List of Knights of Sidonia characters

This is a list of the characters for the manga/anime series Knights of Sidonia by Tsutomu Nihei.

Main characters

Nagate Tanikaze (谷風 長道, Tanikaze Nagate)

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

The series main protagonist, who was raised by his grandfather Hiroki Saitō deep inside Sidonia, thus he did not undergo the special genetic treatment to develop the ability to sustain himself through photosynthesis and must eat on a daily basis like a regular human for nutrition. Later it is revealed he is actually Saitō's clone, inheriting not only engineered features like fast wound recovery and immortality, but also Saitō's natural talent as a pilot and warrior. Trained since childhood on a Guardian simulator, Nagate is entrusted with Saitō's Guardian, the legendary Type-17 "Tsugumori" (継衛), and just like him, he eventually becomes Sidonia's top ace, saving the ship from the Gauna invasion on several occasions. Nagate later is entrusted with most advanced units, like the first prototype of Sidonia's Type-19, an upgraded version of Tsugumori, the "Tsugumori Custom 2" (継衛改二, Tsugumori kai ni), and the first prototype of Sidonia's Type-20, labeled "Yukimori" (劫衛). Initially assigned the call number TS-028, he is later designated unit 704 when he is promoted to full pilot status.

Shizuka Hoshijiro (星白 閑, Hoshijiro Shizuka)

Voiced by: Aya Suzaki (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English)

A fellow Guardian Pilot, ranked number two among the trainees, who Nagate meets and becomes his love interest. Initially assigned to call number TS-336, she is assigned to unit 702 when she is promoted to full pilot. She is later killed and absorbed by the Gauna 490 who use her DNA and memories to develop a powerful Guardian-like Gauna known as Crimson Hawk Moth (紅天蛾, Benisuzume). A placenta sample resembling her is also retrieved by Nagate, and Ochiai impregnates it using human DNA to create Tsumugi and Kanata.

Izana Shinatose (科戸瀬 イザナ, Shinatose Izana)

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English)

Belonging to a new, hermaphrodite third gender that originated during the hundreds of years of human emigration into space, Izana is also a Guardian pilot and quickly becomes Nagate's best friend and roommate, later falling in love with him. This attraction causes Izana's body to undergo a transformation into that of a female. In the manga, Izana loses an arm and a leg during her first sortie as a pilot, and has them replaced with prosthetic limbs that allow her to operate complex machinery with far more skill than an ordinary person. She retains all of her natural limbs in the anime adaptation. Initially TS-291, Izana is later assigned to unit 723. Izana is referred to using gender neutral pronouns in the original Japanese dialogue. Because the English language lacks an appropriate equivalent, she is often referred to using feminine pronouns for the sake of simplicity.

Yuhata Midorikawa (緑川 纈, Midorikawa Yuhata)

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Lindsay Torrance (English)

A friend of Nagate and Izana, she later develops feelings for Nagate and competes with Izana for his attention. Initially TS-256, upon graduation from the academy, she was promoted to being the commander's aide after Seii returns to full-time piloting duty, eventually moving into Nagate's home.

Tsumugi Shiraui (白羽衣 つむぎ, Shiraui Tsumugi)

Voiced by: Aya Suzaki (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English)

A Gauna/human hybrid created by Kunato Developments for fighting against the Gauna. Similar in size to a Guardian, but having a Gauna-like appearance in the shape of a young woman wearing a dress. Tsumugi eventually becomes friends with Nagate and Izana, usually interacting with them using a tentacle she sneaks in through the ship's ventilation system while the rest of her body stays in her chambers. Tsumugi displays a gentle, curious, child-like demeanor under most circumstances, but her prowess in combat is rivaled only by Nagate's. Just like Shizuka, she eventually develops feelings for Nagate and much to her surprise, he ends up accepting them, despite her inhuman form.

Teruru Ichigaya (市ヶ谷 テルル, Ichigaya Teruru)

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura

A gynoid developed with the purpose of avoiding detection from the Gauna, she is the sole survivor of a colonization expedition on the planet Lem VII. Despite refusing Nagate's help, claiming that he is responsible for the Gauna attacking Sidonia, she is rescued by him nonetheless and, without a place to return to, she is taken under his guard. Teruru claims to be unconcerned towards Nagate, but her actions usually imply otherwise. She later joins the war effort as the pilot of one of Sidonia's new Mizuki-class warships. Her body has a special automatic defense mechanism built in, which activates when she feels threatened or flustered. This causes her artificial skin to harden, leaving her with a more robotic, puppet-like appearance.

