Content:Characters

The information on this page is incomplete and may not be of much use.

If you can, please help by adding to it.

The cast of an anime includes the characters and their seiyuu (voice actors and actresses).

Quick High-Level Checklist

At the very baseline, character entries need the following:

• Official Japanese name
• Japanese transcription matching our transcription rules: AniDB_Definition:Romanisation
• Gender, unless unavailable
• Picture: official if available, screenshot if not
• Seiyuu relation
• Anime relation

Optional, but highly recommended:

• Character relations (friends, boyfriend, etc)
• English Official name
• Age, date of birth
• Tags (hair colour, clothing, magical abilities, weapons, etc)

Things NOT to do:

• Create multiple copies of the same character, unless there is a valid reason
• Use the "add name" feature to add alternate spellings; do NOT create multiple character entries to do this.
• Do not add excessive alternate spellings or names

Cast info sources

Note	This section is a mostly untouched copy of some of the text from nwa's forum post and still needs further details, proper editing and formatting.

The following are acceptable sources for information on the cast:

• VIDEO - yeah... well... as always.

• The official page for the anime - Lists the main and secondary cast generally. Sometimes gives the hiragana readings as well (from which you can get the main name).

• Japanese wiki - this should be the BEST source for characters since they most of the time also give the hiragana reading (inside brackets). And they mention seiyuu changes, generally...

• http://wikiwiki.jp/seiyu_syukei/ - lists complete cast info per episode for a number of anime since 2008 and for ongoing anime.

• http://www.anime-title.com/ - lists complete cast info per episode for a number of anime, older one as well as ongoing. Note that the cast info is very well hidden, after you select an anime, you need to click on an episode title to unfold the cast info (it doesn't show a pointer cursor). If nothing unfolds, then that episode has no cast info.

• http://homepage2.nifty.com/KNIGHT/anime/ - lists cast info for various older anime. For some anime a few episodes might be missing.

• http://www.mau2.com/anime-pg.php?d=new - cast listing for 2006-20xx series. some older stuff but those are usually very incomplete datawise.

• SeiyuuDB - complete cast info for various series in the 20xx range.

• Generally, almost every page I gave to get the anime staff data from also lists cast, just without a reading.

One thing to note, if you add a character WITHOUT the official Japanese name and WITHOUT any links whatsoever, well that's just lame and makes it quite hard to track down the character to see if that's really his name and what not, but alas, we're not as strict with characters as we are with creators. I bet we have quite a number of characters by now whose name order is wrong or who don't meet our romanisation standards.

Note from nwa

Note	This section is verbatim copypasta from the bottom of The Big One .

Note from nwa: since we're all here too lazy to actually write guides and standards, I'm afraid you guys just need to check the existing examples of data for now. If there are any questions regarding the addition of characters/creators/songs/staff credits or anything else related to the new features, please ask so in the forum. Hopefully some day there will be a notes section on the add/edit pages. But for now, just remember that AniDB is meant to display the original Japanese data, character and creator names depend on how they were given in the video or on Japanese sources (family name vs given name order anyone?). Oh, and... NO spaces in Official Japanese names, and always try to provide them!

• Examples of full cast: Death Note, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (the Cast tab, click on "show all" at the bottom of the table)
• Examples of full staff credits: Top wo Nerae! Gekijouban, for something that's still ongoing - Queen's Blade (the Staff tab, can also check Staff per episode)
• Examples of full anime OSTs (collections): Cowboy Bebop Original Soundtrack 3: Blue, Gankutsuou Original Soundtrack, and a single - Hemisphere
• And for something completely chaotic, useless, yet somewhat awesome - warning - may crash your browser (will certainly crash older browsers).

Notes about adding character data

Note	These are some items I learned about while adding characters on my own. These notes may not accurately reflect AniDB policy, but may be helpful to other users just getting started adding character data.

• For all data it is preferred to stick with original Japanese sources, written in Japanese. This means your primary sources should be Japanese broadcast (or R2 DVD) video, official Japanese web site (.jp), and Japanese Wiki.

• Automatic translation services such as Google Translate and Babel Fish may be helpful, but should not be trusted on their own. Expect some words (especially names) to be translated incorrectly. Try to find a more authoritative source to corroborate translated information.

