The central character of the series is Saya Otonashi, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl who was adopted a year before the series begins and who has amnesia. Her life is dramatically changed when she learns that she is a chiropteran—a vampire-like creature—who was born in 1833, that survives by drinking the blood of others or receiving it through blood transfusion, and is the only one who can destroy other chiropterans and her twin sister Diva. Saya and Diva are the "queens", the first and more powerful of chiropterans which are always born as twin females. Aiding Saya in this century long quest is an organization called the Red Shield, with a man named David assigned to be Saya's primary "handler." With Saya forced to return to her former life, she is reunited with Hagi, her chevalier—a special form of chiropteran created by feeding a human the blood of a queen which causes a powerful bond to form and compels the chevalier to serve and protect his queen at all costs.
As the series progresses, it is revealed that Diva has five chevaliers to aid her, Amshel Goldsmith, Solomon Goldsmith, Karl Fei-Ong, James Ironside and Nathan Mahler. They have formed their own organization, Cinq Flèches, which they use to create additional chiropterans from Diva's blood. Working against both sides are the Schiff, a group of escaped artificial chiropteran created by Diva's group who attacks both sides in search of the blood of Saya, Diva, or one of their chevaliers in hopes one will be the right blood to save them from a fatal and painful disease they call the Thorn.
Organizations
Red Shield
The Red Shield is an organization dedicated to killing Diva and chiropterans. The organization was started by the grandchildren of Joel Goldschmidt, who first found Saya and Diva in 1833 and raised them at the Zoo.[1] He separated the sisters after birth, raising Saya like his own daughter, while locking the unnamed up in a tower, for scientific reasons.[1][2] Joel took care of Saya, while his assistant Amshel provided for Diva's basic needs.[1] Joel was killed by Diva in 1883 on his seventy second birthday after Saya released her from the tower to sing at his birthday party.[1][3]Leadership of the Red Shield is passed down from father to son, with the current leader being Joel Goldschmidt VI. Many of its members have endured tragic encounters with chiropterans in the field and all members of the Red Shield carry an item containing a piece of red crystal taken from the crystallized body of destroyed chiroptera.[4]
According to the Blood+ light novels, the organization's name is taken from the idea that the members are Saya's shield of blood, incapable of killing chiropterans themselves but willing to die to protect Saya.[5]
Cinq Flèches
The Goldsmiths are a branch of the Goldschmidt family. Cinq Flèches, a pharmaceutical company owned by the Goldsmiths, is also active in other industries operating hundreds of companies, including food production, the high-tech industry, and military contracts. The group has influential contacts within the United States government.The Schiff
Like chevaliers and chiroptera, the Schiff have enhanced speed and strength, and must drink blood to survive.[8] However they are different in two key ways: sunlight will burn them to death, and they have form a condition they call "Thorn" that causes them to slowly crystallize. It initially manifests itself as red cracks that usually appear on the neck, spreading along the body until the afflicted Schiff shatters completely.[6]
Due to the parting words of one the scientists from the lab, they believed that they were created from Saya's blood, and so her blood would save them from their destined short life spans. They attack Saya and Hagi, but when one of the Schiff, Ghee, drinks Hagi's blood, it kills her almost instantly.[8][9] They later try again with Saya's blood, but it also causes the Schiff, Irene, who drinks it to die instantly. They realize that the scientist lied and that it is Diva's blood they require to live, not Saya's and devote themselves to hunting Diva down.[7]
Protagonists
Saya Otonashi
Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)Saya Otonashi (音無 小夜 Otonashi Saya) was "born" in 1833 from one of two cocoon-like objects taken from the belly of a chiropteran mummy, the other cocoon containing her sister Diva.[1] Both are kept at the "Zoo" by Joel Goldschmidt, where Saya is treated as his daughter and Diva, who is left nameless, is confined to a tower. Saya does not learn about Diva's existence until 1863, when she hears Diva singing and finds her locked in a room at the top of the tower.[1] Saya then names her Diva.[3] In 1870, Amshel purchases a twelve-year old boy named Hagi from his parents to become Saya's companion and friend.[1][3] During a birthday party for Joel, Saya releases Diva so that she can sing for Joel. Diva, however, slaughters everyone in the Goldschmidt house while Saya and Hagi are out looking for Joel's favorite flower.[3] Recognizing that Diva is a monster, Saya spends her periods of activity hunting Diva to try to kill her, her chevaliers, and any chiropterans they have created.
