List of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a manga series created by Hayao Miyazaki, between 1981 and 1994, featuring an extensive cast of characters. The series takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where environmental disasters threaten the survival of humankind. Nausicaä, the titular protagonist of the series, is a princess of the Valley of the Wind, who explores the ecological system of her world and becomes involved in a war between kingdoms. Nausicaä's objective is to bring about a peaceful coexistence among the people of her world, as well as between humanity and nature.
In 1984 Miyazaki's film of the same title was released. At the time only 16 chapters of the manga had been published. Miyazaki had not written an ending for the manga and not all the characters had been created yet. Characters from the manga were adapted for the screen and new characters were created who appear exclusively in the film.
Major characters
Valley of the Wind
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NausicaäThe protagonist of the film is Nausicaä, the Princess of the Valley of the Wind. As a courageous and caring person, she has a special connection with animals and the natural world. From a young age, she explores the ecosystem of her world and also develops a skilled ability to fly on her glider. Because of her exploration of the toxic jungle's flora and fauna and her scientific experiments with the samples she brings back to her laboratory, she comes to the conclusion that the ecosystem of their world is misunderstood by most of the people who inhabit it. Nausicaä sees war as pointless, but accepts the responsibilities she has towards her people and their allies, responsibilities that increase as her father's condition deteriorates. Her ultimate responsibility is towards the world as a whole and her actions transcend the narrow scope of tribal politics and warfare in which she becomes embroiled. Throughout most of the story, she is portrayed as a young adult, but there are flashbacks to her earlier childhood.
Voice cast: Sumi Shimamoto was the character's Japanese voice actor in the 1984 animated film adaptation of Nausicaä. For the 2005 English dub, released by Buena Vista, Alison Lohman performed the role.
Reito Adachi observes that the name of the 'Nausicaä' character was changed, to the more English sounding, "Zandra" for the simplified and cut New World Pictures release of the film, titled Warriors of the Wind.
Jihl
JihlNausicaä's father. King of the Valley of the Wind. Shown as a bedridden old man throughout his appearances except in flashbacks. The manga and film differ in his ultimate fate. In the manga his death is attributed to long-term poisoning caused by the Sea of Corruption. In the movie he is killed during an invasion of the Valley of the Wind by Torumekian troops.
Voice cast: Mahito Tsujimura, Mark Silverman
Yupa Miralda
Yupa MiraldaAlso referred to as Master Yupa, or Lord Yupa. An explorer and the greatest swordsman in the Periphery. A mentor figure to Nausicaä, he travels with Asbel and Ketcha in the early parts of the story. In the manga he sacrifices himself protecting Kushana from the vengeful Mani Tribe in the final days of the war.
He is 45 years old.
Voice cast: Goro Naya, Patrick Stewart
Mito
MitoThe sergeant-at-arms and King Jihl's chief retainer. His primary role is piloting the Valley's gunship in support of Nausicaä's mission.
Voice cast: Ichirō Nagai, Edward James Olmos
Tepa
TepaA young wind-rider who attempts to fill Nausicaä's role back in the Valley after she leaves.
Gram/Matriarch
Oh-babaThe oldest and most prominent of the Valley's "wise women".
In the anime, she is the first to realize Nausicaa to be the "Blue-Clad One" of prophecy; in the manga, the Dorok Mani-tribe Elder is the first one to acknowledge this.
Voice cast: Hisako Kyōda, Tress MacNeille
Pejite
Pejite-cityAsbel
AsbelPrince of Pejite, forced to journey in exile after Princess Kushana invades Pejite. He becomes Nausicaä's and later Yupa's, friend and ally throughout the manga.
Voice cast: Yōji Matsuda, Shia LaBeouf
Lastelle (Rastel)
RastelPrincess of Pejite and Asbel's twin sister. Dies shortly after being rescued by Nausicaä from a wrecked Pejite airship that escaped Kushana's invasion in the manga; in the anime, it's a Torumekian airship on which she was imprisoned.
Voice cast: Miina Tominaga, Emily Bauer
Torumekia
''Torumekia''Kushana
KushanaPrincess of Torumekia. She cares deeply for the men under her command and commands their unwavering loyalty, but is portrayed as brutal and harsh to her enemies.
Hideaki Anno, who worked on the Nausicaä film, had planned to do a manga side-story centered around Kushana's military exploits, but Miyazaki denied him access, believing that Anno was intending to use her to "play war games".