• Spoiler tags should be used in character descriptions to hide potentially spoiling information. English Wikipedia contains a lot of spoilers.

• For character images the official Japanese web site is preferred over screen caps from the video.

• Character images may be as large as 400 pixels wide by 500 pixels tall, but must not exceed 102400 bytes in size. discussion

• Episode relations are added by editing the character to anime relation and entering values into the Episodes field. Acceptable values consist of a series of comma separated ranges which may be delimited by hyphens. Just enter something like "1-26", or "2,5,8", or "9-13,16,22,26".

• JP URL and EN URL fields are for official web sites of the anime only. Do not enter the URL of any other web site here! If there is no official web site, or the official web site of the anime no longer exists, then simply leave the URL field blank.

• Additional character data sources may be cited in the comment to the mod field.

• When adding text credits, the preferred format is "English (Kanji (Romaji))", if you know all 3, "Romaji (Kanji)" if you aren't sure of the translation and "Kanji" if you're unsure even about the reading.

Character Guises

Character guises are a way to link multiple "versions" of a character. They're asymmetrical, hierarchical, parent-child relations; one side is generally known as "parent" guise (also "main" guise) and the other is generally known as "child" guise or simply "guise". To set a character as the child guise, edit it and set the parent guise in the "Guise of" field. The parent guise will automatically be considered as the main guise once that change is approved. That is the only way to set guises; it is not possible to do it the other way around.

A child guise may have only one parent, but a parent guise may have any number of children. A child guise may also have its own children, recursively; having a parent does not interfere with being set as parent for a third character. An example of that is the guise chain of Illyasviel von Einzbern. Among its guises, Illyasviel has a counterpart in the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya universe; that counterpart has, among its guises, a magical girl version, and that magical girl version has several guises of its own: from top parent to bottom, that's a chain of, so far, four positions in total (original Illyasviel -> FKL Illyasviel -> Prisma Illya -> multiple guises).

When to add new guises and when not to add them

• Do NOT add new characters to serve as guises of existing characters unless you are SURE that they should be added. Consult a mod before doing anything if you're not sure.
• Do NOT add guises to Pokemon or Digimon without consulting with worf first. Consider this your only warning.
• Irreconcilable changes to factual data not covered by tags, such as the character's birth date, justify new guises.
• Major changes to character design, such as those tied to a change of character designer in a reboot series, justify new guises. This does not include SD designs, which are treated separately (see below).
• Major aging (baby vs child vs adolescent vs adult vs elderly) generally justifies new guises, but not always. Unless a mod says otherwise, assume it does.
• Disguises that involve taking on a different identity, such as those of magical girls, generally justify new guises, but not always. Unless a mod says otherwise, assume they do. A noteworthy exception is Kinomoto Sakura, who does not receive guises for each of her countless changes in magical girl wardrobe.
• Super deformed (SD or "chibi") guises should only be added when they have significance. A short special self-parody episode or a few short regular-episode scenes featuring SD designs do not justify SD guises, but an entire self-parody show with SD guises probably does. Assume they shouldn't be added and always contact a mod before adding any.
• Major shifts in personality and relations may, but generally won't, justify new guises. Always contact a mod before even considering adding any. Be advised that, unless you have a very good case for adding the guise, it will be shot down.
• Minor changes such as one or two tags no longer being valid as a result of a plot event or very minor design changes will never justify new guises. Don't bother with those.

Choosing the parent guise

1. If a guise can be identified as clearly the most important one, it'll be set as the main one. This does not include maybes such as "X looks a teeny tiny bit more relevant than Y"; there must be a compelling difference in plot role.
2. That failing, if a guise can be identified as clearly the "true" or original version of the character, it will be the main one. Just as before, this does not include maybes; there must be compelling evidence pointing at one guise as being the original one.
3. That failing, whoever appears first, in chronological release order of the relevant episodes, and in order of appearance if on the same episode, will be the main guise.
4. We are yet to see a case that can't be handled that way, such as two guises being introduced in two unrelated episodes released on the same day. Should such a case ever appear, set the character that gets added first as the main guise and report the child guise to the mods. If such a case shows up and the characters are set the other way around, do not attempt to reverse the relation; simply report it and mention that they are reversed.