Saya is a skilled athlete and fights using a special katana with an edge she can touch with her thumb while gripping it so as to draw blood, and grooves specially designed to spread her blood through its entire blade. Once loaded with her blood, it is a deadly weapon against Diva and any chiropteran created from Diva's blood. After Saya's first blade is broken, David gives her a new one that has a red crystal at the base of its blade, symbolizing her membership in the Red Shield organization. The crystal is a piece of her adoptive father's body, which crystallized when she killed him with her own blood in order to spare him the fate of turning into a chiropteran.[4]
In 2005, when Blood+ begins, Saya is a high school girl living in Okinawa who was adopted a year ago by George Miyagusuku after waking from her hibernation cycle with no memory of her identity or past.[1][10] Though she appears to be a normal teenager, any injuries she sustains heal almost instantly and she must receive regular blood transfusions to remain healthy.[11] When a chiropteran attacks her school, she finds her life turned upside down. She is reunited with her chevalier Hagi, though she doesn't remember him, and learns that her blood can kill the chiropterans.[11] She is approached by David, from the Red Shield, who tells her it is her duty to kill chiropterans because she is the only one who can.[10] Neither David nor Hagi will tell her the truth about her past, telling her she must remember on her own. Though at first Saya is reluctant to fight and afraid of who she might be, she slowly comes to accept her duty and regain her memories.
After Riku's death, Saya disappears for a year, along with Hagi. When she returns, she has longer hair and a harder, darker appearance.[12] Now accepting of her chiropteran biology, she accepts the necessity of feeding on Hagi's blood to live and be strong enough to fight. However, she has a less cheerful personality, is more morose and less talkative than she used to be. Moses and Lulu both remark that she has lost hope. Believing the fight with Diva is hers alone, and not wanting to have to grieve for any more lost comrades, she avoids cooperating with Kai or the Red Shield.[13] Saya's friends repeatedly work to help her understand that this fight is not for her to bear by herself, and that she is never alone. As the battle with Diva continues, Saya's next hibernation period draws nearer, she starts having sudden bouts of fainting spells, and her regeneration ability slows.
At the Metropolitan Opera House, Saya confronts Diva in a final duel, which ends as they simultaneously pierce each other with their blood-coated swords. Saya is unaffected by Diva's blood, because it lost its potency when she became pregnant. Diva, however, begins to crystallize, and Saya cries for her and tries to hold her shattering pieces together.[14] With Diva dead, Saya turns to kill the babies and herself fearing that if they lived, they would be forced to become military weapons. Kai pleads with her to live, promising to protect her and the babies and make anyone afraid of her understand. Hagi disobeys Saya for the only time in his life, taking her sword and confessing he has loved her from the moment they met. Saya tearfully admits she wishes to live as she kisses Hagi.[15]
A month later, back in Okinawa, Saya finally goes into her next thirty-year hibernation period. At her request, Kai puts her back in the Miyagusuku family crypt to sleep, and he watches over her, and Diva's children. Several years later, a blood splattered pink rose with Hagi's blue ribbon is left at the crypt. Haji is alive and he is watching from afar, waiting patiently for his love to awaken after her thirty year sleep.[15]
Haji
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)Hagi (ハジ Haji) is Saya's first, and only living, chevalier. In 1870, he was purchased by Joel and Amshel from his parents for a loaf of bread to be a companion for Saya, with hopes that they might mate and create more specimens for future experimentation.[1][2][14] Haji lives with her in Joel's mansion for many years, he growing up but she never aging. In 1883, he falls from a cliff attempting to pick a flower that Saya wants as a present for Joel's birthday.[1][3] Misunderstanding an earlier conversation between Haji and Joel about why Saya lives on blood, and wanting to save him, Saya feeds him some of her blood, unwittingly turning him into a chevalier.[3] Saya feels some guilt over this through the years, but when she apologizes, Haji assures her that he has no regrets as it allows him to always be at her side while she lives her dream of traveling the world with her sword.[16]
