Josei Shonan Middle School

''The Prince of Tennis'' manga and anime series has a large cast of fictional characters created by Takeshi Konomi; many have appeared in the musical and film adaptations. The cast of the series is largely made up of the members of the various tennis teams for the schools portrayed in the series, their coaches, and various family members and supporters.

The main character of the series is Ryoma Echizen, a 12-year-old tennis prodigy who joins the Seishun Academy tennis team. The main cast is rounded out with the other eight regular players for Seishun, all of whom have various special abilities at playing tennis. Beyond them, there are many rival schools whose players reappear during the course of the series.

Protagonists

The protagonists of the series all attend , or for short. The school is famous for its talented tennis club in which the series' leading protagonist, Ryoma Echizen, is enrolled in the school by his father, Nanjiro Echizen, a former professional tennis player and Seigaku alumni. Although Seigaku has long been known for its tennis club, the void created by Nanjiro's departure years earlier throws the team into somewhat of a slump, leaving them unable to make it to Nationals over the next several years until a first year, Tezuka, joins the team. The story picks up two years later, with Tezuka now in his third year. The team slowly reforms, and Seigaku pulls off its first National victory with Ryoma's addition to the team.

Ryoma Echizen

Ryoma is the series protagonist and the only first year on the Seigaku tennis team. His play style is all rounder, and his signature serve is the "Twist serve", a variation on the standard topspin serve where the ball is hit with a combination of both topspin and sidespin, allowing the ball to bounce high and curve toward the receivers' face. His arsenal of skills also include the Drive A, B, C, and D, the Cool Drive, the Samurai Drive, and Cyclone Smash. His strengths include his ability to analyze his opponents' abilities during the match and adapt his own play accordingly to take advantage of their weaknesses. He is left-handed, but he often starts matches playing right-handed. Though often playing Singles 2 or 3, he begins to take Singles 1 by the end of the Kantou tournament, with the fate of the team's overall success riding on his game; the pressure often seems to be helpful towards his performance, bringing out the best in him — depending on the skill level of the opponent. His bored and cocky demeanor masks his underlying affection and respect for his teammates, especially his close friend Momoshiro and team captain Tezuka. By the time of ''The Prince of Tennis II'', all of middle schoolers are shown to have developed great respect for Ryoma to the point where even some of the best high schoolers at the U-17 camp find him impressive. However, Ryoma ultimately ends up getting kicked out of the U-17 camp after interfering with a match to protect a friend. This expulsion is rescinded, however, but not before Ryoma joins the All-American representative team instead.

In ''The Prince of Tennis'' live-action film, Ryoma was portrayed by Kanata Hongo. In the musicals, Echizen has been portrayed by actors Kotaro Yanagi (2003–2006), Yuya Endo (2004–2005), Dori Sakurada (2006–2007), Shogo Sakamoto (2007–2009), Ryuki Takahashi (2008–2010), Yuki Ogoe (2010–2014), Kazuki Furuta (2015–2016), Nichika Akutsu (2016-2020) and currently Hikaru Imamaki (2020-).

Kunimitsu Tezuka

Tezuka is the national-level captain of the Seigaku tennis team. Like Ryoma, he is an all-rounder, and his special shots include the "Tezuka Zone," which uses his exceptional racket control to put spin on the ball to allow all shots to return to Tezuka no matter where the opponent tries to hit, and the "Zero-Shiki (Degree) Drop Shot", which is a drop shot with heavy backspin that can make the ball roll towards the net rather than bounce towards the opposing player. He was later able to adapt his drop Shot into a serve.

Tezuka is noted for being rather distant during practices and never smiling. However, he truly cares about his team and always tries to help them improve. At the nationals match against Sanada of Rikkaidai, Tezuka uses another special technique opposite to "Tezuka Zone" called "Tezuka Phantom" which forces the ball out of the cour, but the side effect injures his left arm.

At the end of ''The Prince of Tennis II'' Chapter 37, Tezuka is noted to have unlocked the last door of ''Muga No Kyouchi'' and has stepped off the training camp to become a Pro in Germany, where he receives tutelage under the 17-year old pro player Volk, and subsequently joins the All-German Representatives. During exhibition match against Japan, he teamed up with Q.P and decimated Atobe Keigo and Kirei Kanata pair in a 6-0 match.

