroboshi family, much to their horror). Lum's mother is a pretty woman who can only speak in the oni language, which appears in the manga as Mahjong tiles, and in the subtitled anime as Greek lettering. She can produce electric shocks, like Lum, in the anime. Like Lum, they can fly, but they never show any other obvious powers in the manga. Lum's father is voiced by Ritsuo Sawa (Japanese), David Krause (Those Obnoxious Aliens) and Anthony Lawson (Movies) and Lum's mother is voiced by Reiko Yamada (Japanese) and Kristen Foster (English).
Ten's mother is rarely seen, even by Ten. She is a firefighter who takes great pride in her work. When Ten was living with her, she would tell him stories of her work in the field, expressing her contempt for arsonists and pyromaniacs, who she feels should be sent straight to Hell. She is very busy and would leave him with a robotic nanny, which has contributed to his precociousness. Additionally, her arrival at a fire is accompanied by a tidal wave. Since her son breathes fire and uses his power liberally, he lives in terror of what will happen should she ever find out. She gets into a frenzy whenever she does her work. Despite that, she shows that she loves Ten very much, despite the rareness of her being able to visit him. Voiced by Keiko Yokozawa.
Ryuunosuke's father is a very creepy individual. His family ran a small seaside teashop for generations, and he seeks an heir to continue the business after he dies. However, he believes that only a man can run it and his late wife Masako left him only a daughter, Ryuunosuke. Not one to let that get in his way, he proceeded to raise her as a boy and succeeded in making her a man among men, if only she were a man. Mr. Fujinami refused to let Ryuunosuke get a bra, forcing her to wrap her bosom for support, which he claims will reduce the prominence of the sizable "tumors" on her chest.
He usually refers to her as his son, which incurs his daughter's wrath. This conflict, caused by the fact that she wants to be more feminine, leads to constant fights, one of which destroyed Hamachiya and left them homeless. When Ryuunosuke enrolled at Tomobiki High, he took charge of the school store where they both live. On a side note, he is inspired almost entirely by the sea. If he gets too motivated, he shouts "I LOVE THE SEA!!" ("UMI GA SUKI!!"),[2] which is accompanied by a massive tidal wave regardless of his location. The primary cast generally sides with his daughter in their frequent clashes. He also has a habit of lying to Ryuunosuke about anything to suit his own needs or desires, such as saying that the misaki mushroom was poisonous so he could eat it, or put a paralisis in Ryuunosuke food. While growing up, she had no reason to doubt him, so she always believed him; now that she's older (and is actually associating with people other than her father) she is learning that many things he said were lies, and knows better than to believe him about almost anything. The thing he lies about most is his wife, only willing to say general things like "she was beautiful", but never giving any real information; this is a difficult thing for Ryuunosuke to try to counter, regardless of age, since she sincerely wants to know about her mother, leading her to often fall for some trick at the hands of her father. However, it is possible that he has forgotten what she looks like altogether. Voiced by Masahiro Anzai and Langley McArol.
Seen only in flashbacks. Ran's mother was an extremely strict parent. She always blamed Ran for many misdeeds that Lum committed as a young girl and constantly punished her with a severe spanking - for example, when Lum wet Ran's bed then switched places with Ran during a sleepover, Ran's mother blamed and spanked her. Of course, it didn't help that Lum usually fearfully denied that she was at fault when Ran tried to explain the situation; however, in one instance, Lum attempted to make amends by confessing to something that was actually Ran's fault, but Ran's mother didn't believe her and punished Ran anyway, accusing her of talking Lum into taking the blame (saying that she was more angry about the "forced confession" than the original problem).
In the present, these many mispunishments are one of the main reasons for Ran's twisted personality and why she came to Earth to seek revenge on Lum (as well as to be away from her mother).
Voiced by Yukiko Nashiwa.
Onsen Māku (温泉マーク)
The English teacher of the "Classroom of Failure", originally contracted by the Principal of Tomobiki via the "Trump-Card Teachers" Organization. A sad, middle-aged man, whose only interest is to teach at Tomobiki High, but he fails due to the constant interruptions during class, when the classroom itself is not destroyed by Lum, Ten or Shinobu. Outside of school, he lives the life of a loser, residing in a flophouse apartment, with an unrequited love for Sakura.[2] Perhaps this is what causes his drive to keep order in his class - his only possible source of pride. In the past he has shown possible evidence of a lolita complex by showing interest in the girls in his class (though, never acting on it; the same girls also affect the rest of the male cast the same way). His nickname can be roughly translated as "onsen Mark", the hot spring mark on his jacket and tie.[2] He first appeared in the second season.
Onsen-Mark is voiced by Michihiro Ikemizu (original Japanese), Bradley Evans (dub for public TV and movies 3-6 dubs), Sean Barret (dub for BBC 3), T. Roy Barnes (movie 2 dub).
