Cromartie High School/Characters

Takashi Kamiyama
"Class:1-2 I'll bet you want to know why I'm here, right? READ THE MANGA."

The main character. He starts off relatively normal, but as the manga attests 3 chapters in, he'd have to be just as crazy as the rest to stay there. -
 * All There in the Manual: the reason he gives for being in Cromartie is only in the manga, as stated repeatedly in the Anime. The real reason he's there is also only in the manga.
 * Badass: Kamiyama is officially declared the biggest badass in Japan by means of a contest.
 * Demoted to Extra: What happens to Kamiyama as the series progresses. It was most likely intentional on the part of the mangaka -- perhaps intended as a parody of other stories where the protagonist recedes into the background due to the far more interesting and/or amusing supporting cast. Kamiyama explains why in the last episode.
 * Extreme Doormat: at first, and always at his old school.
 * Flanderization: Debatable. Kamiyama, who starts out as just sort of a strait-laced dork and then evolves into an uberdork whose moral fibre leads to incredibly questionable trains of thought. Probably justified in that this is simply a way to show how the student life in Cromartie is making him as odd as his classmates. Furthermore, the author suggests he's been this crazy since the beginning.
 * Straight Man: Relatively speaking.

Shinjiro Hayashida
"Class:1-2 Not to change the subject, but..."

Kamiyama's right hand man. -
 * Delinquent Hair: His mohawk..
 * The Ditz: He can't even manage a simple word problem that amounts to five minus two.
 * Expressive Hair: again, the mohawk.

Akira Maeda
"Class:1-2 You guys are real assholes, you know that?"

One of the saner ones. Gets no credit. -
 * Butt Monkey: No character is safe, but Maeda gets absolutely no respect.
 * Distressed Dude: The most likely character to be kidnapped.
 * Only Sane Man

"Freddie"
"Class: ? "...""

"Is this guy a student here? Is he even Japanese?" -
 * Ambiguously Human: Freddie is sometimes referred to by the others as something inhuman, and sometimes acts strange (Well, more strange than he normally does).
 * When he gives gives directions to a lost cab driver, the students say he might be using his animal instincts.
 * When Maeda has an image in his mind of a group of animals, Freddie is among them.
 * Badass Mustache
 * Leitmotif: The classic rock riff that plays whenever Freddie shows up.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Freddie is clearly (somehow) Freddie Mercury, the plainly deceased frontman of the band Queen.
 * No Name Given: Nope, not even on the school's roster.
 * Shout-Out: To Queen's frontman, Freddie Mercury
 * Stripperiffic: Bass High seems to think this is his Summer Uniform.
 * The Voiceless
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: Always

Gorilla
"Class:1-1?"

A gorilla. -
 * Amplified Animal Aptitude: Gorilla's crazy antics.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys
 * No Name Given: The author explicitly stated that the Gorilla's name is " ". But, it's hardly as if gorillas can introduce themselves, hence, within the story, Hiromi-Go, like Freddie, is called whatever the students decided to call him. They didn't prove particularly creative in either case - though at one point everyone is convinced the gorilla is named Hajime.
 * The Smart Guy

Yutaka Takenouchi
"Class:1-2"

"My name is Yutaka Takenouchi, and I have only one weakness... I am VERY susceptible to motion sickness!" -
 * Catch Phrase / Once an Episode: His stock introduction. At one point, he screws up his intro and says "My name is motion sickness."
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Motion Sickness.
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Most plots involving him just happen to be school trips. He even lampshades how the school takes many more, longer trips than it should ever be able to afford.

Takeshi Hokuto
"Class:1-1 All people are PIGS."

An upper-class individual with aspirations of world domination, Hokuto starts at an appropriate level, taking over one high school at a time. Unfortunately, he transferred next to Cromartie, which doesn't have a structure he can easily take over. -
 * Catch Phrase: "All people are PIGS!"
 * Dream Sequence / Imagine Spot: Tons. Generally planning how he's going to take over the world.
 * Snowball Lie: and the others believe every word.

"Hokuto's Lackey"
"Class:1-1 You mean, you're really interested in me? Okay. My name is-"

Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Followed Hokuto to Cromartie. -
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
 * Hey, You: Because no one's interested enough to know Hokuto's lackey's name.
 * Satellite Character: Originally. And yet in the manga, he gets more appearances and screentime than Hokuto himself, oddly enough!
 * The Un-Reveal: Hokuto's henchman tries to reveal his name to the others. "Listen and listen good! My name is..." "THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!"

