Koji Kabuto '
, also written Kouji Kabuto', is the main character and pilot of
super robot Mazinger Z. Koji was born as the first child of Kenzo Kabuto, a scientist and Tsubasa Nishikiori, a bioquimic. Koji Kabuto is also the grandson of Juzo Kabuto. He makes a comeback in the sequel series
Great Mazinger where he helps defeating the
Mycenaean Empire. He also features in
Grendizer as
Duke Fleed's friend and sidekick. His voice actor is
Hiroya Ishimaru in the Japanese version of
Mazinger Z and
Mazinkaiser, and in Toei's 1970s English dub, he was voiced by
Dando Kluever. His voice actor in
Tranzor Z, in which he was renamed
Tommy Davis, was
Gregg Berger. In the English version of Mazinkaiser, his voice actor is Robert Newell while in
Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen, his voice is played by
Kenji Akabane. In
Mazinger Z: Infinity, Koji is voiced by
Showtaro Morikubo while in the English dub, he is voiced by
Wayne Grayson. He is a staple character of
Super Robot Wars and appears in nearly every incarnation, the exceptions being Super Robot Wars
UX and the
OG series. Kabuto's date of birth is November 12.
Aphrodite A is a robot created by Dr. Yumi, Dr. Kabuto's apprentice. Since it was originally built for peaceful uses, at first it didn't feature any weapons. Eventually, it acquires the ability to fire missiles from its chest with what was called the
Oppai Missile System (
Oppai being a Japanese slang term for
breasts). Aphrodite was the first female mecha to have this kind of weapon. Despite the fact that it was made of the same alloy as Mazinger (
Chogokin or Super-Alloy Z), it usually suffers substantially greater damage from attacks. Regardless of these shortcomings, in several opportunities she provides help in battle, and even destroys three
Mechanical Beasts in the anime:
Gumbina M5 (Chapter 49),
Yubrin T9 (Chapter 56), and
Giant F3 (Chapter 58). Her missiles also cause the unintentional destruction of Minerva X.
Diana A Minerva X Sayaka Yumi : is one of the heroine of
Go Nagai's manga and anime
Mazinger Z. She was a bit hot-tempered and tomboyish, and had a habit of clashing with the story's hero,
Koji Kabuto even though she had a romantic interest in him. In the English
Tranzor Z dub, she is renamed
Jessica Davis (no relation to "Tommy" (Kouji)). She was voiced by three people in the original series:
Tomoko Matsushima,
Minori Matsushima (reprised the role for
Super Robot Wars), and
Kotoe Taichi (credited as
Noriko Egawa, also appeared in
Great Mazinger). She was voiced by
Ai Uchikawa in
Mazinkaiser. In the
Italian dub of the original series, Sayaka is voiced by Liliana Sorrentino, and her
Spanish voice actress is Gloria Gonzalez. Her
Tranzor Z voice actress is
Mona Marshall, but in Toei's 1970s dub, Sayaka was played by
Priscilla Piano. Sayaka has since made
cameos in other Go Nagai series such as
New Cutie Honey and the
Devilman TV series, and has been featured or mentioned in such diverse places as the
Super Robot Wars games and the lyrics of
reggaeton songs.
Shiro Kabuto is Koji's younger brother. Most of the time, Shiro's role is to add some comic relief to the plot. He remains in Japan when Koji departs at the beginning of Great Mazinger. His character acquires a bit more depth in Great Mazinger, as he becomes acquainted with his father Kenzo, who was previously thought to be dead. Toward the end of the series, Shiro finally bonds with Kenzo, who died shortly thereafter. He even gets to pilot his own robot in Great Mazinger, the Robot Junior. Shiro was renamed
Toad in
Tranzor Z. He is voiced by
Kazuko Sawada in the original version, by
Dana Ikeda in Toei's English dub, and by
Mona Marshall in
Tranzor Z (he is one of the few Mazinger characters whose English voice actor in
Tranzor Z has been confirmed).