In ''The Prince of Tennis'' live-action film, Tezuka was portrayed by Yu Shirota. In '' Musical: The Prince of Tennis'', Tezuka has been portrayed by actors Eiji Takigawa (2003–2005), Kengo Ohkuchi, who stood as Tezuka in the place of Eiji Takigawa in the More Than Limit St. Rudolph Gakuen musical, Yu Shirota (2005–2006), Keisuke Minami (2006–2007), Daisuke Watanabe (2007–2009), Baba Ryoma (2008–2010), Takuma Wada (2010–2012), Hideya Tawada (2012–2014), Takuma Zaiki (2015–2016), Yuya Uno (2016-2018), Ryo Aoki (2018-2020), and Kento Yamada (2020-).
Tezuka is the captain of the Seigaku tennis team and its number one player, and has an unbeaten tennis record. The word "stoic" doesn't even begin to describe him. He doesn't smile, doesn't laugh, and has a very no-nonsense type of personality.

Later on, it comes out that Tezuka is indeed a very passionate person who will never surrender in his pursuit of his ideals. What are they? Why, the success of his tennis team. His determination and stubbornness are nearly unmatched. He will lead through example if it kills him - or forever destroys his ability to play.

Tezuka is aloof from his teammates but highly regarded. He is a good student (he has been known to correct the teachers and terrify them while doing so simply through his presence), president of the student council, and is popular.

His catch phrase, "let's not be careless!" was painfully learned in his first year. As a new player, he was stronger than his seniors, and tried not to embarrass them by playing with his right hand (he is left-handed). However, this was discovered and an enraged senpai struck him in the left arm. This injury comes back to haunt him, and eventually causes him to leave for Germany for treatment.

Tezuka's goal is to become the "pillar of Seigaku." He was challenged by the captain in his first year to become the "pillar" the team could rely on. This is how he eventually ruins his arm - he plays past the point of reason to exist as an example to his teammates.

Shuichiro Oishi

:

is the vice-captain of the club. Oishi and Kikumaru Eiji make up Seigaku's national level doubles team, known as the "Golden Pair". Oishi is known as the 'Mother Hen of Seigaku', because he constantly worries and frets for the team's well-being. He remains calm and rational in a match, allowing him to form strategies quickly. He uses the Moon Volley, a topspin lob that travels very high over the court and lands just in bounds. He can also use the "Drop Volley", a feint hit with the power of a drop shot, making the trajectory much closer to the net. He is portrayed by Hiroki Suzuki in the live-action film.

He and Eiji often use the "Australian Formation", where they stand directly on the center line to confuse the opponents as to which way each player will move when the ball is placed into the opposing court. The "I-Formation" is a variation where Eiji stays below the net and Oishi serves the ball down the center. They also develop "Oishi Territory", which has Oishi focus on the net while Eiji stays in the back. It takes advantage of Oishi's ability to read the opponent while passing information to Eiji in the back. They later develop the "Synchronization" ability, which lets them play and move as if they are one person.

Despite his worrywart nature, Oishi is actually an extremely strict and disciplined leader, and a brilliant tactician on the court. His competitive nature is a stark contrast to his more timid public personality. He seems to easily become embarrassed as Kaido, but is also seen practicing proper etiquette more so than anyone else in the series because of his consideration for others.

Oishi plays the mother in the tenipuri episodes. Inui is her husband; Ryoma Echizen, Kaoru Kaido, and Takeshi Momoshiro (Momoko) are her children.

In ''The Prince of Tennis II'', Oishi earns the No. 16 badge for the U-17 first string. He is also one of the 14 middle schoolers to represent Japan at the U-17 world cup. Despite the fact that he's not the captain of the middle school representatives, Oishi represents the Japanese U-17 team as a whole on the world stage, drawing lottery slots to determine the team's initial positions for the tournament.

In ''Musical: The Prince of Tennis'', Oishi has been portrayed by Yuichi Tsuchiya (2003–2005), Hiroki Suzuki (2005–2006), Yukihiro Takiguchi (2006–2007), Yuya Toyoda (2007–2009), Yuki Tsujimoto (2008–2010), Jin Hiramaki (2010–2012), Ikkei Yamamoto (2012–2014), Shun Ishida (2015–2016), Yu Matsumura (2016-2018), Takanori Ezoe (2018-2020), and Takakazu Hara (2021-).

