Main characters ; : :Commonly called as . The leader of the 86 Spearhead Squadron who has fought in and survived countless battles despite only being 16 years old. Nicknamed The Reaper for his habit of keeping a box full of makeshift
dogtags crafted out of a small piece of each dead comrade's Juggernaut, which he plans to bury when the war is over. Shin is known for his ruthlessness against both enemies and allies. It is rumored that previous Handlers who have dealt with him have gone insane and left the unit, retired, or even committed suicide for unknown reasons. He develops romantic feelings for Lena throughout the series. ; : :Commonly called . An officer in the San Magnolian military who got promoted to Major at just 16 years old thanks to a mixture of her skills and family connections. Lena has a habit of treating her 86 subordinates like humans, unlike other Handlers who treat the 86 as disposable objects. Lena is the newly-assigned Handler of the Republic's "Spearhead" squadron. ; : :The ten-year-old adopted sister of the surviving Spearhead Squadron members through Ernst. Her real name is , the royal princess of the Giad Empire and the royal family's sole survivor before the empire collapsed. Upset with the Giad Empire's ruthlessness in the war, Frederica defected to the eventually Giad Federacy, where unlike her parents her life was spared by the new government. Her family has the ability to see the past and present of anyone she meets, and she quickly becomes close to Shin because he reminds her of her knight, Kiriya. After the Spearhead survivors go back to Officer School, she joins them as their "mascot" in order to assist them with killing Kiriya's Shepherd form, occasionally using her power and intelligence to provide minor tactical support.
Spearhead Squadron survivors Squadron is a San Magnolia military unit that supposedly consists of the most elite 86 soldiers on the battlefield. In reality, it is a squad for any 86 that is deemed to have swaying power and charisma, with the intention of putting them through dangerous missions in the hopes that they will be killed off. If they fail to be killed towards the end of their supposed service time, they will then be put on a
suicide mission that tends to eliminate the entire squad, which is subsequently replaced by new squad members. Any survivors are forced to defect and leave San Magnolia, but aside from Shin and the four other survivors from his group, they tended to all be killed by the Legion. After defecting from San Magnolia, the five survivors are taken in by the Giad Federacy and are adopted by Ernst, becoming siblings. They eventually become part of the Nordlicht Squadron under the command of Grethe Wenzel and alongside Frederica. Following the defeat of Kiriya, they are then assembled as the "Eighty-Sixth Strike Package" under Lena's command. ; : :The Executive Officer and vice-captain of the Spearhead Squadron. A friend of Shin before they joined the same squad. After settling in the Giad Federacy, he takes up work with a moving crew. ; : :Known by his nickname . His callsign was inspired by an Alba commander who sacrificed himself to save Theo's unit. Theo is often blunt and sarcastic when dealing with others, especially their Handlers. He initially gives Lena a hard time, but comes to regret this after being lectured by Raiden following an outburst. Theo keeps a sketchbook that he draws in on his spare time, and designed several of the squadron's personal marks on their Juggernauts. ; : :A very soft spoken and kind member. Anju is an Alba on her father's side, and her
mixed-race heritage (which also birthed her callsign because of her light-colored hair) resulted in her being beaten and abused by both the Alba and 86, leading to scars on her back. She eventually grew her hair out to hide the scars. After settling in the Giad Federacy, she begins pursuing her passion for cooking. ; : :An active and caring girl. She is said to have suffered the most at the hands of Alba amongst all of Spearhead Squadron, as her parents were murdered by Alba soldiers in the past and her sister was conscripted into another 86 unit and also killed. As a result, she carries intense hatred against all Albas, coupled with protective instincts for her fellow 86s. Kurena has a large crush on Shin, but he realizes that she does so out of admiration for his darker protective instincts instead of because of who he is and needs to be, and values her only as a sister. Kurena subsequently dislikes Lena both because of her race and the romance she forms with Shin, but eventually grows to care for Lena and accepts their relationship. She is the sniper of the group, hence her callsign. After settling in the Giad Federacy, she begins to express interest in fashion.
San Magnolia Civilians ; : :One of Lena's few friends in the San Magnolia military. She works in the Research Division, specializing in the "Para-RAID" device that allows Handlers to instantly connect with the 86 combatants under their command. The device was partially created by her late father. It is revealed she is Shin's childhood friend and that she still feels guilty for not helping him and his family when the war began, but hides behind a mask of apathy which strains the relationship between her and Lena. ; : : An engineer for the Spearhead squadron. It is revealed that he is an Alba; his wife and daughter were 86, so he dyed his hair and was enlisted as a volunteer to get their rights back (not that the Republic would ever do so). Despite seeming like an irate man, he cares for the remaining squad members and those who come after them. He constantly scolds Shin for his reckless fighting which constantly damages his rig. He dies during the large scale offensive protecting young processors. He asks Shin if his wife and daughter are among the legion, and Shin tells him they are not. However, in his final moments, Lev wanted to avenge his family and his comrades, the 86. This led him to willingly join the Legion and take revenge on the Republic.