"Masked Takenouchi"
"Class:1-2"

A former highjacker who was mistaken for Takenouchi. Stayed at the school to teach the rest proper behavior, so they don't end up like him. -
 * The Atoner
 * Clark Kenting: To the point that when his mask is removed, no one knows what he looks like.
 * Cool Old Guy: And only 30 years old. After being a hijacker, he spends the rest of the series either dealing with fitting in with a bunch of high school delinquents and (trying) to teach them important life lessons.
 * Dark and Troubled Past
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"
 * Martial Arts and Crafts: Masked Takenouchi becomes the successor of pillow-jutsu.

Shinichi Mechazawa
"Class:1-5 I'm afraid I don't know a thing about technology..."

Leader of a different class. No one but Kamiyama and Hayashida recognizes that he's a machine. And if they do, they don't recognize that he's a robot. - ""Such a sober voice!""
 * Badass Automaton: Mechazawa (both before and after becoming a motorcycle).
 * Chew Toy: After a while all of his appearances have him getting destroyed either physically or having his memories deleted again.
 * Cool Bike: Becomes one.
 * Norio Wakamoto.


 * Ro... ro... Roly Poly Buddy!
 * Tomato in the Mirror: He actually doesn't know he is a robot. Even when oiling himself and tightening lose bolts.

Ken Hirai ("The Flunker")
"Class:1-2"

A student who was held back one year, and is unfailingly referred to as "Mr. Hirai" or "Hirai-san". -
 * Exposition Break: tells long-winded stories in an attempt to teach the others. They usually miss the point completely and bore everyone else.
 * Older and Wiser

Makio Tanaka
"Class:1-2"

The class's errand boy. -
 * Extreme Doormat
 * Laser-Guided Karma
 * Troll

Noburo Yamaguchi
"School: Destrade High"

Leader of Destrade High School's first years, and an aspiring comedian. -
 * Always Someone Better: "Honey Boy" is this to him.
 * Ambiguously Brown: besides the hair and the skin color, and the voice in the anime, he even had an African or Middle Eastern style beard in the manga.
 * Badass Mustache
 * The Comically Serious
 * Expressive Hair: his afro pulses and grows when he thinks.
 * Funny Afro: Yamaguchi has one, which pulsates when he thinks.
 * Serious Business: Yamaguchi takes comedy extremely seriously.
 * Straw Critic: Noboru Yamaguchi, who claims to have great taste in comedy.
 * Unknown Rival: to Kamiyama's comedy pen name, "Honey Boy". He does recognize Kamiyama's skill, through his overanalysis.
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Yamaguchi would generally be right about things, if he wasn't in a Gag Series.

Kiyoshi Fujimoto
"School: Manuel High"

Leader of Manuel High's first years. Exceedingly violent in real life, Fujimoto runs a message board and is generally patient and polite in private -
 * Hypocrite: Just about the entire point of his character is how he says one thing in real life, and has a completely opposite reaction and opinion about the same subject while on the net.
 * Mood Whiplash
 * Nice Guy

Jackson Setouchi
"School: Bass High"

Leader of Bass High's first years. -
 * Benevolent Boss: usually takes his second in command's opinion equal to or above his own.

Mechazawa Beta
Mechazawa's little brother. -
 * Chew Toy: Takes after his brother in that you would be hard pressed to find one appearance where he doesn't get smashed.
 * Fun Size
 * Verbal Tic / Pokémon-Speak: "Mecha Ratta!" is the only thing he can say.

Girl Gorilla
A random gorilla, unrelated to the male, that shows up every now and then. -
 * Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: the only difference is the bow in her hair.
 * Actually, the girl gorilla has even less hair on her head, and has a mustache and beard on closer inspection of her face. If anything, she looks even more like a male than the male gorilla.

The Aliens
-
 * Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Appeared merely to keep Hokuto's lackey from saying his name.

Pootan
The star of a popular Gag Series, Pootan is a regular man wearing a fuzzy white bear costume that exposes his face. -
 * Jerkass: Pootan is an asshole, both on and off the set.
 * The Stoic: Pootan always answers Buddy in a stern, serious voice.
 * Verbal Tic: Sometimes adds "Poo" to the ends of his sentences.

Buddy
Pootan's co-star, who wears a fuzzy pink bunny costume that also exposes his face. - "Buddy: Come on, Pootan, let's play. Pootan: No, poo. Pootan is filing his tax returns. Buddy: GODDAMMIT, I HATE YOU, POOTAN!"
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: He tends to become very angry if Pootan doesn't do what he asks.


 * No Name Given: He's referred to as "buddy," but that isn't his actual name.

Maeda's Mom
Maeda's mom, who looks exactly like him, except with different hair.


 * Strong Family Resemblance: that's likely going to happen when
 * The Voiceless