Shusuke Fuji

:

is a third year student at Seishun Academy. The middle child of three, he has an older sister, Yumiko, who is very attractive and admired by his friends; his younger brother is Yuta, who was a student at Seigaku, but transferred to St. Rudolph. Fuji is a leap year baby, only getting to properly celebrate his birthday properly every 4 years. He is given the title "tensai", or genius, due to his tactical skill on the tennis court. Fuji's most famous moves are known as the Triple Counters: Higuma Ootoshi ("Bear Drop") for returning smashes; Tsubame Gaeshi ("Swallow Return") which runs on the ground without bouncing, effective against players at the baseline; and Hakugei ("White Whale"), a shot that uses the wind to hop straight into the air and return to Fuji on the bounce, effective against players at the net. During the nationals, he creates more effective versions of his Triple Counters; three more original counters to deal with complex spin shots, low spin shots, and net balls; and even masters how to play with his eyes closed. In addition, Fuji has an underhand serve that seems to disappear when the opponent is about to hit it. A running gag in the series is that Fuji has interest in or else near-immunity to strange foods and drinks that others would find revolting to the point of fainting. Should he ever pass out from consuming any of the strange concoctions Inui or other data tennis characters come up with, the item in question is deemed a true terror.

He is generally very relaxed and in control, often seen with a calm and content expression on his face with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling, and rarely plays at full power. He only seems to do so when he witnesses some form of injustice or wins on the behalf of others who placed their personal health at risk playing tennis. For this reason, data-driven players like Inui and Mizuki cannot predict his movements at all. Fuji later admits to Tezuka that this is due to the fact that he has zero motivation to win, at least prior to the Nationals. There are a few people that can "wake" the true player in Fuji and force him to play seriously, and these few are either nationally ranked or extremely talented tennis players. Seigaku teammates Kunimitsu Tezuka and Ryoma Echizen, Shitenhōji captain Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Hyotei Gakuen Chuto Bu regular Yushi Oshitari and Rikkaidai Fuzoku regular Akaya Kirihara have been acknowledged by Fuji to be actual challenges. When he is excited, provoked, or serious, Fuji reveals his sharp eyes: light brown in the manga and blue in the anime.

In ''The Prince of Tennis II'', Fuji laments over how he longer has Tezuka to help drive him to keep improving at tennis after the latter leaves for Germany. Fuji recreates his tennis to be more offensive (as opposed to his more defensive, passive approach of past matches) in order to be more competitive at the U-17 world cup, at which he is one of the 14 middle schoolers representing Japan. His first new counter, Hollyhock Blizzard, reflects this by replacing the Higuma Ootoshi (which is functionally a lob) altogether, as this new counter returns opponents' smashes with a smash of his own.

Fuji is one of the few male characters in the anime who is voiced by a female voice actor, others being Ryoma Echizen, Kintarou Tooyama of Shitenhouji, Taichi Dan of Yamabuki, Youhei and Kouhei Tanaka of Jyosei Shonan (the latter two being anime only characters), and Seiichi Yukimura of Rikkaidai Fuzoku. However, Ryoma, Kintarō and Taichi are first years, thus younger and more naturally voiced by a voice actress. Despite Fuji and Yukimura being third years, they are also voiced by voice actresses.

In the anime series, Fuji's voice actress is Yuki Kaida who also voices Fuji's sister, Yumiko. For the live-action adaptation film of ''The Prince of Tennis'', Tenimyu actor Hiroki Aiba portrays Fuji.

In '' Musical: The Prince of Tennis'', Fuji has been portrayed by actors Kimeru (2003–2005), Takashi Nagayama, who stood in during ''Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine'' due to a cast change, Hiroki Aiba (2005–2007, 2008), Yūta Furukawa (2007–2009), Taito Hashimoto (2008–2010), Ryo Mitsuya (2010–2012), Yusuke Yata (2012–2014), Yuki Kamisato (2015–2016), Fuma Sadamoto (2016-2018), Ibu Minaki (2018-2020), and Haruki Mochida (2021-).

