Conception
In 2007, Takahiro was asked to do a manga for '' Square Enix'' magazine. He originally came up with the idea of an "all-female band of assassins, and the protagonist is a boy who is captured by them and has to work for them." After his editor approved the idea, he waited on serialization until his company had stabilized and had released two other titles, during which he developed the characters, story and world. In August 2009, following the release of '' Majikoi - Oh! Samurai Girls'', Takahiro looked for an artist for the serialization, and recruited Tashiro Tetsuya to do the illustrations. He liked Tashiro's ability to draw fast-paced action scenes and that he can draw cute girls. Takahiro has written additional background information and profiles about some of the characters in the postscripts of the volume compilations, such as for the Three Beasts and the Jaegers. The were conceived to be any creature that attacks the humans in the world and are similar to monsters seen inNight Raid
The main characters are members of Night Raid, a team of assassins who help the Revolutionary Army's efforts to overthrow the corrupt prime minister and restore peace and order to the Empire.Tatsumi
: is the male protagonist of ''Akame ga Kill!''. He is a teenageAkame
: is the titular female protagonist of the story. She has long black hair, red eyes, and a cold, serious demeanor. Sold along with her sister Kurome to the Empire at a young age, she becomes one of the Elite Seven assassins under Gozuki. Despite her serious attitude in battle, she displays genuine concern for her comrades. During a mission to assassinate former general Najenda, she is convinced by the latter to join Night Raid and the cause against the Empire. Her treason sparks an intense rivalry between fellow assassin and sibling Kurome, along with a mutual desire to be the one to end the other. In Night Raid, she assumes the cooking duties prior to Tatsumi joining the group. While she originally used the Shingu "Kiriichimonji", aMine
: serves as the sniper of Night Raid. She has pink hair styled in twin tails and pink eyes. She initially shows a cold exterior and hates Tatsumi after he joined the group, but warms up to Tatsumi after he rescues her from Seryu's suicide nuclear bombing attack. In her childhood, she suffered harsh discrimination and racism for her half-foreign blood during her childhood; she ran away with joining the Revolutionary Army with hopes that when Army wins, there will be more acceptance of different races. Mine's Teigu is aLeone
: has short blonde hair and a voluptuous chest. She has a very relaxed and cheerful personality, but tends to display a lack of "ladylike" manners. She acts like a big sister towards Tatsumi, whom she swindled at the start of the series. As part of Night Raid, she gathers intelligence and corroborates the mission requests. Her Imperial Arm is , a belt she acquired from the black market that transforms her into aSheele
: has dark purple hair with part of it styled in a single bun, and wearsLubbock
: is a green-haired member of Night Raid who early on has a reputation of being a carefree pervert. Despite his personality, he is in fact a crafty and reliable individual who effectively wields his Teigu in a variety of creative ways. His Teigu, , is a reel of strings that can be manipulated into forming weaponry or armor. He also has a unique serrated string that he can mix in with his normal strings, creating deadly traps for his opponents. Due to his unremarkable presence in Night Raid operations, he is able to roam freely in the Capital with his cover identity as the owner of a book-lending shop. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and falls in love with Najenda at first sight and decides to join the Imperial army to be near her. Several years later, when Najenda defects from the Army to start Night Raid, Lubbock loyally follows her. He is captured along with Tatsumi by the prime minister's son Syura, but succeeds in killing him before he is struck down by Wild Hunt member Izou while attempting to escape the Imperial Palace. Tatsumi greatly mourns his death, as they had become close friends during their time together in Night Raid.Bulat
: has dark hair styled in a Pompadour, and wields the Teigu . As a high-ranking Imperial officer who gains infamy as "One-Hundred Killer Burat", he becomes disgusted with the government caring more about bribes than merit, and defects from the Empire when his superior,Najenda
