List of Black Cat characters
The Black Cat manga series features characters created by Kentaro Yabuki. The story follows a young man named Train Heartnet who withdrew from an elite group of assassins called the Chronos Numbers two years earlier and is now a Sweeper, or bounty hunter. Many of the characters are humans with superhuman strength, speed and/or supernatural abilities. Black Cats anime adaptation features some characters not created by Yabuki, as well as many plot differences.
Main characters
Train Heartnet
Train Heartnet, also known as Black Cat, is the protagonist and a Sweeper partnered with Sven. Train is a light-hearted, courageous man who is highly skilled with a gun. The 23-year-old's distinguishing features are a choker with a tiny bell attached to it and the XIII tattoo he has on the left side of his chest. Two years earlier Train was a Chronos Number, a ruthless assassin and Number XIII of the group. He has a large amount of killing intent that he honed from his days as a Chronos member, and as a result he often has sudden mood swings, going from carefree to serious in an instant, especially when Creed is mentioned. This personality stems from being orphaned at 10 years old after the assassin Zagine Axeloake kills his parents, takes Train in and teaches him how to kill with efficiency. Zagine eventually dies and tells Train that he needs to be the strongest in order to survive. After that, Karl took Train in and he became an assassin for Chronos. Having been killing and exposed to death since early childhood, Train becomes very bleak and unsmiling until he leaves Chronos. He eventually meets Saya, a carefree sweeper, who slowly changes Train into a "stray cat" that does not blindly follow orders. He decides not to kill anymore, and after Creed kills Saya, he leaves to become a Sweeper and searches after him.He wields Hades, a black and gold revolver made out of Orichalcum weighing 2.5 kg, with the numeral XIII engraved into its side and a red tassel attached to its hand grip that stretches out like a leash. He possesses 20/20 vision and is an extremely skilled marksman, able to accurately shoot down bullets from other guns, and hit the same place with a number of bullets at exactly the same time. He is ambidextrous, but naturally left-handed; using his left hand increases his speed and accuracy. He can also shoot a number of bullets while in the air to accelerate him into a spinning slash, "Black Claw", that leaves four large slash marks. He also uses specialty bullets created by Sven, including the Burst Bullet, which produces an extremely large amount of damage, and bullets that freeze or paralyze opponents. His gun is made out of the strongest metal called Orichalcum, which allows him to use the gun to deflect bullets and guard against other attacks. When his body becomes infected with nanomachines he manages to manipulate them into creating static electricity, allowing him to focus the electricity into the barrel of Hades, turning it into a railgun. However, he loses this ability after one last maximum shot in the final fight with Creed.
Yabuki chose the name Train because it brings about the image of him freighthopping. In the original one-shot version, Stray Cat, Train was a famous Sweeper that gave that life up to become a Delivery Man. Additionally, he could use Tao to turn his chi into bullets fired from his pistol with a taijitu symbol on it, or into a blade coming from its barrel. Train came in first place in all three of the series' character popularity contests.
Sven Vollfied
Sven Vollfied is a sweeper and Train's partner. The 30-year-old follows a strict code of chivalry: he is always respectful to women and children and acts very proper. He befriends Eve, being the first person to treat her like a human, which causes the two to become very close like a father and daughter relationship. He is often tortured by Train's capricious personality and is usually dragged into trouble and even more debt because of it. Sven is skilled in inventing and making innovative weapons and other various equipment, including bombs and special bullets for Train. Sven's weapon of choice was originally a normal pistol, but after that is destroyed, he invents the Attaché Weapon Case, a suitcase equipped with hidden weaponry inside of it. It contains a built-in machine gun, grenade launcher, net launcher, an electrical cable, and various other small weapons inside the case.Before becoming a sweeper, he was an inspector for the International Bureau of Investigations, along with his partner, Lloyd Goldwynne. Lloyd possessed an ability called the "Vision Eye", which allowed him to see a few seconds into the future. Seven years ago, after being attacked by members of a crime family, Sven loses his right eye and Lloyd sacrifices himself to save him. A week before his death, Lloyd registered as an organ donor; Sven received one of his eyes and the Vision Eye, although he is not able to use it as well as Lloyd. However, it puts a massive strain on his body so he normally keeps it under an eye patch. Sven later evolves it into the "Grasper Eye" through rigorous training by having cannonballs fired at him, honing his endurance with the eye to the point where extensive use no longer drains him to the point of total collapse. The Grasper Eye allows him to see things in slow motion for about five seconds, allowing him to evade seemingly impossible attacks and barrages, and is less draining than the Vision Eye.