Haji plays the cello, a skill he learned from Saya.[3] He usually carries his cello in a large black case that he can also use as a blunt weapon and a shield, and the case also holds Saya's sword. Haji also fights with a handful of silver daggers that he keeps on hand. As with most chevaliers, Haji doesn't need to eat or sleep, and he stays awake while Saya eats, sleeps, or goes into long periods of hibernation. Unlike Diva's chevaliers, Haji never makes a full transformation into a chiropteran form; however, this is by his own choice rather than a limitation of his power. He keeps his right hand bandaged most of the time to hide the fact that its form is permanently chiropteran since Saya injured it while going crazy from being forced awake decades ago in Vietnam. In the opening credits of the final season, Haji is shown with wings, but he does not use them in the series until the forty-third episode.[17][18]
After Diva's death, Haji convinces Saya to live, confessing that he has always loved her. Agreeing that she does wish to live, Saya kisses him. As they, along with Kai and the rest of the Red Shield operatives, try to escape the opera house, Amshel attacks them, ripping off one of Haji's arms. Saya reloads her sword with blood and is ready to fight him to protect Diva's babies. However, Haji takes her sword and pushes her aside so she can escape while he impales Amshel himself. As Amshel crystallizes, he stabs Haji through the chest and the ceiling collapses on them both. He tells Saya that he'll always love her. Saya screams his name before they leave. She believes he may be dead, but Kai reassures her that Haji will return. Sometime after Saya goes into her hibernation, Kai brings Diva's daughters to visit the Miyagusuku crypt where Saya is sleeping. When they arrive, they find a fresh pink rose with Haji's blue hair ribbon tied to it. Haji is alive and he is watching from afar, waiting patiently for his love to awaken after her thirty year sleep.[15]
Kai Miyagusuku
Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese), Benjamin Diskin (English)Kai Miyagusuku (宮城 カイ Miyagusuku Kai) is Saya's adopted "elder" brother. Once a popular student at school and a star athlete, he quits playing baseball shortly before Saya's arrival and has been getting into more fights at school.[11] His father's death forces him to grow up and try his best keep his family united. He struggles greatly over Saya, and later Riku, not being human. As he finally comes to terms with both, Riku is raped and killed by Diva, and Saya disappears for a year.[19] As the last surviving family member of Saya's adoptive family, he has sworn to protect her and return to Okinawa with her once everything has been settled. Towards the end of the series he convinces Hagi to confess his feelings to Saya.[15]
Initially Kai has little skill in fighting or marksmanship, but he improves as the series goes on. When George is kidnapped, Kai steals his father's M1911 pistol to try to rescue him.[20] David confiscates it, but later returns it to show that he feels Kai had matured enough to handle it.[21] Kai uses it as his primary weapon for the remainder of the series. After the destruction of the Red Shield, he lives with Lewis and David in an orphanage in London, actively hunting chiropterans with Lewis and honing his skills as a soldier in the war against Diva and her minions. With David drowning in alcohol and regret, Kai takes over many of his responsibilities in chiropteran-hunting. Following the tradition of Red Shield, Kai wears a diamond-shaped pendant with a crystal from Riku's remains crested in it.[19]
After Saya kills Diva, he is able to convince her to continue living, and prompts Hagi to "disobey" Saya and confess his own love for her. Saya and Kai return to Okinawa and reopen their late father's restaurant. A month later, Saya goes into her hibernation cycle and Kai puts her in the family crypt to sleep. Per his promise to Saya, he raises Diva's daughters as though they were his own. Together, they regularly visit Saya's resting place to keep an eye on her while she sleeps.[15]
David
Voiced by: Jurouta Kosugi (Japanese), Christopher Nissley (English)David was the sole survivor of a chiropteran attack on his special forces squad before joining the Red Shield. His father was also a member of Red Shield and was one of Saya's victims in the Vietnam incident.[1][2] It is implied that he, along with Joel, are the only members that are descended from a line of Red Shield operatives.[22] He is aware of Saya's past life and wishes to use her in the struggle against the chiroptera.[10] David's red crystal item is a cross.[4]
David tends to be straight-faced and serious, with a somewhat cold personality. However, he also assumes an unofficial guardianship of Kai and Riku, and would be instrumental in helping Kai come to terms with what Saya is[23] and with Riku's conversion to a chevalier. He seems to take a particular interest in helping Kai grow up to be a strong man who can support Saya and Riku as their brother, despite their unusual natures.