Boss Boss was a main protagonist in both Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger starting in episode 3 of the original series. Boss and his gang, Nuke and Mucha, were the comic relief characters. Boss began as a bully and Kabuto Koji's rival at school, but quickly became an ally, often scouting for Mazinger Z on his motorcycle, or getting into some sort of slapstick mischief. In Great Mazinger, Kabuto Shiro and Bakarasu also join the gang with the latter always annoying Boss. He is also Sayaka Yumi's long-time school friend and has a huge crush on her. In the Great Mazinger, since the firsts episodes, he fall in loves with Jun Hono as well, stricken by her beauty; but she doesn't feel the same for him, and worse, Tetsuya, while not officially her boyfriend, doesn't like Boss's attempts and often fights with Boss. In episode 48 of Mazinger Z, Boss and his gang found an abandoned warehouse full of junk, and inspired by events from the previous episode kidnapped the scientists at the Photonic Research Institute to build Boss his own giant robot, the Boss Borot, out of the junk in the warehouse. Although it was of poor performance due to being made out of junk, Boss Borot would often fight mechanical beasts, enemy infantry, and later warrior beasts. Although Boss Borot was equipped with a variety of weapons and accessories, it normally went into battle with nothing and was noted for its head changing shape to fit Boss's emotional reactions. Boss is voiced by
Hiroshi Ōtake in the original Japanese version. In Tranzor Z, the American translation of Mazinger Z, Boss was named
Bobo, and his robot was named "Bobo-bot". Bobo's English voice actor was
Patrick Pinney, though it is likely he had more than one voice actor as he sounded quite different in later episodes. Boss also made occasional appearances in Grendizer, was one of the main characters in the Mazinkaiser mini-series, and was a minor character in the remake
Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen.
Mucha & Nuke Mucha and Nuke are Boss's sidekicks who follow him around, help in his schemes and ride with him in Boss Borot. In
Shin Mazinger they are shown to be formidable fighters in their own right, Nuke showing surprising skill in drunken fist kung-fu (claiming to be the Japanese champion) and Mucha specializing in flicking spiked metal balls with great accuracy. In
Tranzor Z, the American adaptation of
Mazinger Z, Mucha was renamed
Jim and Nuke was renamed
Chris.
Misato Misato is Boss' cousin, who comes to the Photon Power Laboratory to work as a maid of sorts somewhat after episode 64. She is somewhat resented by Sayaka for the attention Koji gives her. Misato proves herself in combat on multiple occasions, but most of the time she stays at the laboratory. In
Tranzor Z, the American adaptation of
Mazinger Z, Misato was renamed
Sally. Her Japanese voice actress is
Nana Yamaguchi; her English voice actress is unknown.
Gennosuke Yumi was a colleague of Juzo Kabuto and ran the laboratory where Mazinger Z was headquartered. He is the father of
Sayaka Yumi, Koji's best friend and love interest. Measured and wise, he is the stabilizing force behind Koji's foolhardiness in battle. Many times he anticipates to Hell's plans and under his guidance many battles are won. Yumi is not particularly demonstrative neither with his daughter nor his fellow scientists, but he seems to care a lot for them. In a couple of occasions, when defeat seems inevitable, he is ready to commit suicide before leaving his Institute, like a captain ready to sink with his ship. Because of his years working with Dr. Kabuto, he is aware of many of his secrets, such as the plans for Minerva X and the existence of the Mikene Empire. He built
Aphrodite A, based on Dr. Kabuto's work, and hence both she and Mazinger share a similar internal structure. His background before his work for Dr. Kabuto and the Institute and the identity of Sayaka's mother are unknown. In
Tranzor Z, the American adaptation of
Mazinger Z, Dr. Yumi was renamed Dr. Davis.