: is the leader of Night Raid. She has gray hair, aSusanoo
: is Najenda's minotaur Teigu who joins Night Raid after they suffer several losses. His head has dark-blue hair with two large bison-like horns, and he wears white robes with light, red armor. He is in a dormant state until he meets Najenda who reminds him of his previous user, a general man. Despite his quiet demeanor, Susanoo quickly befriends Tatsumi and Lubbock. Originally designed to be a bodyguard for VIPs, he is capable of cooking, housekeeping, and construction as well as fighting.. Like other biological Teigu, as long as his core remains intact, he can continue to regenerate. His weapon is a Wolf Fang Mace that has blades that can protrude from its end. He has a Trump Card, called "Magatama Manifestation" that sucks his user's life energy into the magatama on his chest in order to gain a tremendous amount of strength, and enabling him to use powerful moves such as "The Mirror of Yata" that can reflect any kind of ranged attack, as well as "Ame no Murakumo" which manifests a giant sword with immense power. However, his user will die after commanding him to use this move three times. This does not always happen, as Najenda uses it three times and continues to live; she states that this is possible because Susanoo chose to take his own life to spare Najenda's. He is killed by Esdeath when she first reveals her time-freeze Trump Card. She promises to remember him as a warrior rather than as a mere Teigu, showing her respect for his fighting prowess.Chelsea
: is a ginger-haired assassin who is dressed like a Japanese schoolgirl, wearing a shirt with white sleeves and plaid collar, a black vest, plaid skirt, and tall boots. She also wears headphones with a black butterfly hairpiece. She is almost always seen sucking on aThe Empire
Prime Minister Honest
: TheThe Emperor (Makoto)
: The is a young boy who wishes to lead his people to a bright future. But his naive nature and inexperience resulted in him serving as nothing more but as a figurehead under Honest's manipulation, unaware that prime minister murdered both of his parents. As the sole survivor of the Imperial bloodline, the Emperor is the only person capable of operating the Imperial Arm known as , which is a giant 500-meter tall suit of armor boasted to be the most powerful of the Teigu and can fire energy beams that can obliterate entire armies with a single volley. But what the Emperor did not know was that Honest had Dorothea alchemically modify Shikoutazer with a trump card only he can activate on command or as a deadman's switch: Purge Mode. In Purge Mode, Shikoutazer's armor breaks off to reveal its monstrous appearance while the emperor's mind is warped with bloodlust. He is defeated by Tatsumi, who brings forth the full power of Incursio to destroy Shikoutazer at the cost of his human form. In the aftermath of the siege, after asking Najenda to rebuild their nation, the Emperor relents himself to be publicly executed.Zank The Beheader
: initially works as anEsdeath
: Raised under her father's philosophy of "the strong survive and the weak die", has gained notoriety as one of the Empire's most powerful generals. Originally a resident of a northern tribe of Danger Beast hunters, Esdeath is the last of her people and twisted her father's ideals before enlisting the military and quickly rose to her current position. Esdeath then selected her Imperial Arm , the blood of a Danger Beast that she assimilated into her circulatory system to gain the power to create and manipulate ice. Esdeath later invented various ways to control her powers that include a Trump Card which allows her to momentarily freeze time. Esdeath used her abilities to conquer the Northern lands, encasing her enemies in ice, before being summoned back to the capital to deal with Night Raid as leader of the Jaegers after her Three Beasts fell against them. Although she is strong at fighting and enjoys torture, Esdeath found herself occupied with love and obsessed over Tatsumi after seeing him battle in a fighting tournament. With Esdeath unaware of his ties to Night Raid, Tatsumi tried talking her into joining the Revolutionary Army. Tatsumi eventually gives up upon learning Esdeath's life story and realizing she is beyond redemption. Esdeath learns of Tatsumi's ties to the Night Raid and attempts to offer him a pardon in exchange for his total submission to her, but Tatsumi rejects her offer, telling her that he could never be with someone