When the Red Shield's headquarters are destroyed and Saya is believed to have gone down with it, David sinks into a deep depression and becomes an alcoholic.[19] Hagi helps David snap his world back into focus, though, after Hagi makes an observation about David's unhappiness, and he picks up his gun and is able to fight once more. During the investigations into one of Cinq Flèches's lab, he finds Julia and she tells him something about the research they are doing.[13] He talks to her briefly again at Amshel's party, and lets her know that she will always be welcome back with the group.[17]
Towards the end of the series, Dr. Collins tries to murder Julia, but David jumps in front of her, getting critically wounded himself.[24] Julia keeps vigil over him in the hospital, and after he recovers they begin a romantic relationship.[18][25] At the end of the series, Julia is pregnant with his child.[15]
Antagonists
Diva
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)Diva (ディーヴァ Dīva), Saya's younger twin sister and the main series antagonist, Diva is the greatest sworn enemy of the Red Shield. In 1833, Joel Goldschmidt discovered the mummy of an unknown creature that had two cocoons that react to human blood. Diva was born in 1833 from one of these two cocoons. As an experiment, Joel separated the twin girls, raising Saya as if she were his own daughter while Diva, who was given no name, was locked in a tower and given only the basic necessities to live by Joel's assistant Amshel.[1] In 1863, Saya discovers the girl locked in the tower and names her Diva. Twenty years later, Saya releases Diva from her tower so that she can sing at Joel's birthday party, however Diva murders Joel along with the rest of the people attending the party before fleeing the area.[1][3]
By 2004, when Blood+ begins, Diva has five living chevaliers, who head up the Cinq Flèches Group.[17] Due to her upbringing, Diva has a ruthless nature wrapped in an often child-like demeanor. She giggles after killing people, shows little reaction to the death of her own chevaliers, and tends to destroy things when bored. Diva seems to enjoy tormenting Saya and frequently says she wants to kill her.
After meeting Riku, Saya's adopted brother, she drinks most of his blood and Saya is forced to turn him into a chevalier to save his life.[26] After this incident, Diva becomes increasingly interested in Riku, eventually infiltrating the Red Shield headquarters with Karl to find him. She rapes Riku, and kills him by giving him her blood which crystallizes him.[27] A year after this attack, when the Red Shield is able to regroup, Diva has changed her physical appearance to resemble Riku and retains that appearance until her final battle with Saya.[12][14] Diva becomes an opera singer in New York, sponsored by the Group. Cinq Flèches has spread the Delta 67 agent, which can turn people into chiropterans, across various populations of the world, including the United States. When heard live, Diva's voice greatly increases the effectiveness of the agent.[28]
As a result of her attack on Riku, Diva becomes pregnant. She does not give birth for over a year, when Amshel cuts the cocoons out of her body.[28] Diva seems to treasure her babies and caring for the cocoons.[28] At the Metropolitan Opera House, Diva is set to perform a live broadcast which would cause a large portion of the world's population to turn into chiropterans. The Red Shield and Saya are able to stop the broadcast, and the sisters have their final battle while Diva's chevalier Nathan watches nearby with the babies. The fight ends as Diva and Saya pierce one another with their swords, which each had coated with their own blood. Saya is unharmed by the attack due to Diva's blood having lost its power when she became pregnant. Diva begins to crystallize from the effects of Saya's blood. Her babies emerge from their cocoons and Diva reaches for them, imagining herself with her daughters and smiling at the vision before dying.[14]
Amshel Goldsmith
Voiced by: George Nakata (Japanese), Wally Wingert (English)
Amshel is generally seen as the leader of Diva's chevaliers and is the head of Cinq Flèches.[17] Despite referring to his fellow chevaliers as his brothers, he seems unaffected when Karl dies and grows increasingly disgusted with Solomon's love for Saya and orders his execution. He also ordered the death of Diva's third chevalier, Martin Bormann, who is only seen in photograph form in the series.[30][31] After Saya's awakening, Amshel initially tried to bring her to their side. In Russia, he killed the Red Shield contact Liza and took her place during a train ride to Ekaterinburg.[32] He reveals to Saya her true nature as a chiropteran and that she is killing her own kind with her sword.[33] When Saya remains determined to fight and kill Diva, he decides she must be exterminated.[23]
After a fight with Hagi above New York City, Amshel was impaled on the Chrysler Building and struck by lightning.[14] He was presumed dead, but reappeared in a half human-half chiroptera form and tries to attack Saya again. Hagi stabs him with Saya's blood-covered sword, crystallizing him, moments before the opera house collapses on top of them both.[15]