Juzo Kabuto was a previous colleague of Dr. Hell and created Mazinger Z in order to oppose Hell's plans for world domination. Hell sent Baron Ashura to kill Juzo before he could present a threat, and he was fatally injured in the attack, but survived long enough to tell Koji about Mazinger Z and how it must be used to defeat Dr. Hell. In
Mazinkaiser OVA, Juzo Kabuto was retconned into surviving without Koji or anyone's knowledge, and worked in another secret underground laboratory where he finished the final and more powerful version of Great Mazinger and then his ultimate creation, Mazinkaiser. He later appeared to Koji via
hologram, telling him about Mazinkaiser. Whether he was still alive, and if so, where he currently was, is unknown. Note that, in the original manga and the Mazinkaiser OVA, Juzo Kabuto presents several physical scars (more exactly, half his face is burned) and is more hot-tempered and even slightly megalomaniac. His TV series rendition is lots more calmer and stable, and also has a rather normal outlook. His
Shin Mazinger incarnation however seems to be every bit as megalomaniacal as the manga version.
Professors Sewashi, Nossori & Mori Mori Three scientists who work around the laboratory and help Professor Yumi, and sometimes provide comic relief. Within the storyline, Mori Mori seems doomed to die; in episode 79 of Mazinger Z series he dies in an explosion caused by a landmine placed by Dr. Hell's minions that blows up his jeep while trying to rescue Koji; in Mazinkaiser he sacrifices himself manually launching nuclear missiles aimed at
General Rigarn and his
Warrior Beasts so that Koji and Sayaka can get to Japan in a jet. In
Tranzor Z, the American adaptation of
Mazinger Z, Sewashi was renamed
Professor Manning. Professors Mori Mori and Nossori went unnamed in
Tranzor Z, though they were all collectively referred to as "The Three Professors" on several occasions. In some incarnations of the show they are known as Iz, Biz and Diz.
Dr. Hell Dr. Hell is the main villain of
Mazinger Z, its spinoff
Mazinkaiser, and its remake
Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen. He was a brilliant, cunning, and evil scientist, obsessed with world domination through his creations, the armies of Mechanical Beasts. He was a colleague of Dr. Kabuto, a well-meaning scientist, and accompanied him on an archeological expedition to the Greek island of Bardos, where ruins of the ancient Mikenese Empire were found. There they discovered that the ancient Mikenese civilization had the technology to build giant robotic warriors. Hell stole that technology and used it to create an army of fighting machines with which he planned to conquer the world which he dubbed the
Underground Empire. Dr. Kabuto used this technology coupled with an alloy he'd created to build a robot, Mazinger Z, to halt Hell's plans for world conquest. Time and again Dr. Hell's robots were destroyed by Mazinger Z, sometimes due to the in-fighting between his lieutenants Baron Ashura and Count Brocken. After nearly all of his robots had been destroyed Mazinger Z and his allies traveled to Dr. Hell's island of black iron, Hell and Count Brocken were apparently killed while attempting to flee in the Gool, their giant airship. In
Tranzor Z, the American imported version, Dr. Hell was called
Dr. Daemon. In the Arabic version it has been changed to Abou'el Gathab (Father of Rage).
Baron Ashura Baron Ashura is a
gynandromorphic character featured in the works of Go Nagai. He/She is the main henchman of Dr. Hell, the antagonist of Super Robot series Mazinger Z. He/She plagues the hero Koji Kabuto for much of the series' run, until finally being killed in one of the later episodes. He/She was voiced by two simultaneous voice actors. Mazinger's most persistent enemy, he/she makes regular appearances in the Super Robot Wars series as Dr. Hell's loyal underling. Baron Ashura's origin began long ago with a man and woman who fell in love. Their love was forbidden and upon discovery, the lovers shared a terrible fate: they were mummified and buried alive. Many years later, a cave in collapsed the roof of the tomb. A huge chunk of rubble landed between the two corpses, destroying the man's right half and the woman's left half. The would-be world conqueror Dr. Hell stumbled upon the tomb. He sewed the two remaining halves together and then brought the composite being to life. The new being swore loyalty to Dr. Hell. Dubbing his creation Baron Ashura, Dr. Hell used them as his main henchman. While not a pilot, Ashura has commanded Dr. Hell's Salude and Bood submarines and at one point also is appointed as the pilot of Daima U5 by Dr. Hell in episode 27 of the television series. In episode 78, Ashura fatally wounded themself crashing the Bood into Mazinger Z in a futile attempt to destroy the robot. Duke Gorgon saw the dying Baron on the sea surface and tried to save Ashura. Baron Ashura died in the arms of their enemy, who finally acknowledged their bravery. In the next episode, Ashura was homaged with mechanical beast