who only wants to spread war and destruction, much to her disappointment. After Tatsumi's escape, Esdeath accepts her love for Tatsumi as one-sided while resolving to fight him to the death during the Revolutionary Army's siege on the Imperial capital. While Tatsumi deals with the Shikoutazer, Esdeath battles Akame and ends up amputating her own arm when it was exposed to Murasame's poison. After the Shikotazer's defeat, refusing to surrender even after the Empire fell, Esdeath attempts to use her Imperial Arm's full potential to freeze everything around her before being killed when Akame activates Murasame's Trump Card. Esdeath uses the last ounce of strength to freeze herself while her final thoughts were of regret over Tatsumi never returning her feelings for him. Only her hand remained, being spirited off by Suzuka.Aria
: Aria is a citizen of the Empire. She brings Tatsumi to stay with her family for a few nights, but in reality, her family drugs and tortures gullible travelers to their deaths. Night Raid arrived just in time to show tatsumi Aria's torture chamber and Sayo's corpse. After a dying Iyesau tells Tatsumi that Aria tourtured Sayo to death, Aria goes berserk and insane as she rants on how she tortured Sayo for her beautiful hair. This enrages Tatsumi to the point where he sliced Aria in the stomach, killing her instantly.Captain Ogre
: is a guard of the Empire and captain of the imperial police. He was bribed by aThree Beasts
The are elite Teigu users serving Esdeath, having assisted her during her campaign to end rebellion in the northern lands while burying a whole rebel village and its occupants in ice. When Esdeath came to the capital to deal with Night Raid, she loaned the Three Beasts to Honest to help him remove the last of his political rivals. But the Three Beasts meet their end when they attempt to kill Tatsumi and Bulat, Esdeath paying her final respects to them while dismissing their deaths as signs of weakness.Daidara
: is a man who relies on brute strength and enjoys every opportunity to prove himself in battle. His Teigu is , a heavy axe that can be split into two blades, and when thrown, home in on its target. While fighting, he makes references to "gaining xp" and "leveling up," hinting at an unexplained view of his fighting as part of a game. He was the first to be killed, being split in half by Bulat.Nyau
: A young demon with an aristocratic background, has an unstable family life. Under his effeminate and innocent appearance, Nyau is a sadist who rips off the faces of his victims to add to his collection. He assumed himself to be the most sadistic person in the Empire before meeting Esdeath, becoming her subordinate to learn under her. His Teigu is a flute called that can manipulate an opponent's emotions and weaken them while strengthening allies. Though Nyau uses Scream's Demon Summon Trump Card to significantly boost his physical abilities, he ends up being Tatsumi's first kill with Incursio..Liver
: Framed by the Prime Minister for refusing to accept bribes while working as Bulat's superior officer, transfers his loyalty to Esdeath for releasing him from prison in exchange for his services. At some point during his service, Liver becomes the leader of the Three Beasts, Liver wields the Teigu , a ring that can control any liquid he has touched. When his battle with Bulat comes to a stalemate, he resorts to injecting himself with a deadly poison, and uses his secret Blade of Blood technique to have his blood pierce Bulat. The poison in the blood kills them both, making Tatsumi the only survivor of the battle.Jaegers
The are a group of Teigu users assembled by the emperor to support General Esdeath in place of the deceased Three Beasts, serving as the Empire's security squad and counter to Night Raid.Wave
: is a youngKurome
: Recruited along with her older sister Akame by the Empire, the two are separated into different assassination divisions. eventually gains notoriety as a cruel, inhumane assassin. Kurome was initially subjected to harsh treatment while forcefully administered experimental dopant drugs that enhance her abilities, developing an addiction as they are disguised as sweets. Upon learning of Akame's defection from the Empire, Kurome decides to be the one to kill her. Her Teigu, , is a katana that turns her victims into mute zombies; she can control up to eight creatures, including Danger Beasts, who can also use the skills they acquired when they were alive. She joins the Jaegers and is the first person Wave meets. Her powers are permanently restricted in a failed assassination attempt by Chelsea, and in a final duel with her sister Akame she is almost killed. Wave eventually rescues her, and the two agree to defect from the Empire by faking their deaths. After the Empire's defeat and end of the war, Kurome and Wave both live together with the former still scarred by her past while the latter lost one of his internal organs as a price for using two Teigu at once.Seryu Ubiquitous
