List of GetBackers characters
The following is a list of fictional characters featured in the manga and anime series GetBackers.
Protagonists
Ban Midou
Ban Midou is one of the main protagonists in GetBackers. His name came from his mother's surname "Midou" and "Ban" from the Japanese word for Savage. The "ban" can mean "barbarian" or "uncouth/vulgar".In the GetBackers duo, he is the one who thinks of the plans for their moves. Initially, Ginji Amano was seen to be a sidekick to him, but as the story progresses, Ginji gradually holds his own in their missions, and Ban acknowledges him as an equal.
Ban studies fighting techniques, science, history, music, art and magic from a very young age as a result of being hunted in Europe by shamans during his childhood.
He bears a striking resemblance to his father. In the arcs where his hair is "down", he looks like Der Kaiser during his Getbackers days with Paul. Another trait which both father and son share is that while they may appear cold and ruthless on the surface, they are actually very warm and caring towards their friends.
Ban inherites his powers from his grandmother. He utilizes two main abilities. His primary technique is the Evil Eye, which allows him to force anyone he makes eye contact with watch a one-minute-long illusion. It should only be used three times per day and cannot be used on the same person again for the next 24 hours. Furthermore, while the illusion only lasts for one minute, the one affected by the Jagan can be placed inside a time warp zone via the illusion created by the technique, meaning that to them, one minute in real life could last up to several hours in the Jagan's influence. It is rare for Ban to use the Evil Eye to defeat his opponents, preferring to use it to aid in the retrieval process or to give clients happy/nightmarish dreams; however, he has been shown to use it in defeating Takuma Fudou's insight during the blank second.
If the user uses the Jagan a fourth time within a 24-hour period, they would receive a penalty for using it. After the fourth use the user disappears both from the physical world and from the memories of all who know him. With this in mind, Ban requests one final duel with Akabane. After an intense struggle, the two manage to strike each other, causing Ban to collapse and Akabane to disappear. However, Akabane does not die, as assumed, but instead, implants a surgical scalpel into Ban's chest as a "final favor", given to Ban for allowing Akabane to see his own limits. Akabane later explains that because having Ban disappear would be a pity, he attempts to fool the "Archive" by faking Ban's death and delaying Ban's disappearance from using his fourth Jagan just long enough for Ginji to reach Babylon City and resolve everything, thus saving Ban from disappearing.
His second ability is the Snakebite. Because he is a direct descendant of the Witch clan, and was born under the star of Asclepius, he possesses incredible superhuman strength, which gives him a gripping force of 200 kilograms in each hand. It is also shown that he is strong enough to break open the doors of an armored steel truck and punch hard enough to create large craters in the ground or break walls, occasionally even collapsing multistory buildings. Ban can augment the strength of his Snakebite by reciting a certain chant in order to draw power from Asclepius, with the resulting force being sufficient to devastate even the most formidable of opponents with just a single blow. The full extent of the Asclepius curse upon Ban is expressed through his entire right arm degenerating into a grotesque state not unlike a demon's limb, granting Ban even greater power but at the risk of losing himself to his savage instincts. Later Ban manages to transcend the Asclepius curse and draw out his full potential on his own, which is reflected by the manifestation of a single angel wing behind his right shoulder.
In the "Get Back the Lost Time" arc, his skills grow by leaps and bounds due to his learning abilities. Against Natsuhiko, he manages to execute a new move, "Snake Kill", using his left hand.
Anime News Network praised the style of the Jagan in the manga to be a "horrifying nightmare". The Tokyo Pop translation of the Ban Midou dialogues has been criticized for making him sound like a gangster.
Shinjuku Allies
When Yamato is 28 years old, he is alone with Ban in their house so that they might face his "Voodoo Child mirror" As a Voodoo Child, if one of two-halves dies, both perish. Ban realizes this too late when his "Snake Bite" kills Yamato's other half. When Himiko comes back with the cake, she sees Ban's hand covered with Yamato's blood. Since that day, she holds a grudge against Ban. Occasionally an enemy, but more frequently an ally, Himiko has mixed feelings for Ban, whom she sees is a good person, but cannot reconcile this with her brother's killer. On Ban's part, he treats Himiko more like a little sister.With her brother, Yamato, they develop around 200 poison concoctions, but only carry seven with them at any one time. Some of the commonly used scents are Flame Perfume, Devolution Perfume, Puppet Perfume, Tracking Perfume, Sleep Perfume, Acceleration Perfume, and Antidote Perfume.
It is revealed that these perfumes are 'catalysts' to evoke certain spells and magic related to the perfume. Ban once said, thinking that the perfumes are the true essence of the technique, that the Kudou siblings must carry many perfumes to their jobs, but Himiko retaliates, "How can perfumes only do anything in our 'magic shows'?" Yamato explains that a man can only perform seven different spells at a given time to avoid being overloaded, hence only seven vials of perfumes are brought for each mission. It was the first clue to Yamato and Himiko's past: Ban's grandmother and Maria Noches always warns him against 'catalysts', and how they are also used by 'our greatest enemy, the Shamans'.
In later chapters, it is revealed that she is Ban's sister by consanguinity through the Witch Queen. In the final chapter, she is shown with her trademark short hair, together with the other Transporters, as they set out for their next job, which is linked to Ban's mother.
Kazuki Fuuchouin
Kazuki Fuuchouin is a major supporting character and ally of the GetBackers. Formerly one of the Four Kings of the Volts, known as Kazuki of the Threads, Kazuki is the last master of the Fuuchouin Thread Arts, a fighting style which utilizes koto strings controlled by vibrations in his fingertips. The strings are very sharp and can tear up solid earth, bones, skin, muscles, and sometimes steel based on the vibrations of the finger. The strings also have other uses, such as listening in on distant conversations. The strings are stored in two bells tied to the front right strand of his hair to ease manipulation.It is later revealed that the enemy clan, the Kokuchouin, destroyed Kazuki's clan. Kazuki is usually an ally of the GetBackers, due to his friendship with Ginji. He and Ban tolerate each other, but they are not close. Kazuki is also the most notably feminine character among the males. He also has strong ties to one of their former enemies, namely Juubei, because they had been friends in the past. In the end of the manga revealed that the GB world is an AI simulation with Infinity Tower as its conduit, explaining the superpowers the characters have.