Guardian Pilots

Norio Kunato (岐神 海苔夫, Kunato Norio)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)

A fellow male Guardian pilot with long white hair, heir of Kunato Developments, the company developing the Type 18 Guardians that currently compose the majority of Sidonia's main force. Norio ranked first during pilot training and had little respect for other trainees, developing a rivalry with Nagate given the special treatment he receives, unaware of his background or circumstances. He is initially assigned the call number TS-001, and is later assigned to unit 701 before becoming unable to pilot out of anxiety from guilt for directly causing Hoshijiro's death. His body is later taken over by Ochiai's mind and discarded once Ochiai's plan to transfer his mind to Kanata's body is complete, but he barely survives, having no memories about what happened since then, and becomes a pilot once more. Having trained on a Tsugumori combat simulator since childhood just like Nagate, Kunato is entrusted with "Tsugumori Custom 2" after Nagate receives the more advanced "Yukimori".

Eiko Yamano (山野 栄子, Yamano Eiko)

Voiced by: Nanako Mori (Japanese), Karen Strassman (English)

A brown-haired female Guardian pilot with the call number TS-290, Yamano is hostile and curt towards Nagate and is similarly cold and unfriendly towards her other squadmates. Yamano is in Nagate's squad during his first mission outside Sidonia and is quickly killed by the target Gauna, making her the first Gauna-related death in a century. Said Gauna takes on her form, causing much distress for her squadmates and causing Nagate to experience recurring nightmares until he eliminates the Gauna.

Mochikuni Akai (赤井 持国, Akai Mochikuni)

Voiced by: Sōma Saitō (Japanese), Grant George (English)

Leader of the Akai squad and designated unit 001. He was the youngest Gravity Cup winner and held it for 13 successive cups. Akai is killed along with his entire squad, including his girlfriend and Yuhata's older brother, during a Gauna attack on Sidonia.^[1]

Hinata Momose (Momose Hinata)

Voiced by: Hiromi Igarashi (Japanese), Becca Ordonez (English)

Member of Akai squad and designated unit 002. She is killed during a battle against Gauna 487.

Kashiwade Aoki (Aoki Kashiwade)

Voiced by: Shinobu Matsumoto (Japanese), Steve Heiser (English)

Member of the Akai squad and designated unit 003. He is killed during a battle against Gauna 487.

Izumo Midorikawa (Midorikawa Izumo)

Voiced by: Yuto Suzuki (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)

Member of the Akai squad and designated unit 004. He is the elder brother of Yuhata Midorikawa. He is killed during a battle against Gauna 487.

Samari Ittan (サマリ・イッタン, Samari Ittan)

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

Leader of the Samari squad and designated unit 005. A senior pilot and the original test pilot for Series 19, before it was reassigned to Nagate due to an emergency. She is the most ranked pilot following the deaths of the Akai squad, usually acting as field commander during missions.

Tonami (土浪)

Member of the original Samari squad and designated unit 006. He claimed ever since Midorikawa died. No one's been able to stand up to me in a fight with the Higg's particle cannon.^[2] He is killed during a battle against Gauna 492 when a Higgs particle blast is reflected back.^[3]

Kōichi Tsuruuchi (弦打 攻市, Tsuruuchi Kōichi)

Voiced by: Kōsuke Toriumi (Japanese), Spike Spencer (English)

Leader of the Tsuruuchi squad and former member of the Samari squad, designated unit 007. A running gag is Tsuruuchi making advances on Samari just to be rejected by her with comic results. After infiltrating the core of Guana 542, he used all of his available Heigus particles to remove the ena exposing the host Guana's core allowing the remaining pilots could destroy the host Guana's core. This resulted in the Guana pod disconnecting and let the Inter-Planetary Missile destroy the asteroid before it impacted Sidonia.