Sadaharu Inui

is a highly intelligent player, who uses Data Tennis. He constantly collects and analyzes data of other players in order to predict where they hit to next and how. While he collects data pertaining to tennis, he also collects personal pieces of data, such as favorite things, personal habits, and where they have been. This, combined with his almost robotic analytical nature the fact that his eyes are rarely seen (appearing only once at the end of Chapter 211), creating no shortage of awkwardness in social situations outside the court. His style originates from his close friend, Renji of Rikkai, who played doubles with Inui before moving. He is temporarily removed from the regulars after losing to Ryoma and Kaido, and he becomes the team manager. He uses his data to create exercise programs for the team and creates a series of disgusting "Inui Juice" health drinks that are able to knock a person out or send them running to the restrooms, which motivates the team to train harder as the drinks are used as punishments. The negative effects of the drinks are resisted by a few, namely Fuji. He is portrayed by Hirofumi Araki in ''The Prince of Tennis'' live-action film.

Inui's data tennis allows him to predict the probability of a shot taking place although other factors can disrupt the probability. Though he relies on data, he still trains excessively to keep up with his teammates, taking on a training load 2.25x more than Kaido's, which is already 3x ahead of the rest of the team. This allows him to reclaim his spot as a regular by beating Momoshiro. He pairs with Kaido in doubles to help Kaido train, and Kaido's massive amount of stamina is used to let him play alone while Inui gathers data. Though Inui is good at predicting his opponent's movements, he can still be defeated by those who either have never shown him all of their techniques or simply surpass him on the physical level. He also has one of the fastest serves in the series. His Sonic Serve can reach 192 km/h (120 mph), though it would later be replaced by the Waterfall Serve. Its arc and descent resembles that of a waterfall engulfing the opponent, and can reach 212 km/h (~132 mph).

In ''The Prince of Tennis II'', he helps Renji take the No. 17 spot on the U-17 first string. He and Renji both later join the intel support team for the All-Japan Representatives.

In the musicals, Inui has been portrayed by Sota Aoyama (2003–2005), Hirofumi Araki (2005–2006), Masei Nakayama (2006–2007), Yuuta Takahashi (2007–2009), Yusuke Arai (2008–2010), Teruma (2010–2012), Seiya Inagaki (2012–2014), and Ryosei Tanaka (2015–2016), Sho Kato (2016-2018), Daisuke Takenouchi (2018-2020), and Ichigo Shiota (2021-).

Eiji Kikumaru

is part of Seigaku's "Golden Pair" along with Oishi. Even so, he sometimes does doubles with Fuji and they are then called the "Dream Pair". Eiji uses "Acrobatic Play" which takes advantage of his flexible body. Eiji is also known to have the sharpest vision on the team with an exceptional talent for seeing moving objects. His main weakness is his lack of stamina which he finally overcomes through hard work and training later in the series. Though the Golden Pair seldom play without each other, certain circumstances, such as their temporary breakup when Oishi gives his spot to Ryoma, forces him to play in singles. Eiji is a friendly, sweet-tempered, and outgoing character and the youngest of a large family. He is portrayed by Osamu Adachi in the live-action film.

Eiji's flexible body allows him to reach balls with a touch of flair that few can replicate. His dives and flips often astonish the spectators and often gets grudging praise from his opponents helping Eiji focus. He focuses on the net with his "Kikumaru Beam", a sharp volley that is hit with his hand reaching around his back, and his "Kikumaru Bazooka", a smash hit upside-down. While playing doubles, Eiji follows the lead of Oishi. The two rely on and know each other thoroughly, which allows them to predict each other's moves without any signals. They further develop this by achieving "Synchronization", letting them act together as if they were only one person. He can also play well in singles by using his "Seal Step", which uses his speed to move from one location to a new one the moment the opponents eyes leave his first location. This gives the opponent the impression that there are two of him for a doppelganger type effect, though the anime gives him the ability to hug and high five his after image, making it slightly unrealistic.