: is a young woman with a long ponytail who was a member of the capital's garrison under her mentor Ogre. While seeing herself as servant of justice, Seryu is in reality an unhinged, murderous psychopath who enjoys brutally killing anybody she views as an enemy of the Empire. She normally wielded a pair ofDr. Stylish
: is aRun
: is Esdeath's personal adviser and the Jaegers' butler. He is seen by Wave as the most "normal" member from the group due to his gentle personality. He is a former teacher of a peaceful village, whose students were murdered by Champ, who would later become a member of Wild Hunt. When the Empire decided to turn their backs on this incident to maintain the facade of a "peaceful village", Run was given a choice of joining either the Revolutionary Army or the Empire; he chose the latter in order to try to change the country from within. His Teigu, , is a pair of plates on his back that allow him to grow wings and attack using feathers as projectiles; its Trump Card is the ability to reflect any attack using the wings as barriers. Run eventually confronts Champ with Wave and Kurome, but suffers fatal wounds after more Wild Hunt members are involved. Kurome kills him with Yatsufusa, transforming Run into one of her corpse puppets so that he would never leave her. Before his death, Run managed to provide Esdeath with concrete evidence that Syura was the mastermind behind an ongoing humanoid Danger Beast crisis, enabling the disbandment of Wild Hunt. During Kurome's fight with Akame, Run transfers Mastema to Wave, allowing him to save both of them. In the anime only, Run becomes the new Minister of Home Affairs.Bols
: is one of the older members (at 32 years old) of the Jaegers; he typically wears a gas mask and leather straps styled as if he were involved in torture play. He came from the empire's incineration squad. Despite his cruel job and fearsome appearance, Bols has a gentle personality and is a family man. Because of this, Esdeath comes to him for romantic advice regarding Tatsumi. He also does housework such as cooking. His Teigu, , is a flamethrower whose flames cannot be easily extinguished. After his Teigu is bitten off by Leone, he is forced to use his Teigu's self-destruct mechanism in order to escape, but is later assassinated by Chelsea in disguise. His wife and daughter are later raped and brutally murdered by Wild Hunt, under the guise of an "investigation".Bolic (Borick)
: is a high-ranking member of the , aHolimaca
: is Bolic's bodyguard who wields a lost Teigu that had been recovered. The Teigu is , a scythe with unknown capabilities; even he himself does not fully know its capabilities. Akame was able to kill him so quickly that she never realized his weapon was a Teigu.Four Rakshasa Demons of the Imperial Fist Temple
were four skilledSuzuka
: is a masochistic woman whose training as one of the Four Rakshasas gave her vast durability and endurance along with bodily manipulation like extending her nails at high speed to pierce her foes. Her achievements speak to her combat skill, having retrieved five Imperial Arms from enemies in the past. After surviving her battle with Tatsumi during Night Raid's mission to assassinate Bolic, Suzuka provided the Empire information on his ties to Night Raid while assigned to Wild Hunt to replace Champ and Enshin. She is a bi. Soon after, Esdeath nearly disfigures her, which in turn incites Suzuka's lustful obsession with Esdeath. Suzuka was placed under Esdeath's command during the siege of the Capital. In the end, Suzuka survived and left the Capital with Esdeath's severed hand. In the anime, she dies during her fight against Tatsumi.Great General Budo
