Maiden Rose/Characters

Tropes and the badasses who love them: A Hyakujitsu no Bara Character Sheet.

Taki Reizen
""I am a lord. I'm in a position to protect everyone! And since that's the case, I'm going to protect them with all my might. Rather than letting them die in some forsaken place, I think about how they feel and I stand on the battlefield!""

"Voiced by: Susumu Chiba"

The Commander of the Rose Division and Shinka of the Emperor, Taki is seen as The Messiah of his people. At 18 he chooses to study at Luckenwalde to learn from the enemy's tactics, and there meets Klaus for the second time. Upon the breakout of war, he is deported and brings Klaus back with him as his knight, upsetting the balance at home.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Broken Messiah: So much. He's held to higher standards than anybody else, Can't Have Sex Ever, and is going against these beliefs that have been programmed into him to be in a secret gay relationship with an enemy soldier whom almost everybody despises. Love Hurts.
 * Colonel Badass
 * Hates Being Touched: In some scenes, his reaction is either a slap or saying something along the lines of 'Don't touch me with your filthy hands!' or 'Know your place!'.
 * Inscrutable Oriental: Interestingly enough he is this only after he goes back to his own country. At Luckenwalde he is more emotional and comprehensible to Klaus.
 * Officer and A Gentleman
 * Peek-a-Bangs: His hair often covers one of his eyes.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He is small, but he sure can fight.
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * Warrior Prince: He is second in line of succession to the throne, being son of the Emperor's sister.

Klaus von Wolfstadt
""My country, my power, my family...I give them up willingly. Let me stay by your side, Taki.""

"Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue"

Formerly a pilot of the Western Alliance, he was assigned to keep an eye on Taki at the Military Academy. Upon Taki's deportation he decided to give up all his rights to follow him, becoming Taki's knight despite all the discrimination and suspicion he is subject to.


 * Badass Nickname: Klaus was called Lycanthrope when he was a pilot, which is another word for werewolf. Berkut still calls him by it.
 * Bastard Boyfriend: Conflicted variety.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: He is not evil, but definitely morally ambiguous.
 * The Champion: To Taki.
 * Eyes of Gold: No doubt to emphasize the "wolf" association.
 * Functional Addict: Deconstructed. It's heavily implied he used to be addicted to morphine.
 * The Mole: There are hints that he has been spying for the Western Alliance. His loyalty to Taki is unquestionable though.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: He spends a good part of volumes 2 and 3 with nothing but bandages on his upper body.

Berkut
""I didn't expect the division commander himself to show up. Guess you really couldn't stomach your pet dog getting shot to death.""

A former pilot like Klaus and the current Dragon to Theodora. Nearly kills Klaus during the train incident having a long enmity since their pilot days.


 * Dragon With an Agenda: His relationship with Duchess Theodora is ambiguous, but he clearly bears a personal grudge against Klaus.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: Berkut is his former pilot callsign.

Theodora
""I love a good vendetta.""

Princess of Eurote, she comes onto the scene when she forcibly enters Reizen terrority, after murdering the Eurotean Cabinet. Her exact motivations are unknown.


 * Dissonant Serenity: Commented that her dinner was "boring" after poisoning the whole Cabinet and later had no trouble sleeping in a train full of corpses. She was also remarkably calm when facing a berserking Taki who could have killed her in a second.
 * Femme Fatale: Could have walked straight out of Film Noir

Moriya, Azusa and Date
"Azusa: "Don't worry. If I get captured on the Eurotean side, they're all my kin, so I bet they wouldn't be quick to execute me or anything."

Date: "Hey! Don't say things like that!"

Moriya: "Date.""

A trio of young soldiers who grew up with Taki and serve in his personal tank crew aboard the Murakumo. Azusa gains more prominence in Vol. 2 when he offers to go on the train mission when no one else was willing to.


 * Freudian Trio: Moriya is The Superego, Azusa is The Ego and Date is The Id.
 * Halfbreed: Azusa almost self-deprecatingly claims that his Eurotean ancestry is why it's okay for him to go to the sacred ground and risk being polluted.
 * Hot-Blooded: Date.
 * The Stoic: Moriya.
 * Stoic Spectacles: Moriya again.
 * Theme Naming: They are all named after objects used in Shinto rituals.

Lieutenant Suguri
""We are not superstitious. We've seen the truth with our own eyes. Beside him...we are willing to do our duty and follow him.""

A veteran who has been taking care of Taki since he was little. He was witness to the tragedy at No Man's Land.


 * The Medic
 * Parental Substitute: Seems to play this role to Taki since he treats the latter more as his own son than just a lord and The Messiah to his people.
 * Secret Keeper: He keeps his silence about what Klaus did to Taki, despite being very angry about it.

Katsuragi
""A distorted wish like that can never be granted.""

The sinister Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in Taki's country and from the second of the Eight Branch families. He took on a foreign knight during the first war, Private Ashley, who was killed on the frontlines. Suguri holds him directly responsible for the tragedy in No Man's Land.


 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul
 * Shadow Archetype: To Taki.
 * Smoking Is Glamorous: Seems to be going for this when he nonchalantly smokes a cigar while waiting for an audience with Taki.