Solomon Goldsmith
Voiced by: Koji Tsujitani (Japanese), Dave Wittenberg (English)Solomon Goldsmith was a medical doctor who was introduced to Diva by Amshel in 1917 during the Russian Revolution.[1] At this time, he became one of her chevaliers, after which he wears only white clothing as a symbol of his being Diva's chevalier because it was what he was wearing when he met her. At the time, he wanted to free himself from seeing humans kill each other, but afterwards, he started seeing humans as insignificant and beneath him. As time passed, he realized the world of the chiropterans are just as full of war as the human one.[16]
Although he agrees that Saya is now a threat to him and his partners, he harbors strong feelings for her and regularly tries to protect her, despite his brothers' intentions to destroy her. He was first introduced to her as a delightful young man at the ball in her Vietnam school, and danced his only dance with her. After the dance he apologized, telling her that he had only asked her as she was the only girl who wasn't staring at him. He did not discover who she was until later.[34] He later saves Saya from James and says he wishes to protect her because he is in love with her.[35]
Solomon's love for Saya only continued to grow as the series progressed, bringing him into conflict with his chevalier brothers and with Diva. Solomon eventually decides that he simply cannot kill Saya or continue to support Diva's efforts to do so, and wants to live with her as someone who loves her. While Amshel thinks Solomon's love for Saya is just part of his instinct as a chevalier, Solomon disagrees and knows he loves Saya as himself, Solomon Goldsmith. Diva disowns him and tells him to do whatever he wants, and even says he should go make babies with Saya. As a sign of his no longer being a chevalier, Solomon stops wearing his signature white suits, instead switching to black ones.[16]
Solomon kidnaps Saya after saving her from Amshel.[24] He confesses his love for her and asks her to marry him, but Saya gently rejects him.[18] Afterwards, Solomon briefly sinks into a depressed mood. Nathan visits him and takes him to visit Diva and the babies, but Solomon uses the opportunity to try to kill her. Diva easily defeats him and he is imprisoned at the mansion.[28] James taunts him by promising to kill Saya and bring her head in front of him. Amshel tells Nathan to kill him, but Nathan frees him instead. Solomon rushes to save Saya from James, but during the battle he is accidentally cut by Saya's sword coated in her blood. He proclaims his allegiance to Saya as her chevalier once more, then leaves. In an alley, he begins to crystallize and shatters as Amshel watches.[36] It is unknown as to whether Saya ever learned of his death as no one is shown telling her.
Karl Fei-Ong
Voiced by: Nozomu Sasaki (Japanese), Quinton Flynn (English)Karl Fei-Ong was introduced to Diva in 1917 by Amshel.[1] When he met her, he requested that she turn him into a chevalier. Amshel later says he only chose Karl to use him as a guinea pig for their new Delta project. Karl's body was heavily modified by Amshel's experiments, including having the arm Saya destroyed in Vietnam in 1972 replaced with a spiked arm. His traumatic past, Diva's inability to give him the love he sought, and forced conversion seems to have left Karl severely mentally unbalanced. However, Solomon, the only one who could calm Karl's mania, believed Karl's problems stemmed from his being lonely and not seeing that Solomon was always there and watching over him.[31]
Disguised as his alter ego "The Phantom", Karl kidnapped girls that looked like Saya in his desire to see her again to finish their fight.[34] After finding her again, Karl became completely obsessed with killing her. He considered Saya his hated enemy, his beloved soul mate, and his only reason for living.[31]
While in London, he stole the Corpse Corps from Amshel and went after Saya while she was at Gray's home. He planned to die together with her by drinking all of her blood. Solomon, who'd come after him at Amshel's request, cuts off Karl's arm freeing Saya's sword arm. Realizing she has too much to live for, Saya stabs him by impaling her own body. With her sword coated in her blood, Karl crystallizes and is destroyed. Solomon mourns his death and tries to explain Karl's actions.[31]
Note: In the English Dub, his name is spelled Carl.[citation needed]
James Ironside
Voiced by: Toru Okawa (Japanese), David Rasner (English)James Ironside became one of Diva's chevaliers in 1945 in Berlin, Germany during the second World War.[1] He is the Cinq Flèches' contact with the US military, and later was appointed by Amshel as leader of the Corpse Corps and to take on the task of killing Saya. He is extremely devoted to caring for and protecting Diva. He considers her his beloved "Mama" and always carries her picture with him in a locket.[13] When he lured Saya's group to Christina Island to eliminate Saya, he was struck by Saya's sword and fell into the trap he'd set to bury her in.[35] He was saved when Nathan retrieved him and Amshel had most of his body replaced with Schiff parts.