Jetfire P1 resembling their face. Baron Ashura appears again in every episode of
Mazinkaiser until Dr. Hell transforms Ashura into the mechanical monster King Gordon. Baron Ashura also appears in
Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen faithful to their role although their origin was given more depth as it is revealed in the series Ashura was a pair of
Mycenaen servants named
Tristan and
Isolde. Ashura is renamed
Devleen in the
Tranzor Z dub. Despite the censorship that took place in adapting
Mazinger Z into
Tranzor Z, Devleen's distinction of being a half-man, half-woman was retained. In most versions Ashura has separate voice male and female voice actors. In Japanese, the male side was played by
Hidekatsu Shibata and the female by
Haruko Kitahama; in Toei's dub, the male side is played by
William Sayler and the female by
Elizabeth Wichmann. Ashura's
Tranzor Z equivalent,
Devleen, is listed as being played by Gregg Berger (the same voice actor as Kouji Kabuto's equivalent, Tommy Davis).
Count Brocken Count Brocken (Broken), sometimes spelled as Blocken, was a villain from the fictional robot story Mazinger Z that first appeared in episode 40. He is a cyborg whose head was hewn from his body during a car accident and he carried it around with him. (Due to being decapitated, he is known as
Count Decapito in
Tranzor Z.) He sometimes carries it under his arm, but it has the ability to float on its own. In the Manga version penned by Go Nagai and fellow
Gosaku Ota the character's background is quite grimmer as in the comic Brocken was none other than a Nazi Waffen-SS officer who suffered fatal wounds during the battles of WW2, at the time Doctor Hell was serving the Third Reich as medical experimenter in the death camps and was given the task of saving Brocken's life. Not being able to restore nervous and vascular connections in the neck he chose to sever them altogether placing the rescinded head in a vat of nourishing/regenerative bath, thus creating the decapitated count. As the war ended Hell and Brocken parted ways but he returned to head the "Iron Crosses Corps" to aid Hell's plans for world domination via mechanical monsters. The Nazi motif in this background justified Blocken's penchant for militaristic attire complete with Sam Browne belt, as well the cross motif and the teutonic helmets worn by his stormtroopers while Ashura, resulting from a jigsaw combination of ancient mummies, outfitted his Ashura Corps to resemble mikenese warriors. Competition between him and Baron Ashura was fierce, Ashura to regain Hell's favor and Brocken to prove himself the better commander. Brocken was given Gool to attack as well as a loyal army of soldiers, the Iron Crosses; at one point he also piloted the mechanical beast Blogun G3. However, Brocken was also unable to gain the advantage over Mazinger Z despite repeated tries, sometimes due to his own stupidity. He dies with Dr. Hell in episode 91 when Mazinger Z blew up the Gool while attempting to escape. Brocken appears as a direct competition to Ashura, demoting him as Hell's main servant and forcing him to work as a team in a number of occasions, mostly with terrible results, to the point of ordering their respective mechanical beasts to fight each other to prevent each other from defeating Mazinger. Nevertheless, it's because of their collaboration that Dr. Hell finally achieves one of his goals: to obtain Super Alloy Z and build a mechanical monster with it, Balmos Q7. His plans are spoiled when Ashura disobeys his orders out of jealousy and leaves Mazinger unwatched, who manages to escape from Fortress Bood and destroys Dr. Hell's monster. Before his death, Ashura faces a group of Iron Crosses, loyal to Brocken, that had planned to kill him without Brocken's knowledge. When he finds out about this, he rushes to stop them, although Ashura had already taken care of them. However, he doesn't believe his foe wasn't behind the attack and escapes from Dr. Hell's island. Brocken shows a certain degree of respect towards Ashura when he dies in battle. In the Parody OVA
CB Chara Nagai Go World, Brocken is played up comically and extremely perverted. His body at one time was also stolen by Jinmen of the Devilman series. Brocken also makes a brief cameo in OVA adaption of
Delinquent in Drag. Count Brocken appears again in
Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z Hen, as one of Dr. Hell's generals. In the first episode he is killed by Koji using Mazinger Z's "Big Bang Punch". In episode 5, however, he is introduced into the story, deploying Groizer X-10 to destroy Mazinger Z. Near the end of the series he pilots the mechanical beast Brocken V2 Schneider, although he is defeated by Sayaka in the Venus A.