Character Relations

As you have a parent, Sousuke might have one. Thus we have established the char-char relations. You can access them on every character page by clicking on the "Add Entitiy Relation" tab, if there is no relation yet present, or, accessing the "Related Entities" tab and clicking [add/edit relations], when somebody has added at least one relation. Should you need specific help concerning the relations of a character, look for Hinoe on our IRC channel or click "report this entry" in the "Contribution" tab on the character's main info block to issue a comment creq.

What character relations are NOT

Character relations are long-term links established between characters. There must be an element of permanence over time; in other words, a single incident is NOT a relation. For example, assume two characters in a fighting show fought once; that does NOT constitute a relation. Fighting once isn't a relation; being rivals is a relation, being enemies is a relation, and these are reasons they might fight, but the fight itself doesn't form a relation. Furthermore, if they fought within a tournament, when they were merely opponents, the reason for the fight is simply the tournament itself, with no relations coming into play. On the other hand, if the same characters fight repeatedly for whatever reason, such as being rivals, or as part of their routine training to become stronger, then a relation exists between them. A character relation should exist because it has long-term relevance, and the opponent of the week does not have long-term relevance, but a repeated opponent might, and a constant opponent certainly does. Common sense applies.

Character relations in porn (hentai) entries

Generally speaking, in porn, character relations where only sex is involved (without a clear indication of feelings of some sort) should not be considered of the love interest type.

General notes on character relations

Character relations should be based on what is shown in the anime. Related works may be used to clarify relations in the anime (e.g. the anime doesn't make it clear whether character A loves character B, but the manga does), so long as there is no contradiction. Relations from outside the anime generally should not be added, but they may be added if they fulfil BOTH the following criteria (use your common sense before adding such relations; if on doubt, ask before adding!):

• the relation is not related to the plot. For example, a family relationship usually isn't plot-related since that's a fixed relationship. However, it might be plot-related if it was revealed as part of the plot; for example, the fact two characters were siblings is revealed at some point (i.e. it is what people call a spoiler). Relations that are related to the plot should only be added when they happen in the anime, and if they do. This is really important: do not add relations for things that will only happen in the future!
• the relation is clear and straightforward across all relevant franchise works (e.g. the work the anime is directly based on); this is important when a relation is valid in one work of the franchise (e.g. the manga the anime is based on) but not in another (e.g. another manga in the same franchise). It may be wise to treat all external relations as plot-related when the franchise is convoluted.

There are many different kinds of relations that can be set and are self-explanatory by the name or relation they carry; others might need a comment to specify the relation a bit more. If on doubt, simply consider whether the relation type explains everything there is to be explained. Some relations will have standardized comments; others will require comments but not have a specific standard on them. When there is no standard currently set for the relation type, general rules and common sense apply; when examples are available, following them should be generally safe. Additionally, if a relation has ended, it is highly encouraged for the comment to specify the point in the timeline and the reason why the relation ended. Relation comments are supposed to be lower case, as well as short and as neutral as possible.

Character relations are furthermore always supposed to be two-sided; the vice versa option should always be marked. If a relation is truly one-sided (e.g. character A considers character B a rival, but character B doesn't think that way, or maybe doesn't even know character A exists), the comment should specify it as "on character A's part only", and the relation will still be set as two-sided.

Some relations accumulate in ways that may seem less than intuitive. For example, if someone founds a company and works in it, they should also have the "is part of" relation to the company. Additionally, if they're a leader in the company (say, the CEO), they should also have the "is the leader of" relation, preferably with a fitting comment. This also means that, because the CEO of a company works in that company, they should have both the "is the leader of" and "is part of" relations to it. Generally, you should assume that relations accumulate. Going along with the founder/CEO example:

• Company founder, current CEO: "is the creator/founder of", "is the leader of", "is part of"
• Company founder, former CEO, currently no longer in a leadership post but still working in the company: "is the creator/founder of", "is the leader of" (ended), "is part of"
• Company founder, former CEO, retired: "is the creator/founder of", "is the leader of" (ended), "is part of" (ended)
• And so on

Please note that couples are NOT valid family relations; please use the appropriate couple-centred relations instead. If, however, the relation is incestuous, both the couple relation and the regular family relation should evidently be added.