Eiji's favorite color is red; he enjoys brushing his teeth, wandering around pet shops, omelette rice, fried shrimp, and shaved ice. He was born November 28 at 6:28 am and is a Sagittarius. He has grandparents, a mother, a father, two older sisters, and two older brothers, and therefore is the youngest of a very large family, something that gives him attributes of being fun-loving and easy-going. His father is a news reporter. His favorite subject is Japanese history. He has declared that he might want to become a stunt double in the future with Oishi being his personal trainer, doctor, and still best friend. His favorite date spot is the amusement park; he loves anime/fantasy, idol magazines, and JPOP. He also looks for someone who is cheerful and someone whom he can share a laugh with in a friend. He most wants a new knitted hat. Outside of tennis, he excels in fly swatting, bug collecting, cooking, and can often be found in the gymnasium when not at the tennis courts.

In the Tenipuri Family episodes, Eiji plays the family's pet, a pink cat named Kikumaru.

In the musicals, Eiji has been portrayed by Yamazaki Ichitaro (2003–2004), Takashi Nagayama (2003–2005), Adachi Osamu (2005–2006), Koji Seto (2006–2007), Kyousuke Hamao (2007–2009), Takasaki Shouta (2008–2010), Koseki Yuta (2010–2012), Mario Kuroba (2012–2014), and Honda Reo (2015–2016), Seiichiro Nagata (2016-2018), Tsukasa Taguchi (2018-2020), and Sosho Tomimoto (2021-).

Takeshi Momoshiro

is known as Seigaku's "number one rascal." As the player who is the most open and friendly with everyone, Momoshiro is connected to everyone on the team on some level. Momoshiro is the closest to a true friend Ryoma Echizen can claim; the two spend much time together eating hamburgers or playing street tennis. Momoshiro and Kaido Kaoru are eternal rivals, and constantly try to out-do each other. This makes them efficient as a doubles pair, because the two rivals know each other so well. Momoshiro develops an affinity for playing doubles and even masters it, despite expressing a preference for singles. He loses his position as a regular after losing to Inui in the ranking matches. When Oishi injures his wrist before the match against Hyotei, Momoshiro takes his place to form a makeshift Golden Pair with Kikumaru. After that, he keeps his regular spot when Tezuka leaves for rehabilitation. He becomes the Vice-captain of Seigaku the following year. He is portrayed by Masaki Kaji in ''The Prince of Tennis'' live-action film.

Momoshiro's signature move is the Dunk Smash, a very powerful smash performed as he jumps several feet into the air. His catchphrase is "Don", which he often says upon hitting a winner. He later develops the Jack Knife, a pro-level powerful backhand. In the anime, he develops the Super Dunk, a Dunk Smash that spins for a long time on the court before bouncing, thus confusing the opponent as to when it will bounce up. Momoshiro is good at "faking out" his opponents and is just as excellent of a tactician as Oishi on the court. His ability to read the opponent's movements and to observe their viewpoints and expression allows Momoshiro to guess where the ball will go and use techniques that will confuse his opponents. He later improves upon this ability by training in the mountains, allowing him to be more in tune with nature to the point where he can even read and predict weather patterns.

In ''The Prince of Tennis II'', his wrists suffer severe damage after being on the receiving end of a Black Jack Knife, which has twice the spin and power of his regular Jack Knife. However, he later learns the Black Jack Knife himself, and uses it to take the No. 19 position on the U-17 first string.

In the musicals, Momoshiro has been portrayed by Eiji Moriyama (2003–2005), Masaki Kaji (2005–2006), Shinpei Takagi (2006–2007), Tetsuya Makita (2007–2009), Toshihiro Nobuyama (2008–2010), Toru Kamitsuru (2010–2012), Mashu Ishiwatari (2012–2014), Shuto Mashima (2015–2016), Shunsaku Yoshimura (2016-2018), Tatsuki Ōkubo (2018-2020), and Shun Hojuyama (2020-).

Takashi Kawamura

has a shy personality without his tennis racket, but he becomes extremely aggressive and loud once he holds a tennis racket, referred to as Burning Mode. He often shouts various English words like "Burning!", "Great!", "Come on, baby!", "Shocking!", "Victory!", and "Delicious!" while in Burning Mode. During his first year, he had a lot of power, but lacked control to the point where most of his shots were outside the court fences. He was made fun of by his peers, but his close friends stayed by him and helped him develop his control. During his third year, he became a regular and eventually meets his goal of becoming the number one power player in Japan by beating Gin Ishida. He plans to quit playing tennis after the tournament and focus on working as a sushi chef under his father with the goal of being number one in the future. He is portrayed by Yoshikazu Kotani in ''The Prince of Tennis'' live-action film.