Viscount Pygman Viscount Pygman was a physically bizarre creation with the body of a pygmy shaman atop the body of a large tribal warrior, holding a shield and spear. Unlike Dr. Hell's other lieutenants, Viscount Pygman had little loyalty to his creator, and stole one of his robot warriors to destroy Mazinger Z on his own. Pygman's background before being turned into Hell's servant is largely unknown. He has telepathic powers, the ability to fly and spit fire, and is also capable of using voodoo against his enemies. Pygman is also notable as being the only recurring character from
Mazinger Z not to appear in the American adaptation
Tranzor Z.
Iron Masks Iron Masks were the foot soldiers in Dr. Hell's army, wearing bell-like helmets that covered the upper halves of their heads with holes for their eyes. They are apparently robotic, and can be self-destructed by remote control. For the most part they served as grunts for
Baron Ashura on his operations.
Iron Crosses Iron Crosses were new soldiers introduced into Dr. Hell's army when Count Blocken was recruited. They resembled
Nazi stormtroopers and had large, googly eyes. They tended to work as grunts exclusively in operations led by Count Blocken.
Bakarasu Bakarasu is a crow (its name being taken from the Japanese words 'Baka' roughly meaning 'Stupid', and 'Karasu' meaning crow) was a character who appeared in episode 69 of Mazinger Z, but returned and became a semi-regular character in Great Mazinger, appearing in a little over a third of the total series. Theoretically he works for Boss alongside Mucha and Nuke, but he has no real loyalty to the group. Generally Boss either uses him as a lookout (for either Warrior Beasts or Jun) or as a messenger (normally to Jun). Bakarasu appeared in
Tranzor Z, the American adaptation of
Mazinger Z, and was renamed
Aesop for his only appearance in that series.
Dr. Stroheim Heinrich Another ex-collaborator of Dr. Hell. After a car accident, Dr. Hell turns him into a cyborg, but this time holds back his unfortunate tendency to turn those he brings back to life into total freaks and hence Heinrich
only has blue skin and is full of stitches all over his body. His head sports a mechanical device, that extends to one of the sides of his face and covers his right eye, which can fire beams. Heinrich had worked for Hell developing a powerful monster, but for reasons unclear he deserts him and takes away the unfinished robot along with him. After some time Ashura is commended to find him and the robot. Heinrich now lives with his
daughter Lorelai, and refuses to collaborate with Hell again. Eventually his beast is released,
Rhine X1, and moments before his death, he tells Lorelai how to control it to fight Mazinger, since he is sure his creation is superior than Dr. Kabuto's. In
Shin Mazinger, it is hinted at that he had feelings for
Nishikiori Tsubasa.
Lorelai A robot who looks like a normal little girl, she befriends Shiro at school. She believes herself to be the real daughter of Dr. Heinrich, until her father tells her the truth with his dying breath and calls her "his best creation ever." Distraught and heartbroken, Lorelai merges with her father's other robot, Rhine X1, so Koji is forced to face and destroy her.
Tetsuya Tsurugi ''''
is an orphan young man raised by Dr. Kenzo Kabuto along with his friend Jun, and trained to be the pilot of Great Mazinger ever since he was young. At first shown only as a bad-tempered young man with a heart of gold under his hot-headness, he later develops a strong jealousy against his adoptive brother Koji. Tetsuya served as the main character in Great Mazinger
and first appeared in the final episode of Mazinger Z
. In Shin Mazinger Z Impact'', Tsurugi's background is modified towards an implication that he is the biological younger brother of Tsubasa Nishikiori. This twist, in turn, makes him an uncle to Koji and Shiro as well as brother-in-law to Professor Kenzo Kabuto. He also takes up the codename "Blade" as the initially mysterious pilot of the Great Mazinger.