Once Diva realizes that most of his body has been replaced with Schiff parts, she disapproves of it, and begins to avoid him. Towards the end of the series, James begins to lose his sanity due to his crumbling relationship with Diva, and he takes out his rage on the Schiff, whom he regards as inferior organisms to himself.[37] In his final battle against Saya, James begins to succumb to the Thorn before being killed by Saya.[36]
Nathan Mahler
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese), Wally Wingert (English)Nathan Mahler appears to be one of the oldest of Diva's chevaliers, though when and how he became one is unexplained. Towards the end of the series, while talking with Amshel, Nathan states that the world exists to showcase Diva's beauty, as was predestined before she was born. When Amshel says Nathan talks like he was there, Nathan says he was and that before Diva and Saya were born, there was their "mommy" and her faithful chevalier.[29] Nathan later tells Saya that the only thing Diva actually wanted was to have a family.[14]
In the original Japanese series, Nathan often speaks in a manner usually employed by the feminine gender, such as using kashira and wa. In the Sony English dub, this is represented by Nathan speaking in the manner of a stereotypical homosexual character. Unlike the other chevaliers, Nathan rarely participates in battle. Behind his seemingly effeminate and lackadaisical manners, Nathan may be the most powerful of the chevaliers and will assert his dominance over his younger "brothers" if he feels he needs to.[38] He is the only one of Diva's chevaliers who can make Amshel back down if he chooses to, and the only one Amshel rarely attempts to manipulate. He plans not only to destroy Saya, but to do it in a "stage" prepared only for the occasion. This desire results in his stopping some battles between Saya and his brothers, much to their annoyance.[38]
After Diva's death, Nathan asked that Saya kill him, changing into his chiropteran form and allowing Saya to slice through him with her sword, although he is not seen crystallizing. At the end of the series, he is seen in his human form amongst some reporters outside of Van's trial.[15]
Supporting characters
George Miyagusuku
Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese), Wally Wingert (English)George Miyagusuku (宮城ジョージ Miyagusuku Jōji), an Okinawan-American US Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, George is one of the soldiers present when Saya goes insane in Vietnam, killing friends and enemies alike. One of the few survivors, he is asked by the first David to watch over Saya's sleeping body after she falls into another hibernation cycle.[2] He lost his wife and biological children in an accident years before, but is inspired to live by the sound of Saya's heart beating in her cocoon.[10] When she wakes up from her sleep and he sees she is no longer a threat, he adopts her as his daughter. By this time, he also has two adopted sons, Kai and Riku.[11]
While protecting Saya, he is attacked by a chiropteran.[20] While recovering from his wounds, he is kidnapped from the hospital and taken to a US military base where he is infused with Delta 67.[39] After escaping, he is again wounded by a chiropteran while protecting Saya. The Delta 67 and the wounds from the chiropteran begin to change him into a chiropteran, so he asks Saya to pour her blood into his wounds and kill him. Saya is very reluctant, though, because he is the only father she has ever known. While they talk, he holds her hands, causing her blood to slowly run down his arms to drip into his wounds and kill him.[40]
Riku Miyagusuku
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima (Japanese), Kamali Minter (English)Riku Miyagusuku (宮城 リク Miyagusuku Riku) is the adopted brother of Kai and Saya, the youngest of George Miyagusuku's three adopted children.[11] He is a very kind and intelligent boy who loves to cook. His kind, gentle nature even rubs off on the reclusive Hagi to some degree, particularly after he brings Hagi a plate of food and asks him to join the others. Hagi teaches Riku how to play the cello and protects him from a bad injury after Riku falls from a moving train.[32]
After Diva drinks most of his blood at the "Zoo", Saya is forced to turn Riku into a chevalier to save his life.[26] Afterwards, Riku shows a compulsion similar to Hagi's to protect Saya at any cost. Despite a brief estrangement, Riku remains close to his older brother Kai and works to heal the broken relationship between Kai and Saya after Kai learns the truth about her.[27] Draining Riku's blood seems to cause Diva to develop a strong interest in him. She takes Karl to the Red Shield headquarters to find Riku. Once she finds him, she rapes him and then kills him with her blood.[27] In the light novel adaptation, it's explained that something in Diva's eyes causes the Chevalier blood in Riku to react with a "maddening desire" that causes him to be incapable of escaping or physically resisting Diva's actions.[41] After Riku's death, Kai has a piece of his crystallized body made into a pendant, which he wears around his neck to remember his lost brother.[19]
In the Manga adaptation, Riku is neither raped nor killed.
Mao Jahana
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Olivia Hack (English)Mao Jahana (謝花 真央 Jahana Mao), the daughter of the head of the Jahana Yakuza, is often bossy and likes to be in control, a trait she probably picked up from her father. Her blunt, confrontational demeanor seems to be a brave facade she puts up whenever things don't go her way or she's scared.