Military ; : :A Colonel in the San Magnolia military and a friend of Lena's father. While he cares for Lena like a niece, he at his core is a pessimist and has long been consumed by despair at the situation of the Republic. He believes that the republic deserves to be destroyed for its inhumane crimes against the 86, including himself for standing by and allowing it as a member of the military, as such he continues to perform what is required of him until his end comes. Despite falling out with Lena due to their differing states of mind he continues to watch over her from the side lines and later egging her on to make her dream a reality as he protects her by going out to face the legion. In his final moments he reveals he believes in Lena completely as he ends his own life while facing an old friend among the Legion. ; : :The leader of the Brísingamen Squadron that Lena commands after the Spearhead Squadron was ended. Shiden's nickname is derived from her
heterochromatic eyes that led to her being abused even by other 86 in their internment camp. She has a strained relationship with Shin, they do not get along personally at all but respect each others' abilities and trust each other in battle. ; :An Alba and new member of the squadron who volunteered after growing tired of the blatant hypocrisy of his people, citing how he and his family, immigrants from the Empire, were never branded traitors due to being Alba, whereas his entire class, comprising many races, was branded traitors and 86, dying in the decade-long legion war. He has feelings for Anju who he confesses to; though she considers him important to her she has yet to fully answer him, due to her lingering feelings for the deceased Daiya. ; :The former captain of the Halberd Squadron who died in battle 5 years prior to the story. In the prequel story she was somewhat a big sister figure to Shin who was on his first Squadron with her. She was also the original owner of Shin's scarf, who became his primary motivation to carry the fragments of his fallen comrades. ; :The former captain of the Stiletto Squadron who died in battle 5 years prior to the story. He took on the mentor role of Shin when he was in his squadron, presumably after Alice's Squadron fell. He was also the original owner of Shin's gun, who gave to the latter to end his suffering after being mortally wounded in his final moments while giving advice to save the last bullet for himself.
Giad Federacy Civilians ; : :The Provisional President of the new Federacy that overthrew the Empire. A kindly old man, his regrets over the murder of the entire Giad imperial family lead him to pursue an altruistic worldview at all costs, refusing to leave any human behind in the fight for the Legion and avoiding any and all underhanded methods that the Empire or San Magnolia were more privy to employ. As a result, he takes Frederica and the surviving members of Shin's squadron as his adopted children. ; : :Eugene's sister, who befriends Shin and Frederica at the library.
Military ; : :The leader of the Federacy's Nordlicht Commandment where the Spearhead survivors are under her command. She is nicknamed "Spider Woman" due to her obsessiveness of using the Reginleifs; an improved prototype of the Republic's Juggernauts. Grethe has a huge aversion to child soldiers, and thus makes numerous attempts to help Spearhead move on from the war, but eventually grows to respect their desires. She had a fiancé that was killed by the Legion. After the Spearhead survivors leave the Nordlicht Squadron, she continues to be their commander by acting as the Eighty-Sixth Strike Package's liaison to the rest of the Giad military, with Lena reporting directly to her. ; : :Nina's older brother, and the first person Shin befriended after his citizenship. He joins the rest of the Spearhead survivors at Officer School. Eugene was mercy-killed by Shin after a Legion attack.
Legion's Shepherds ; : :Shin's older brother who saved Lena from a Legion unit. Shourei felt powerless as to not protecting fellow 86s including his parents. In a fit of murderous rage, he strangled Shin and blamed everything on his brother. His head was taken in Shin's first year as a Processor, and was turned into a Shepherd by the Legion. During Spearhead's Special Recon mission, Shourei led a battalion of Legions to eliminate the remaining Juggernauts. Shourei died at the hands of Shin, allowing the latter to finally come to terms with his brother's death. ; : :Kiriya is a descendant of the Nouzen family, and was Frederica's Imperial Knight. During the war, he killed a lot of people for the sake of Frederica and the Giad Empire. This turn of behaviour scared Frederica, so she faked her death to escape to the Giad Federacy. However, this sent Kiriya over the edge, and he willingly became the Shepherd commander "Pale Rider". ; : :Lena's father, and a Colonel in the San Magnolian military. One of the first to speak out against the treatment of the 86, he took Lena to an internment camp when she was young so that she could be shaped to one day help the 86 when she got older. During this visit, however, Vaclav was killed by the Legion. Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, Vaclav became a Shepherd and ultimately the Legion's supreme commander, "No Face".
Deceased members of the Spearhead Squadron ; : :Kaie is one of the oldest active members of the Spearhead squadron, who enjoys teasing her fellow teammates. She was killed in battle after her Juggernaut gets trapped in soft terrain and destroyed by enemy fire. ; : :A friend of Anju who alternates between being compassionate and awkward. It was implied that they had feelings towards each other. He was mercy killed by Shin to thwart the Legion's plan to create more Black Sheep. ; : :A boisterous and somewhat lecherous member, however he does become serious when needed. He died prior to Spearhead's Special Recon mission. ; : :One of the Spearhead Squadron members who is mercy-killed by Shinei after an early battle leaves him crippled and bleeding out. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : : A female member of the squad. She committed suicide after her Juggernaut malfunctioned and before a Legion unit killed her. ; : ; : ==Production==