Kawamura mainly relies on the , a very powerful maneuver that uses 120% of an arm's strength, but puts a lot of strain on his arm. He copies it from Fudomine's Tetsu Ishida, who learned it from his brother, Gin. Kawamura lowers the risk of the shot by using a , which decreases the power. He can use either while jumping to make the , which is hard to return. He later develops the , which is a regular Hadoukyuu performed during an extremely fast dash. It strengthens the shot by focusing all the momentum on the wrist, but it can break the wrist if overused. During his match against Gin, he develops a "Final Hadoukyuu" that, because he accidentally hit with racket frame instead of the gut, the ball vibrates, and thus has power far exceeding Gin's strongest Hadoukyuu, breaking the latter's wrist.

He also reappears as a candidate in the U-17 selection camp, where he loses to Jin Akutsu, but comes back to take the No. 12 position in the first string.

In the musicals, Kawamura has been portrayed by Yoshitsugu Abe (2003–2005), Eiki Kitamura, who stood in for Abe in the More than St. Rudolph Gakuen Musical, Yoshikazu Kotani (2005–2006), Kouji Watanabe (2006–2007), Hiroaki Ogasawara (2007–2009, eventually replaced by Gong Teyu), Ikkou Chou (2008–2010), Sora Yaguchi (previously known as Tomohiro Tsurumi) (2010–2012), Shohei (2012–2014), Kodai Takikawa (2015–2016), Masaya Suzuki (2016-2018), Tomoki Iwata (2018-2020), and Kai Otomo (2021-).

Kaoru Kaido

(sometimes spelled Kaidou) is known as "Viper" to his teammates for constantly making a "fshuuuu" sound similar to a snake while exhaling. Kaido trains rigorously, increasing the training program given to him by Inui to give him an abnormally high stamina, even against other characters who boast to have high stamina. He has a deep rivalry with Momoshiro, in which they constantly try to beat each other. Because they are rivals, they also know each other the best, and they can get along very well in times of need; this makes them an efficient doubles pair. He normally plays singles, though he eventually pairs with Inui, who helps Kaido train and develop new techniques. Kaido's stamina is used to let him play the other team alone, while Inui collects data. After the national tournament, Kaido becomes the new captain of Seigaku. He is portrayed by Kousuke Kujirai in the live-action ''The Prince of Tennis'' film.

His signature move is the Snake Shot, derived from the "Buggy Whip Shot", which is a curving forehand that keeps his opponents running. He later develops the Boomerang Snake, where the ball swerves around the net pole back in bounds. He develops the shot under Inui's advice and by working with him in doubles. He also develops the Short Snake, which goes directly behind the net player, the Reverse Snake, which is used to keep opponents guessing, and the Tornado Snake, which is a fast straight shot with a spin that cuts air resistance. He can also use Hiroshi Yagyu's "Laser Beam", calling his version the Gyro Laser, which is an extremely fast shot with the same spin as the Tornado Snake, allowing him to confuse opponents. He also develops the Hadoukyuu Boomerang in the anime, which is developed from the Hadoukyuu that has much more strength behind a regular Boomerang shot.

Although he has a tough exterior and is cold towards others, there is a softer side to Kaido. Unknown to many, Kaidou enjoys playing with small animals. He is often seen playing (or at least trying to play) with Ryoma's cat, Karupin, who wanders off on his own most of the time. Koharu notes that Kaido was often mistaken for a girl back in Kindergarten and was sometimes forced to wear a skirt, crying a lot as a result, implying that Kaido's tough demeanor is merely a front to hide his insecurities. This hidden vulnerability often puts Kaidou in many comedic situations as he tends to take himself way too seriously compared to his peers.

In the various TeniPuri Family episodes, Kaido is the young infant. Not being able to speak, he mainly just says "fssshhuuuu". Shuuko (Oishi) introduced infant – Kaido as "cutie-pie, Kaoru-chan". He is often bullied in some sorts by his older siblings, Ryoma and Momoko (Momoshiro).

In the musicals, Kaido has been portrayed by Naoya Gomoto (2003–2005), Kousuke Kujirai (2005–2006), Tomo Yanagishita (2006–2008), Yuuichirou Hirata (2007–2009), Akihiro Hayashi