Archduke Gorgon Archduke Gorgon was a villain who was seen primarily in Great Mazinger, but first appeared in Mazinger Z starting in episode 68 and was a main villain for the rest of the series. He resembles a centaur somewhat, as from the waist up he is a green-skinned man, but below the waist has the body of a saber-toothed tiger. However, his human half is attached to the rear part of the tiger, so it still has its own head. Gorgon was sent by the Mikene Empire to overlook the development of events between Dr. Hell and Mazinger Z, so that everything went according to the plans of the Emperor of Darkness. Hence, he plays an ambivalent role, both of alliance and treason with Hell. He provides him with powerful Warrior Beasts, but his true goal is to use Hell's forces to eliminate Mazinger and then take over with Mikene's own. Allegedly, they forge a deal in the Island of Bardos to collaborate in Mazinger's destruction, but at the end of the series, when the time comes Gorgon leaves Hell to his own fate alone. During this period, he interacts with Hell's henchmen, Baron Ashura and Count Blocken, who are intimidated by him and usually adopt a submissive attitude, except for Ashura's last attempt to regain his honor when he confronts Gorgon asking him to grant him a monster to fight, and eventually dies trying. Ashura dies in the arms of Gorgon, who finally acknowledges his bravery. In the anime version, after Hell's death, Gorgon sends Gratonios and Pilanias to finish Mazinger off. Great Mazinger's intervention in the last minute is the link to the continuation of the saga, were Gorgon can be seen as a less powerful figure compared to his superiors, the Great General of Darkness and Minister Argos. Due to internal struggles for power that involve the Seven Generals, the Great General and Minister Argos, Gorgon is somewhat betrayed and during the construction of a new Mikene base, he intercepted Great Mazinger as it attacked the warrior beast Dandaros. Upon trying to save the warrior beast Gorgon flies in and is shattered by the Thunder Break, tossing his body into the sea shortly after. He is seen in his last moments with his tiger body destroyed, carrying his feline head under his arm, and the Emperor of Darkness congratulates him for constructing the new Mikene Empire base. He would be replaced by Marquis Janus. In the Mazinkaiser vs the Great General of Darkness OVA, he reprises his role being his sole mission to slaughter Koji Kabuto. Unlike the original version this version of Gorgon was organic as opposed to being a cyborg. Koji finally kills him when he shoots his gun, hitting both his tiger and human brains with only one shot. Gorgon returns in
Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen although he is far more aggressive toward Dr. Hell and his men; like the Mazinkaiser version he is also organic in this incarnation. Gorgon was seen in the American export of Mazinger Z, Tranzor Z, a number of times. In that version he was referred to as
Genghis the Ghastly. In the last episode he declared that with Dr. Demon (Hell) out of the way, the stage was set for his own domination of the world, which was to have been the lead-in to Great Mazinger. However, since the sequel series was never imported to America, nothing ever came of this as far as Tranzor Z was concerned.
Kenzo Kabuto was the son of Juzo Kabuto, the inventor of
Mazinger Z, but working in secret he improved upon the original designs to create the more formidable Great Mazinger. After a laboratory experiment that went wrong, he and his wife are thought to be dead. However, he was instead turned into a cyborg by his father in order to keep him alive. To shield them from danger and psychological shock, Kenzo's sons Koji and Shiro are unaware of this and grow believing both of their parents are dead, and were raised by Juzo. Kenzo reveals the truth to both of them in the Great Mazinger series, first to Shiro, since Koji was away for a big part of the series, and their relationship would cause conflict with his adopted son Tetsuya, who was raised by Kenzo together with his best friend Jun and comes to feel intensely jealous of Kenzo's actual children, especially so of Koji. Dr. Kabuto would eventually die in battle at the end of the series and Tetsuya and Koji fight together to avenge his death. == From Great Mazinger ==