The death of a character may or may not end a character relation, depending on the specifics of each case. Generally speaking, however, it tends to imply its end. Exceptions exist, and include (but aren't necessarily limited to) "is family of" (please see the notes on that relation for more information) and the "kills"/"is killed by" relation pair (for obvious reasons). Use common sense and evaluate the impact of death on the specific relation, on a case-by-case basis. For example, the death of a love interest (i.e. the target of the love interest) generally ends the character relation. However, the death of the the person having a love interest (i.e. the person in love) does not end the character relation; the person in love continues to hold the love interest up, possibly until they move on to someone else. Please also note that some relations may never end.

Please see each specific relation for more detailed instructions, or contact Hinoe per above if the information is unavailable.

consists of / is part of

This relation is somewhat self-explanatory, but may require explanations when appropriate. If the person leaves the organization or the subsidiary organization leaves its parent, the relation should be set as ended, with a fitting comment.

is an ally of

The characters have some sort of alliance for common goals. Details on the alliance should go on the comment. Attention: when people become "sworn siblings", "blood brothers", or anything similar, this is the relation type that should be set; not "is partner of", not "is friends with", not "other", most definitely not "is family of". Please use "sworn siblings" as standard comment when "blood brothers" would otherwise apply.

is being led by / is the leader of

The character is the leader, or one of the leaders, of the organization. This relation accumulates with "consists of" / "is part of", unless the character can lead the organization without being a part of it. Such an arrangement would be unusual at best, so it is generally fine to assume the leader is a part of the organization, and request support via a comment creq in exceptional cases. Ends when the person ceases to be a leader. This relation should normally have a comment indicating in what way they're a leader (e.g. CEO, prime minister, king, general...).

is family of

This is a perfect example for the 'in need of comment' category. Being part of a family can mean a lot of things, and many people have different ideas of how to put those into words. Beneath you'll find a list of preferred wording for those relations.

While it should be as neutral as possible, the (usually) older family member should always be mentioned first. Even though there are exceptions - an uncle can be born later than a nephew - this will still use the same template. There will be no distinction between fraternal or maternal grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.

Relationships in families can be genetic or non-genetic. The latter includes marriages and adoptions. So if your mother's brother marries a woman, she will still be considered your aunt.

• ancestor (anything that goes further up/down in the family tree than great-great-grandparent level)
• great-great-grandparent - great-great-grandchild
• great-grandparent - great-grandchild
• grandparent - grandchild
• grandparent - grandchild (adoptive)
• parent - child
• parent - child (adoptive)
• stepparent - stepchild (the parent is not related by blood and hasn't adopted the child after marriage to the biological parent)
• foster parent - foster child (the child has been taken and brought up by another family than its biological, without legal steps in place)
• uncle - nephew
• uncle - nephew (adoptive)
• uncle - niece
• uncle - niece (adoptive)
• great-uncle - great-nephew (a great-uncle is the brother of your grandparent)
• great-uncle - great-niece
• stepuncle - stepnephew (a stepuncle is the brother of your stepparent or the stepbrother of your parent)
• stepuncle - stepniece
• aunt - nephew
• aunt - nephew (adoptive)
• aunt - niece
• aunt - niece (adoptive)
• great-aunt - great-nephew (a great-aunt is the sister of your grandparent)
• great-aunt - great-niece
• stepaunt - stepnephew (a stepaunt is the sister of your stepparent or the stepsister of your parent)
• stepaunt - stepniece
• first cousins (your grandparent is also their grandparent)
• first cousins once removed (your grandparent is also their great-grandparent, or the other way around)
• first cousins twice removed (your grandparent is also their great-great-grandparent, or the other way around)
• second cousins (your great-grandparent is also their great-grandparent)
• second cousins once removed (your great-grandparent is also their great-great-grandparent, or the other way around)
• third cousins (your great-great-grandparent is also their great-great-grandparent)
• cousins (see note below)
• siblings
• siblings (adoptive)
• half-siblings (related by blood to one parent)
• stepsiblings (unrelated by blood, came into the family due to marriage)
• foster siblings
• twins
• triplets
• quadruplets
• multiplets (quintuplets, sextuplets, and beyond)
• distant blood relatives (other distant blood relation such as distant cousins or branch families, when relevant. Please note that this is often a fallback relation; if unsure, ask before adding this comment)
• in-laws (parents) (this goes for any combination of mother/father/daughter/son-in-law)
• in-laws (siblings) (this goes for brother/sister-in-law)

Family relations never end, even after one person dies. The question of whether someone who's related through marriage (e.g. your aunt who's your mother's brother's wife) continues to be a family member following a divorce or the death of their spouse has not yet been settled; for now, please assume all relations existing at the time of the end of the marriage will stay so, and new additions to the family will not have the relation. This is not yet settled policy and is subject to change at any time.