A strong-willed and stubborn schoolmate of Kai's, after Mao meets Okamura and realizes he knows something about Kai's disappearance, she forces him to take her along by financing the trip with money she steals from her father, implying he would try to kill Okamura for the theft.[42] She is determined to stick by Kai's side, despite his best efforts to shield her from the danger surrounding him and Saya. As the series progresses and she comes to terms with Kai not returning her feelings, Mao warms up to Saya. The only girl "in a group of men," she grows more protective and concerned about Saya's well-being as Saya's health seems to decline. When she accidentally overhears Saya and Hagi's conversation about Saya's impending thirty year hibernation cycle, Mao becomes furious and slaps her. She agrees to keep it a secret from the others, then tells Saya she will make a promise with her, a promise between two women, to personally bring Saya back to Okinawa once everything is over.[43]
Mao finally decides to test Kai's feelings once and for all and kisses him, but he doesn't respond and seems baffled by her actions.[18] Realizing her love will never be returned, she gives up and begins to play matchmaker between Kai and Saya. She later accompanies Okamura to the Middle East.[15]
Julia Silverstein
Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Abby Craden (English)Julia Silverstein is a medical doctor working for the Red Shield. She is first seen in the series acting as Saya's doctor and supervising Saya's blood transfusions.[11] She is committed to researching the true nature of chiropterans to help destroy them. Her supervisor and mentor, Dr. Collins, defects to Cinq Flèches wanting to be able to publish his research and because he disagrees with the idea of killing chiropterans.[44] He is able to convince Julia to join him and betray the Red Shield.[19] She meets with David several times while he is investigating Cinq Flèches and the Corpse Corps, and he always reminds her that she will be welcome back to the Red Shield when she is ready.[17][38] When Diva becomes pregnant after raping Riku, Julia becomes her personal physician.[43] This sends Collins into a jealous fit and he attempts to murder her, but David saves her and is shot instead.[24]
Afterwards, Julia keeps vigil over the critically wounded David in the hospital and is shown kissing him while he sleeps.[18] She also returns to the Red Shield and is able to use the knowledge she gained to aid them in the final battle with Diva.[25] After Diva is killed and the group returns to Okinawa, Julia is able to use the knowledge she gained to extend the Schiff Lulu's life span and develop a serum from Saya's blood that can stop the effects of the Delta 67 agent. She also is revealed to be pregnant with David's child.[15]
Lewis
Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako (Japanese), David Rasner (English)Lewis is responsible for providing gadgets and transportation for the Red Shield operatives. He also provides intel from the CIA during American operations thanks to the connections formed when he was CIA agent, working under the name of Sammy.[17][43] He regularly accompanies David during operations, and after Kai becomes a member of Red Shield they frequently work together as well. In the English dub of the series, Lewis is given a Jamaican accent despite his being a native-Okinawan in the original Japanese track.
Van Argiano
Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)Van Argiano is the head scientist studying chiropterans for Cinq Flèches. He was in charge of the development of Delta 67, working under Solomon and with his assistant Archer. After Solomon defected from the group, Amshel appoints him to the head of the Cinq Flèches American branch. Despite knowing their true nature and plans, Van sided with the chiropterans and aided them in their efforts to spread chiropterans around the world. Van is often shown to be eating some kind of hard candy.
However, he was betrayed at the Metropolitan Opera House and was not told of the plans to turn people there into chiropterans.[29] He was left to face the monsters on his own by his American contact, Secretary of Defense Grant, but is saved by David. At the end of the series, he is shown being taken to trial to face charges for his crimes. His assistant Archer is also revealed to be a government appointed investigator who had infiltrated Cinq Flèches to gather evidence.[14][15]
Akihiro Okamura
Voiced by: Kentaro Ito (Japanese), David Rasner (English)Akihiro Okamura (岡村 昭宏 Okamura Akihiro), a somewhat jaded, down-on-his-luck, chain-smoking newspaper reporter, Okamura is the son of the photographer and Vietnam war correspondent who had taken several mysterious black and white photos depicting a young girl killing soldiers, villagers, and grotesque monsters with a sword. After seeing them as a child, the photographs have always haunted Okamura, spurring him to discover the truth behind them.[42] After tracing wine dumped by the military to Vietnam, Okamura sees Saya fighting Karl and manages to take some pictures of her. He is caught by David, but later released.[30]
Back in Okinawa, his research comes to a standstill as his paper refuses to fund a trip to France to continue tracing the origins of the wine. He runs into Mao, who has been searching for Kai. When she realizes Okamura can help her find him, she forces him to pair up with her by stealing money from her Yakuza father and leaving a note saying she is running away with Okamura.[42] As the pair continue exploring the truth, Okamura realizes that it is larger and more disturbing than he ever imagined.