(花和先生)
A teacher at Tomobiki High. Overly chipper and naive, his complete reaction to discovering Lum could fly was to urge her to wear gym shorts under her skirt so her underwear wouldn't show. He doesn't believe aliens exist, even after seeing Lum fly. Indeed his response to Lum calling her spaceship was to state that it wasn't a ufo (Which Lum always called it) because U means unidentified, and it was identified as belonging to Lum. Hanawa is voiced by Rokuro Naya (original Japanese).
Kōchō-sensei (校長先生)
The principal of Tomobiki High School. A soft-spoken, balding, nearsighted middle-aged man, he treats all of the weird goings-on at the school as harmless student shenanigans. He occasionally instigates the weirdness, however, like the time the entire student body was called on to compete in teams to create the largest bust of himself possible using only rice paste. He is often seen sitting at the kotatsu in his office, sharing tea and taiyaki with his friend Kotatsu Neko. Not unlike Onsen-Mark, he has shown mild attraction to his female students (though no more than any other male, and never acting on it; it is more of an admiration than an attraction. He does admire any beauty when he sees it.). He first appeared in the second season. The principal is voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura (original Japanese), Jeremy Griffin (dub for public TV and movie 4 dub), Draidyl Roberts (movie 2 dub).
Mainly seen in episode 87 of the anime, there are two other teachers portrayed in the series. They referred to themselves as Teacher A and Teacher B. Teacher A (presumably a science teacher) has spiky blue hair and swirly glasses, also wearing a lab coat. Teacher B (presumably a social studies teacher) wears a formal green suit, and has brown hair. As known their only purpose was to faint after eating the apparently euphoric mushrooms.
Based on the Japanese myth of Kintarō, he is a pre-schooler who wields a large axe and rides a flying bear. He is best friends with Ten, but only displays a general loathing of Ataru, who is attracted to his teacher. He appears in the anime more frequently than the manga. After his debut, he set off across the world robbing people with his battleaxe.
Soban is a gang leader of Butsumetsu High School who has enormous lips. He is often seen chasing Shinobu. He is voiced by Kaneda Kimotsuki.
A young kitsune (fox) that develops a crush for Shinobu when he first meets her. He often hears various myth stories that he decides to try for himself to get Shinobu's attention and love. As a kitsune, he is capable of transformation, but is unskilled at it, retaining his natural size, tail, and always has the same voice. Also, he usually fails to pick the best transformation for the situation, such as copying Ataru when he is right by him and trying to convince everyone that he's the real Ataru. When he isn't transformed, he only communicates as a fox, with the sound of "Kon!" He also shows a lack of knowledge of the modern human world, such as when he believes a picture of someone to be them trapped in the painting, and thus becoming confused when he sees two pictures of Shinobu while she is with him. Often used as a cute character for simple, kind plots (for his part, at least).
(因幡)
An employee at the Fate Production Bureau (運命製造管理局 Unmei Seizou Kanrikyoku) which makes doorknobs to the Dream Realm. A bumbling yet kind-hearted young man, he wears a rabbit costume which allows him to travel freely to and from subspace. Debuting late in the series (Vol. 31), he still plays an important role. He ends up falling in love with Shinobu after she finds him passed out and hungry in the street and gives him some food. Eventually he and Shinobu become a couple.
Inaba is voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki (original Japanese), Jonathan Soronen (movie 5 dub), Edward Glen (dub for BBC 3).
(真吾)
A young man who grew up all alone in the Mendou Family Electric Jungle and was "raised" by a TV which he believes to be alive (He calls it "Grandfather.") He has built up a resistance to electricity and therefore cannot be affected by Lum's shocks. Shingo falls in love with Lum and kidnaps her, but when she is rescued by Ataru and the others Shingo falls in love with Shinobu. He later becomes Mendou's personal ninja bodyguard.
Shingo is voiced by Tōru Furuya (original Japanese).
Shiowatari Nagisa (潮渡渚)
His father is a close friend of Ryuunosuke's father and the two of them run a second Hamachaya. Though a guy, he was raised as and therefore looks and behaves like a girl. Long ago he was engaged to Ryuunosuke through their parents, and fell in love with her upon meeting her. He is the Yokozuna of the Annual Beach Sumo Tournament and is quite strong, so strong in fact that Ryuunosuke cannot compete with him. Because the Hamachaya had been seeing poor business, he and his father decided to introduce sea urchin-flavored kakigori to their menu, but they both died from overeating. As a result they are ghosts upon introduction, but later Nagisa gets a new flesh-and-blood body and moves in with Ryuunosuke.
Nagisa is voiced by Mitsuki Yayoi (original Japanese)