: was a Commander-in-chief of the Empire. He is regarded as stubborn and is known for speaking boldly to the Prime Minister. His faction is strong enough that Esdeath is hesitant to oppose it. He is loyal to the Empire as an ideal and desires to clean up the corruption within the Empire, but only after putting down the rebellion. This implies that he is antagonistic to both Night Raid and the Minister's corrupt ways. His Teigu is , a pair of piston-installed gauntlets, which allow him to generate electricity and lightning storms and to deliver devastating punches capable of breaching even Incursio's defense. When Budo battled Tatsumi after Incursio evolved, he notes Incursio's progress and realizes that his opponent may have done the impossible by fusing with his Teigu. Budo is killed by Mine's blast during their rescue operation to save Tatsumi; elading Mine to fall into a coma.Wild Hunt
is the Secret Police of the Empire that is formed after the Jaegers suffered the loss of most of its members. The group is led by Syura who gathered world-class criminals from various regions under the Prime Minister's orders. Most of them carry a Teigu, although some of them are strong enough to fight without Imperial Arms. All six members enjoy abusing their newfound authority to satisfy their own urges of sadism while justifying their actions under the pretense of investigating the whereabouts of Night Raid. Such abuses of power included rape, blackmail, extortion, torture, and wanton murder sprees. Unlike the Jaegers, Syura shows no camaraderie towards the members of Wild Hunt. He is indifferent to their deaths, instead valuing only their usefulness in combat. When Run managed to discover irrefutable evidence that Syura released Dr. Stylish's modified Danger Beasts, Esdeath blackmailed Honest to dissolve Wild Hunt, much to Syura's fury.Syura
: is the son of Prime Minister Honest and the leader of Wild Hunt. He regards the Empire as a toy and uses Wild Hunt to promote unrest in the Empire. While he respects his father and they have an amiable relationship, Syura desires to surpass his father and become emperor. Prior to making himself known, Syura released many of Dr. Stylish's experimental Danger Beasts to kill innocent people before the Jeagers managed to wipe out most of them. After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Wave and enduring a scolding from his unimpressed father, Syura swears vengeance against Wave. Syura boasts about his relationship with the Minister to his victims and enemies so as to intimidate them into submission, but is nevertheless a skilled fighter, having learned various martial art styles throughout his travels. He wields the Teigu, , a pendant that allows him to teleport anyone within its trigram circle symbol over large distances. Syura is killed when he lets his guard down around a captured Lubbock, who used wires from his Teigu to break Syura's neck.Champ The Clown
is a member of Wild Hunt who appears as an overweight, sadistic,Cosmina
is a female member of Wild Hunt. A singer and rather lewd young woman, she was convicted of being a witch by a witch hunt. Her family was burned to death, but she survived with a shattered psyche. Her Teigu is , a microphone that amplifies the user's voice into deadly sound waves capable of pulverizing her victims. She was shot in the throat by Mine and her Teigu was retrieved by Night Raid. Unlike Champ and Enshin, who died in the same battle, Cosmina possesses tremendous vitality and survived long enough for Dorothea to utilize her alchemy to save her. She was then modified into a giantDorothea
is a child-like female alchemist working for Wild Hunt. She joined Syura in the hopes of meeting Dr. Stylish to combine her alchemy with his altered body, but is disappointed when she learns he was already dead. Her Teigu is , a set of fangs that allows her to drink her victims' blood in aEnshin
is a formerIzou
is a masterElite Seven
The Elite Seven was a special squad of assassins that serves the Empire during the events of the prequel manga ''Akame ga Kill! Zero''. Except for its leader, each member of the squad carried a less powerful version of the Teigu called a which were created by an Emperor 400 years ago in an attempt to produce stronger artifacts than the original Teigu, but with no success. All members of the unit are children raised since childhood in the arts of assassination and Akame was a member of them, ranked no. 7 before defecting to the Revolutionary Army.Gozuki