Okamura and Mao catch up with Saya and the others in Paris and are taken to the Red Shield headquarters.[4] At first considered pests, David eventually taps Okamura's investigative abilities and requests their aid in looking into Diva's New York concert.[13] After this, Okamura and Mao become unofficial members of Saya's group, first researching in Los Angeles, then joining them in New York after their apartment is blown up by Cinq Flèches.[43]
Okamura tends to be relatively cynical, and though he often expresses annoyance at her tempestuous nature, he never seems to get tired of having Mao with him. Despite their regular bickering, they work well together. When he is asked to go with the others to Staten Island, Okamura leaves his favorite camera with Mao, asking her to look after it, though when she asks why he refuses to explain.[36] At the end of the series, Okamura decides to go to the Middle East and Mao joins him.[15]
Joel Goldschmidt VI
Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)Joel Goldschmidt VI is the current head of the Red Shield and a descendant of the original Joel who found Saya and Diva.[1] Every man in his family who bears the name Joel must live and fight against the chiroptera throughout their life until they are no longer a threat. His "diary" contains a record of all of the Red Shield's activities since its formation as well as all known information on Saya, Diva, the chevaliers and the chiroptera.[2] Joel became the head of the Red Shield in 2002, Joel primarily works in the background, trusting his operatives to handle the day-to-day work while he supports them. When Diva and Karl attack the Red Shield headquarters, Joel is badly wounded and left paralyzed from the waist down.[19][27] After David recovers emotionally from the destruction of the headquarters, Joel reforms the Red Shield to continue to support Saya and stop Diva.[26]
Aston Collins
Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)Dr. Aston Collins was once the second-in-command of the Red Shield, primarily in charge of researching the chiroptera with Julia as his assistant. He grew increasingly frustrated at being unable to ever publish his research.[44] Van Argiano approaches him about joining Cinq Flèches and Collins agrees and betrays the Red Shield by revealing the location of the organization's headquarters. He convinces Julia to join him, but turns against her after Amshel makes her Diva's personal physician.[19][43] Sent into a jealous rage, he confronts Julia and attempts to murder her so he can regain his position. Right as he is about to shoot her, David runs in and acts as a human shield to protect Julia. Though he shot himself, David is able to throw a scalpel into Collins' arm which causes him to run away screaming.[24] Collins is never seen again in the series and his current status is unknown.
Moses
Voiced by: Naoki Yanagi (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)Moses (モーゼス Mozesu) is the leader of the Schiff who uses a scythe. He was the one who had encouraged the Schiff to leave the lab for the sake of hope.[6] Clones of Moses are used to make up the Corpse Corps. He committed suicide along with Karman, who was about to die from Thorn, by both removing their hoods in direct sunlight.[37]
Karman
Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Japanese), Dave Wittenberg (English)Karman (カルマン Karuman) is a tall, slender boy with a tendency to be aggressive, particularly towards humans. He can be hot-headed and impulsive, but seems to genuinely care for his fellow Schiff. After Karman is inflicted with the Thorn, he commits suicide with Moses.[37]
Lulu
Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese), Lara Jill Miller (English)Lulu (ルルゥ Ruruu) is a diminutive young girl with sunken eyes who befriends Saya's group after the death of Irène, despite the objections of Karman and Moses.[25] Lulu has a somewhat innocent and child-like personality, and comes to enjoy some of the human elements of life such as watching television.[25] After Karman and Moses kill themselves, Lulu becomes the last living Schiff and starts to live with Saya and the others.[28][37] She continues to aid the Red Shield in the battle with Diva as best as she can. After Diva is killed, Julia is able to use the knowledge she gained while working with Cinq Flèches to extend Lulu's life and ward off the Thorn.[15]
Irène
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Olivia Hack (English)Irène (イレーヌ Irenu) is one of the Schiff, but unlike her companions she is greatly bothered by the idea of killing humans to drink their blood, refusing to do so despite its leaving her in a weakened state. After Kai saves her from some thugs in Paris, Irène tells him how the Schiff came to exist, how they are dying from Thorn, and why they keep attacking Saya. She also tells him that they think Saya's blood will save them, so he offers to ask Saya. When the Schiff later attack Saya's group, she and Kai try to convince both sides to stop fighting because of their new friendship, but the fighting only stops when Irène collapses from her progressing Thorn. Saya reluctantly agrees to feed her some of her blood, but it ends up killing Irène. Her death is mourned by Kai, Saya, and the Schiff alike. Realizing its Diva's blood they really need, Irène's death is the precipice for the end of the hostilities between Saya's group and the Schiff
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