The "cousins" comment is a fallback for any of the six types of cousins explicitly listed, to be used when the type of cousin is not known/specified; if it is certain, the more specific type is preferred and should be used. Please do not use the "cousins" relation for more distant cousins; they should be filed as "distant blood relatives" instead. If you are confused about how to best describe a case, it may be useful to check Wikipedia for some help.

Repeating a general note here due to its importance, please note that couples are NOT valid family relations; please use the appropriate couple-centred relations instead. If, however, the relation is incestuous, both the couple relation and the regular family relation should evidently be added.

is killed by / kills

On its own, that relation is entirely self-explanatory. A comment might elaborate on the circumstances, reasons, means employed, and so on; some examples might include "stabbed in the jugular vein with a ballpoint pen" or "accidentally shot on the forehead". Clearly, this relation never ends.

is the creator/founder of / was created/founded by

The character/organization created/manufactured the mecha, or the character (co-)founded the organization. This relation accumulates with several others: if the character also works in the organization (e.g. someone working for the company they created), also add "consists of" / "is part of"; if the character also leads the organization (e.g. someone's the CEO of the company they founded), also add "is being led by" / "is the leader of" (please see that relation for more information); if the mecha is also deployed by the organization, add "is the deployer of" / "is stationed to/used by"; and so on. This relation never ends; you may not cease to have created/founded something.

is the predecessor of / is the successor of

This relation type also requires a comment, as it always refers to an office, position, title, etc. You can be someone's successor as some company's CEO, as some country's king, as head of your clan, and so on; the comment should specify what role specifically one character succeeded the other in. Some reasonable examples might be "as family head", "as king", "as the King of England", or "as Nintendo's president". This relation never ends.

is the rival of

This relation type implies an object of rivalry between the rivals, which needs to be specified; when two people compete, they compete for something, and there is a need of a comment to specify what they are competing for. You can be someone's rival in the fight for someone else's love, in trying to be the fastest racer in town, in your goal of being the very best, like no one ever was, and so on. Additionally, rivalries might end following some sort of event, and they may be one-sided, in that only one side recognizes the other as a rival; the relation will still be set as two-sided, and the comment needs to elaborate on the single side aspect. Reasonable examples might be "for Sakura's love", "for Sakura's love, until Tarou fell in love with Yuri", "for Sakura's love, until Tarou died", "for Sakura's love, only on Keiichi's part", "for Sakura's love, only on Keiichi's part, until Tarou died", "as fellow racers", and so forth.

lovers

There generally is no need for a comment for this relation, but there are two notable exceptions that should always take the relevant comment:

• concubinage (a person who is legally entitled to having "unofficial spouses" and those "unofficial spouses"; think an emperor and his many concubines)
• paramours (a married person and their extramarital lover; think a married man and his mistress)

Please note that concubinage is a much more "official" relationship than that between paramours, which is generally seen as strictly illicit; historical concubines have often held positions of power within their lovers' households due to the very fact they held concubine status. If a character is described as an "official mistress", it is generally fine to understand that to be a case of concubinage. Ask if on doubt.

other

The "other" relation type always requires a comment, because otherwise people won't be able to understand what the relation is even supposed to cover. This may sound obvious, but "other"-type relations without a comment are very common, leading to much frustration when dealing with them. As such, please always describe the "other"-type relations you add, and try to elaborate on any you find. Since this relation type is a catchall for anything not covered by any other type, it may be one-sided (but will still be set as two-sided, and the comment will need to elaborate on the single side aspect), and it may end, or it may not. Please exercise common sense to its fullest when adding an "other"-type relation and do not add foolish relations over inane things.