Ichirō Seii (勢威 一郎, Seii Ichirō)

Voiced by: Tomohiro Tsuboi (Japanese), Joey Lotsko (English)

Leader of the Seii squad and designated unit 026. Was the former assistant commander before passing his post to Yuhata Midorikawa. Seii is one of the more serious and experienced Guardian pilots. Unlike the rest of his squad, Seii's trademark vintage styled helmet covers his face almost completely.

Imada Dou

Leader of the Imada squad (known as the Nakazono squad in the anime), designated unit 139. He is killed along with his squadmates units 011, 217, & 312 during the initial battle against Benisuzume (Gauna 490).^[4]

Toutaro Yamano

Eiko Yamano's younger brother, he becomes a Guardian pilot and Kunato's wingman to avenge his sister's death.

Honoka sisters

Several ^[5] identical clone sisters who pilots Guardians, they are 5 years old and have undergone accelerated growth^[6] and compressed mental training.^[7] So far twenty-two of them were created, in two batches of eleven, with two of them being KIA.

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Cristina Vee (English)

En Honoka (仄 焔, Honoka En)

Oldest of the Honoka sisters, she is initially assigned the call number TS-203. She is promoted to pilot at the same time as Nurio, Shizuka, and Nagate, and designated pilot of unit 703. She is critically injured in the battle against Guana 488, the same battle Shizuka was killed in.

Hō Honoka (仄 烽, Honoka Hō)

Pilot of unit 705. She is killed in a battle against Benisuzume (Gauna 490).

Ren Honoka (仄 煉, Honoka Ren)

Pilot of unit 706, she gets close to Nagate after he helps her avenge Hō by defeating Benisuzume (Gauna 490) with a heavy mass bullet she saved for the occasion.

Ro Honoka (仄 炉, Honoka Ro)

Pilot of unit 707.

Yō Honoka (仄 燿, Honoka Yō)

Pilot of unit 708.

Shō Honoka (仄 炒, Honoka Shō)

The youngest of the Honoka sisters, she's from the second batch of eleven and considered the most skilled pilot among them. She is killed and absorbed by the Gauna during an expedition to the Lem star.

Immortal Crew Members

Captain Kobayashi (小林艦長, Kobayashi-kanchō)

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)

The mysterious female captain of Sidonia, who commands the Guardians against the Gauna's attacks. She wears a mask in public to hide her emotions and the fact that she is ageless. She was formerly a Guardian pilot and friends with Nagate's grandfather, becoming his legal guardian after he emerges from the underworks. Kobayashi cares about Nagate, but is forced by the Immortal Ship Committee to assign him to all missions available, which many see as a death sentence due to the low survival rate of pilots after successive sorties. This is actually the Committee's intention, as they want Nagate to be killed before someone discovers his natural immortality. After the Immortal Ship Committee attempts to impeach and replace her, Kobayashi orders their deaths instead, assuming full control of the ship to pool its resources on the war against the Gauna without questioning. Kobayashi has a habit of spending her off time blending in with the general population, made easier by the fact that only a select few people actually know what she looks like under her mask.

Hiroki Saitō (斎藤 ヒロキ, Saitō Hiroki)

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English)

Nagate's 'grandfather' who also taught Nagate how to pilot Guardians. Saitō was Sidonia's former ace pilot who saved the ship from being overrun by the Gaunas 100 years before the events of the series. This was accomplished by retrieving and using the Kabizashi that Ochiai had discarded. After the battle, Saitō disappeared, just to reappear 80 years later, with his body growing old after renouncing his immortality, as he chose to die naturally. Several advanced immortal clones were grown from his DNA and when Saitō learned that the clones grown for him were going to have his memories implanted on them, he stole one of the infants (Nagate) and raised him by himself as a regular child. He also taught Nagate all his piloting expertise before dying.

Yure Shinatose (科戸瀬 ユレ, Shinatose Yure)

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Becca Ordonez (English)

Izana's grandmother and an immortal crew member. Dr Shinatose was the scientist who devised the plan to repopulate Sidonia with genetically engineered clones after its population was devastated and almost decimated in the Fourth Defensive War against the Gauna. The survivors included 25 council members and 392 citizens. Dr. Shinatose's plan would increase Sidonia's population to 500,000 in 100 years (six generations), while accounting for the lost food production facilities by genetically altering it's future population to photosynthesize, reducing the need to consume food to once per week.