: Originally a member of the Rakshasa Demons, takes the seven most talented children amongst the many tested, Akame included, and trains them to be human weapons for the purpose of stamping out rebels acting against the Empire. He did not include Kurome amongst the seven as she finished in eighth place, and he did not want sisterly affections to interfere with their combat efficiencies. He refers them as his "children" and they in turn referred him as "father". He is intolerant of failure and threatens to disown any of them who failed in their missions. As the leader of the Elite Seven, Gozuki was originally owner of the Imperial Arm Murasame before the weapon ended up in Akame's possession.Najasho
Ranked no.1 of the Elite Seven, Najasho is the sub-leader of the team, thus he usually treats his companions as less capable than him and had a tendency to boss them around. His Shingu is the "Water-Dragon Sword", a broadsword with the power to enhance the capabilities of its wielders for three minutes, at the cost of leaving them exhausted for a while once its effect wears off.Guy
Ranked no.2, Guy has a rather perverted attitude, usually visiting brothels and flirting with the female members of the team. Despite that, he has real feelings for Cornelia and swears revenge upon those who killed her. His Shingu is the "Rare Suit", a suit of armor that takes advantage of the ground to perform surprise attacks.Cornelia
Ranked no.3, Cornelia is the big-sister figure of the group. She is killed by one of Chelsea's former teammates called Taeko, after revealing her secret to her, unaware of her true identity. Her Shingu was the "Pulverization Ring", that bestows superhuman strength to its user, but can harm them if not used properly.Pony
Ranked no.4, Pony is cheerful, straightforward, and rather dimwitted, who has a deep admiration for Gozuki and loved to please him. She also seems to enjoy fighting and killing her targets. Her Shingu is the "Yocto-bottoms", that gives the user extra acceleration and leg strength, but the user must compensate possible side-effects from extensive use with special physical training.Green
Ranked no.5, Green is a bespectacled, rather reserved boy who actually had some feelings for Akame, which are never reciprocated. His Shingu is the "Sidewinder", a whip that moves according to its user's will, but demands much concentration.Tsukushi
Ranked no.6, Tsukushi is around Akame's age and the member of the team she seems to be the closest to. Her Shingu is the "Prometheus", a pair of pistols whose bullets have their trajetory controlled by the user according to their will. However, this control gets harder with each round fired after successive shots.Others
Iyesau
Iyesau is a childhood friend of Sayo and Tatsumi. They leave their village in hopes of finding money, but after they got separated by bandits, Aria invited them to stay in her house, but they were drugged and Iyesau helplessly watched Sayo get tortured to death. At the same time, he gets infected and dying from the Lubora Virus and is found by Tatsumi and Night Raid who tells his friend of Sayo's death. He smiles when he sees Tatsumi kill Aria; and in his dying moments tells Tatsumi of how Sayo resisted until the very end and wants to go out like a hero as he dies in his arms.Sayo
Sayo is a childhood friend of Iyesau and Tatsumi. They leave their village in hopes of finding money, but after they got separated by bandits, Aria invited them to stay in her house, but they were drugged and Aria brutally tortures Sayo to death, But she kept her strong will until the very end. Her corpse was found by Tatsumi and Night Raid. Once Aria goes on a cold-blooded berserk rant over how she murdered Sayo over her beautiful hair, Her death was avenged by an enraged Tatsumi as he kills Aria by slicing her in the stomach.Reception
The characters of ''Akame ga Kill!'' have been well received by anime and manga & movies publications. UK Anime Network praised the development of Tatsumi from a "happy go lucky" protagonist and changes as he interacts with the ''members'' from Night Raid. Matt Packard of Anime News Network criticized most of its first villains for being "one-note savages resigned to "grinning insanely while being killed." However, the introduction of the Jaegers led to a more positive response due to the characterization of the new antagonists with Wave's dynamic with Tatsumi being called out twice due to their several similarities in terms of personalities.Works cited
;''Akame ga Kill'' manga volumes written by Takahiro and illustrated by Tashiro, Tetsuya. Original Japanese version published by Square Enix. English version byReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akame ga Kill! Lists of anime and manga characters Fictional assassins in comics