List of Bungo Stray Dogs characters

The following is a list of characters from the manga series Bungo Stray Dogs.
The characters of Bungo Stray Dogs were created by Kafka Asagiri and designed by Sango Harukawa. Asagiri noted that in the making of the story, the character designs were developed first rather than their plot lines, as the restrictions of the plot might cause the characters to become too flat. The manga originated from Asagiri's idea to gather multiple famous late authors and draw them as young adults and teenagers with supernatural powers, and in his hope that more people would find an interest in literature with the series.
The following are recurring, major characters from the manga series Bungo Stray Dogs.
The Armed Detective Agency (武装探偵社, Busō Tantei-sha) are the main protagonists of the series. They are an ability user organization focused on solving crimes considered too violent or difficult for the metropolitan police to handle, often involving ability users or the supernatural. They are highly connected in the network of government agencies and military personnel, handling a large amount of classified work. The agency's licensed staff are granted police-like authority.
Frontline guard members: Atsushi Nakajima, and Osamu Dazai.
The Port Mafia (ポートマフィア, Pōto Mafia) are the main antagonists of the series. They are an underground criminal organization. Also known as Yokohama's "Night Wardens," they have a "skilled business" permit, allowing them to conduct their criminal activities legally. They have dozens of enterprises within their control, exceeding politics and economics, and its influence can be found in numerous places around Yokohama. The brain of the criminal underworld market, they specialize in assaults, strong weapons of armament, riots, bullying, and forbidden unclean products for coarse organizations. They have many international connections with other criminal organizations.
Frontline guard members: Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, and Chūya Nakahara.
The Guild (組合, Girudo, sometimes also written as ギルド or ぎるど) is a secret society of ability users from North America (primarily the United States). They have international influence, are granted diplomatic authority, and have extraterritorial rights (meaning Japanese law enforcement cannot detain them). Most of them possess a significant amount of money.
Huck Finn (ハック・フィン, Hakku Fin)
Tom Sawyer (トム・ソーヤ, Tomu Sōya)
The Rats in the House of the Dead (死の家の鼠, Shi no Ie no Nezumi) are an underground terrorist organization, with the goal of obtaining the Book.
The Decay of the Angel (天人五衰, Tennin Gosui) is a terrorist organization specializing as a murder association, devoted to the destruction of all nations.
The Hunting Dogs (猟犬, Ryōken) are a military organization working for the government. They're a Grade-A squad built for special tactics and suppression duty, and the strongest military unit in the military police.
The characters of Bungo Stray Dogs have been popular in Japan with Crunchyroll noting that most of them appeared in a Newtype poll when the anime premiered in 2016. Manga.Tokyo enjoyed Osamu Dazai due to his appealing interactions with Doppo Kunikida while also enjoying Mamoru Miyano's performance as his voice actor. Atsushi's characterization has earned mixed responses. The Fandom Post noted that his power of becoming a tiger gave him potential to make goods rather than the curse he fears. On the other hand, Reel Run Down considered Atsushi as one of the weakest characters due to his constant insecure thoughts despite having multiple achievements in the storyline. Otaku USA noted that while Atsushi becomes a hero during the story, he is overshadowed by others character he found more interesting. Nevertheless, Atsushi's and Akutagawa's rivalry has also resulted into positive reaction due to how each character balance the other in terms of personality and how they become allies for a short for one of the most entertaining fights in the series. Anime News Network still enjoyed the new bond he formed with former Guild member Lucy Maud Montgomery; the reviewer noted Lucy became attracted to him and thus expected a form romance or love triangle would be composed between these two characters as well as Kyoka as this character also formed a strong bond with Atsushi. Concluding this comment, the reviewer expected this would happen the story would be benefitted from this type of subplot since Bungo Stray Dogs barely handled romance.