The name Sven was taken from a minor character in a blockbuster film Yabuki enjoyed. In the original one-shot version, Stray Cat, Sven is a Delivery Man instead of a Sweeper and had a beard. Sven came in seventh, fourth and third place in the series' three character popularity contests.
Eve
Eve is a young beautiful girl, who is a genetically cloned and engineered bio-weapon. After being rescued by Train and Sven, she accompanies them on their travels. She is able to use nanotechnology to transform her body into various offensive and defensive weapons and heal any injuries. Initially only able to alter limited parts of her body, she is later able to transform her entire body at will, though it causes a lot of strain on her. She typically turns her arms into blades, hammers and shields, turns her hair into fists and microblades able to cut through steel, turns her own skin into steel, and sprouts wings from her back to fly. The nanomachines in her body also alter her clothing; for changing her appendages or growing wings without ripping them. Eve's DNA was taken from the chief scientist responsible for the nanotechnology experiments, [|Tearju Lunatique], thus the two look identical.She is designed to be the ultimate soldier, being raised to be an emotionless killing machine, not understanding the concept of free choice. She is saved by Sven from the weapons smuggler, Torneo Rudman, and he treats her like a human for the first time in her life. Seemingly unfeeling and more like the machine she was made to be initially, she turned more and more like a human as the series progress due to the time she spent with Train and Sven. She loves reading, and can remember everything in a book after reading it once, which also served to build her humanity. Sven initially tries to keep her away from the Sweeper life for her own safety, though she proves that she can fight and he begins to treat her as a partner. She also has a deep sense of compassion and will absolutely not kill no matter what, stemming from guilt she feels for the murders she committed before Sven found her.
Yabuki agonized over choosing her name, looking for one that evoked "purity and innocence." Eve came in second place in all three of the series' character popularity contests. The character Golden Darkness from Yabuki's later work, To Love Ru, is based on Eve. They both have the ability to turn parts of their bodies into weapons. Golden Darkness comes from the spaceship Lunatique and her creator is Tearju. In chapter 61 of To Love-Ru, Golden Darkness tries on a black dress similar to the one that Eve wears in the final chapters of Black Cat. In chapter 15 of To Love-Ru Darkness, it is revealed that the character's true name is Eve.
Rinslet Walker
Rinslet Walker is an infamous thief-for-hire that recruits Train and Sven for a heist, but continues teaming with them afterwards. The 21-year-old works for everyone from mob bosses to the government, this being the reason a bounty is never placed on her. Rinslet claims she can steal anything and manipulate any man, though she has trouble with Train; she can sucker him into participating in her schemes, but can't get him to follow her plans to the letter. She occasionally provides Train and Sven with targets, so that they can act as distractions while she steals. She treats Eve as a younger sister, much to her own annoyance. Rinslet owns and uses a gun but she is not as skilled at fighting as Train or Sven, she also carries a whip with a heart-shaped tip. Rinslet is not cold-hearted and will help others or even destroy what she is hired to steal if the item is dangerous to humanity. She is later forcefully hired by Chronos to act as bait.Yabuki chose the name Rinslet because it evokes the image of a "silky haired beauty."
Supporting characters
Saya Minatsuki
Saya Minatsuki was an accomplished sweeper and close friend of Train. Her involvement with him led to his more human outlook on life and his departure from Chronos. Train denies having had romantic feelings for the 19-year-old, stating he "fell in love... with her way of living. Not bound by anyone or anything... like a stray cat."Saya has no memories of her life before the age of ten, due to heavy abuse from her parents. Her first real memory is waking up in hospital and being carried off to a relative's house. She constantly wears a yukata because she likes their appearance and thinks it makes her stand out. She develops the "Reflect Shot" over the course of five years, allowing her to fire bullets that ricochet off hard surfaces and strike opponents at odd angles and different velocities.
Creed, seeing that Train's personality is changing due to her, confronts Saya and the two fight until she is stabbed while being distracted by kids. She does manage to destroy his sword before dying. Devastated by her death, Train struggles while whether or not to get revenge on Creed, until settling on taking him in as a Sweeper instead of killing him. Saya's spirit later helps Train defeat the Doctor's Warp World and aim his final shot at Creed.
Saya's name just popped into Yabuki's head while he was looking at her face.