Lala Hiyama (ヒ山 ララァ, Hiyama Rarā)

Voiced by: Satomi Arai (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English)

A talking bear who serves as "dorm mother," taking care of Nagate's living quarters and making his food until he starts living by himself. Hiyama, a member of the original Immortal Ship Committee, was formerly a Guardian pilot and used to serve with Kobayashi and Saitō, with whom she participated in the exploration mission to an alien artifact where the Kabizashi were first discovered 600 years before the start of the series. Her bear body is actually an advanced life support suit that sustains human body, though the circumstances that necessitated sealing her inside are unknown. She strongly dislikes being addressed by her given name and only ever gave the privilege to Saitō. Hiyama is possibly a nod to Nihei's manga Biomega, which features a supporting character named Kozlov, who is also a bear missing a hand.

Ochiai (落合)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Pete Sepenuk (English)

A scientist and researcher on the Gauna's behavior and biology, he once discarded all of Sidonia's Kabizashi, certain that it attracts the Gauna to them, but this has not stopped the ship from being attacked and almost overrun by the aliens. He escaped execution because a large part of Sidionia's data was transferred to a separate database that can only be accessed through his brain, thus his memories were sealed and his brain transferred to a clone of his. However, a copy of his memories was stored in a separate location and later transferred to Kunato's body, allowing him to resume his research, leading to the advent of Tsumugi and Kanata. Ochiai finally reveals himself when he transfers his memories to Kanata's body, assuming control of the Chimera and leaving to parts unknown.

Other characters

Numi Tahiro (田寛 ヌミ, Tahiro Numi)

Voiced by: Rina Satō (Japanese), Reba Buhr (English)

A female scientist working in the Extraterrestrial Research Division (ERD) studying the Gauna and assigned to research a human-like sample extracted by Nagate. One observation she has regarding the Hoshijiro ena is that is always looks in the direction of the Kabizashi, this information is immediately classified. She is later put under mind control by Ochiai and put to work under him until she is forced to kill herself upon being questioned by her research on the Gauna.

Sasaki (佐々木)

Voiced by: Takako Honda (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

Head of Toha Heavy Industries (東亜重工, Tōa Jūkō) R&D. A tall and imposing woman with a pony tail. She has a fearsome reputation and usually reprimands Nagate for bringing back his Guardian damaged.

Shinsuke Tanba (丹波 新輔, Tanba Shinsuke)

Voiced by: Osamu Saka (Japanese), Michael Sorich (English)

A Toha mechanic. Made redundant after Kunato began production of Series 18 as there were no need for hand-crafted parts. His works are requested again upon the development of the more refined Series 19. He also is responsible for the maintenance of Teruru's artificial body.

Mozuku Kunato (岐神 海蘊, Kunato Mozuku)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Erin Fitzgerald (English)

Kunato's 'sister' who is killed and restored by Ochiai after he possesses the body of her brother, brainwashing her to take part on his plans. The brainwashed Mozuku participates into some battles piloting Tsumugi, before the Chimera becomes confident enough to sortie without assistance.

Kanata (かなた)

A second Gauna/Human hybrid, far more powerful than Tsumugi, but mentally unstable. Instead of being destroyed, she was put into sleep, as Captain Kobayashi is interested in the Gravitational Beam Emmiter, a powerful long range weapon installed on her right eye that could help Sidonia get rid of the Gauna threat for good. Once the weapon is mass produced, Kobayashi gives orders to dismantle Kanata, but its body is hijacked by Ochiai.

Ryōko Takahashi (高橋 亮子, Takahashi Ryōko)

Voiced by: Charmaine Tan(Japanese)^[8]

An Aide Controller whose face is always covered by a mask.

References

Works by Tsutomu Nihei Serializations Blame! characters NOiSE Biomega Abara Knights of Sidonia characters episodes Short works Abba Blame! Academy Digimortal Halo: Breaking Quarantine Negative Corridor NSE: Net Sphere Engineer Sabrina Wolverine: Snikt! Winged Armor Suzumega Zeb-Noid