Kushana has been noted as a complex antagonist. Susan J. Napier and Patrick Drazen note a parallel between the character of Kushana, the rival warrior princess, and that of Nausicaä - Napier describes Kushana as Nausicaä's "shadow", noting that Kushana is not shown with any "alleviating, 'feminine' virtues" as Nausicaä is, but that they share the same tactical brilliance. Drazen describes this as a "feminine duality". Miyazaki has described the two characters as being "two sides of the same coin", but Kushana has "deep, physical wounds".
Voice cast: Yoshiko Sakakibara, Uma Thurman
The name of the Kushana character was changed, to the more English sounding, "Selina" for the simplified and cut New World Pictures release of the film, titled Warriors of the Wind.
Kurotowa
KurotowaKushana's aide and a spy for the Emperor, at first. He switches allegiance to Kushana when he realizes the Emperor will probably kill him after he fulfills his usefulness. He was once a pilot and shows his flying skill when he evades Asbel's attack on the Torumekian fleet and shoots him down. Kurotowa prides himself in being a cynical survivor, but he also feels irresistibly attracted to the idealism and purity of spirit of Nausicaä.
Voice cast: Iemasa Kayumi, Chris Sarandon
The Emperor of Torumekia (the Vai Emperor)
Vai EmperorFearless, ruthless, as well as would even assassinate his own children should he perceive them to be a threat to his authority. After the Daikaisho he personally leads the remnants of the Tourmekian army to Shuwa in an attempt to take possession of the Crypt's secrets. He and Nausicaä confront the Master of the Crypt together and he sacrifices himself by taking the full force of the Crypt's last light himself to save Nausicaä. Before dying, he declares Kushana his successor, warning her not to make the same mistakes that he did, saying that killing even one treacherous noble will lead to a path of endless killing.
The Three Princes of Torumekia
Three princesThe first prince dies when his airship is attacked by insects. The two other princes are shown to be similar to the first, but state that their behavior was an act to convince their father that they were stupid and therefore, not a threat. The two are content to stay with the Master of the Garden, away from politics and safe from war.
Dorok
DorokThis theocratic empire and its characters are exclusive to the manga and do not appear in the film. Throughout most of the story depicted in the manga, authority is divided between the hereditary ruling class and the priesthood.
Eriko Ogihara-Schuck identifies the Dorok as a religious group, not present in the anime, with a dualistic world view that parallels Christian apocalypticism. Ogihara Schuck writes that the Dorok are responsible for the creation of the Sea of Corruption in the manga, whereas the Sea of Corruption is attributed to pollution resulting from the Seven Days of Fire in the anime. She attributes Nausicaä's motivation for sealing the Crypt in Dorok holy city of Shuwa in the manga to a belief that humans should no longer selfishly attempt to control the natural world and on a more abstract level attributes Nausicaä's motivation to a desire to counter the Dorok's dualistic world view, a worldview which divides the world into purity and corruption, light and dark. Ogihara-Schuck observes that Nausicaa's thinking reflects Miyazaki's own world view and conforms to Miyazaki's expressed opposition to dividing the world into a good and evil dichotomy.
The Dorok Emperors
Kulubaluka
KulubalukaThe family name of the dynasty of Dorok kings that ruled before being dethroned in a coup d'état by the first "Holy Emperor". Only mentioned in the story in textual references.
The Late, "First" Dorok Emperor
Name not revealed: once a pupil of the Master of the Garden, but departed with four Heedra to save the world, then usurped authority over the Dorok lands through a coup d'état. Originally a just and honest ruler, but eventually came to hate the peasants for their "incorrigible stupidity" and also apparently fell under the sway of the Master of the Crypt. Father of the two brothers Namulith and Miralupa upon whom he bestowed dual reign of the Dorok Empire. Died prior to the main events depicted in the manga, from a failed attempt to prolong his life. Appears as an illustrated character only in recollections of other characters and is mentioned retrospectively in dialogue.Namulith/Namulis
Namulith"The Emperor the Elder", Co-regent of the Holy Dorok Empire with Miralupa, his younger brother. He is charismatic and a warrior, but has none of his younger brother's psychic abilities. Namulith is over a century old, surviving by having his brain periodically transplanted into cloned bodies. Namulith assassinates Miralupa, usurps the authority of the priests and takes the title "Divine Emperor" when he assumes the sole reign of what remains of the Holy Dorok Empire. Namulith captures Kushana, hoping to marry her and thus claim the two empires. He eventually tires of life as he sees that everything seems to always go as the Master of the Crypt says they will and so passes on the burden of rule to Nausicaa after he is badly wounded by the attack of the God Warrior.