List of Kerberos Saga characters

This is a list of characters and organizations in theKerberos Saga(ケルベロス・サーガ,Keruberosu saga), a Japanesealternate historyscience fictionpolitical thrillermedia franchisecreated byMamoru Oshiiin 1987. Set in an alternate history 20th century whereNazi GermanywonWorld War II, eventuallydenazified, andoccupied Japan(part of theAlliesin this timeline) to establishauthoritarianrule, the saga primarily follows members of the Metropolitan Security Police Organization's Special Armed Garrison, commonly referred to as "Kerberos", a heavily-militarizedcounterterroristpolice tactical unitoperating inTokyo.
Characters are sorted by organizations or groups according to the original works. The English adaptation equivalents are mentioned when available.
The Metropolitan Security Police Organization(首都圈治安警察機構,shutoken chian keisatsu kikō,lit."capital region security police organization", abbreviated asShutokei(首都警); "Capital Police" or "CAPO" in English adaptations), commonly shortened to just the Metropolitan Police (MP), is aparamilitarylaw enforcement agency established to maintain order in Tokyo and effectively combat terrorism where regular police cannot, providing a politically- andconstitutionally-acceptable alternative to the domestic deployment of military forces.
The Metropolitan Police Defense Division(首都警・警備部,shutokei keibibu,lit."capital police security division"; "Capital Area Security Police Agency" in English adaptations)is the main armed branch of the Metropolitan Police, tasked with maintaining public order. It maintains an armored combat unit, armored cars, a helicopter unit, and a sniper team. It is directed by Isao Aniya.
The Special Armed Garrison(首都警・特機隊 ~ケルベロス~,shutokei tokki-tai ~keruberosu~,lit."capital police special equipment unit"; "Special Unit" in English adaptations)is the core combat unit of the Metropolitan Police. Its members wear black-colored Protect Gears,armoredpowered exoskeletonsthat distinctively feature aStahlhelmand agas maskwith glowing red lenses. Kerberos members are primarily armed withMG 42machine guns (often using thebipodas a makeshiftforegrip), although alternative weapons such as theStG 44andFG 42are also seen to be issued, with theMauser C96as a standard issue sidearm; additional ammunition is stored and dispensed from the Protect Gear's integratedbackpack. It is headed by Shirou Tatsumi. Notable members include Koichi Todome, Soichiro Toribe, Midori Washio, Toru Inui, and Kazuki Fuse.
Jin-Roh(人狼,jinrō,lit."man-wolf"; "Wolf Brigade" in English adaptations)is a secretcounterintelligenceunit formed inside Kerberos to protect it from threats within the police and government. It is headed by Hajime Handa.
The Metropolitan Police Public Security Division(首都警・公安部,shutokei kōanbu,lit.'capital police public order division')is the other branch of the Metropolitan Police, specializing in intelligence-gathering and espionage. It has aninterservice rivalrywith Kerberos. It is directed by Bunmei Muroto.
The Self-Police(自治警察,jichi keisatsu, "Local Police" in English adaptations)are theprefectural police—or, for works in the saga set before the 1954Police Law, themunicipal police—of a given prefecture or municipality, respectively.
TheTokyo Metropolitan Self-Police Department(警視庁,Keishichō)is the Self-Police of Tokyo Metropolis or, for works implied to be set before 1954,Tokyo City. Into the late 1940s and the 1950s, they were unable to maintain public order in the face of spiking levels of terrorism and crime, sparking the creation of the Metropolitan Security Police Organization. The Self-Police and the Metropolitan Police share a jurisdiction over Tokyo and have many of the same duties, resulting in an uneasy relationship between them, though they are shown to cooperate with the Public Security Division more than Kerberos.
The Spezial Sturm Gruppe (SSG) is the elite counterterrorist police tactical unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Self-Police Department. They are largely based on theGerman Federal Police'sGSG 9but are otherwise analogous to theSpecial Assault Teamsof real Japanese police, and are essentially the Self-Police's version of the Metropolitan Police's Special Armed Garrison. InKerberos Panzer Cop Act 4, they respond to theLufthansaFlight 666 hijacking atTokyo International Airportand are briefly involved in a standoff with Kerberos during a dispute over who will engage the hijackers. They are ultimately assigned to resolve the hijacking, but are beaten to the plane by Kerberos.
TheJapan Self-Defense Forces(自衛隊,Jieitai)are themilitaryof Japan. UnderArticle 9 of the Japanese Constitution, Japan is not permitted to go to war, and instead maintains a "defense force" for the country's ownself-defense; though in real life this clause came about under American occupation, it can be assumed this also occurred under German occupation in the saga's timeline. The inability of the Japanese government to deploy the JSDF domestically to maintain public order led to the establishment of the Metropolitan Security Police Organization.
The1st Airborne Brigadeof theJapan Ground Self-Defense Force. It is a "Panzer Jäger Unit" (ギア部隊) or "Armored Soldier" (機甲隊員), essentially the military equivalent of the Metropolitan Police's Special Armed Garrison, and is likewise also equipped with Protect Gears; however, they primarily useanti-tank riflesinstead of machine guns. It is led by Tetsurō Kai.
Variousanti-governmentmovements that were formed or otherwise grew as a result of, or in response to, increasing economic, social, and political tensions following the German occupation, the creation of the Weimar Establishment, and the resultinginternationalizationandurbanizationof Japan. Economic reorganization under the Weimar Establishment led to increasedpoverty,class stratification, and the growth ofslums, as well as spikes inorganized crimeandblack marketcorruption, all of which in turn led to large protests in Tokyo. The government responded with police repression and authoritarian policies that ultimately worsened the situation, forcing public protest movements underground and radicalizing them to become underground guerilla militias and terrorist groups.
The Sect(セクト,sekuto)is aleft-wing terroristgroup that emerged from mergers of other anti-government and leftist movements, especially after the Metropolitan Police and Kerberos began cracking down on such groups. The Sect relies on the Tokyo sewers to transport and store firearms and explosives. Notably, young girls wearing red clothing, nicknamed Little Red Riding Hoods(赤ずきん,Akazukin), are used by the Sect's Division Jacobson (ヤコブソン機関) to smugglemateriel, most commonlybombs, using their non-threatening appearances to smuggle without drawing suspicion.
The Four Seasons League (四季協会,shiki kyokai) is acommunist terroristgroup. Asplinter groupof the Sect, it was formed after the Sect's leaders made a compromise with the government to disassociate with its most extreme and violent members. Its background andmodus operandiresemble those of the real-lifeJapanese Red Army.
Tachiguishi(たちぐいし,tachigui, "Fast Food Grifters" in English adaptations)arecon artistsknown for committingdine and dashcrimes attachigui(立ち食い, "eating while standing up"), a type of Japanesefast-food restaurantor style of eating where patrons stand as opposed to sitting that, in the saga's universe, have been made illegal.
The German military is the main protagonist faction in theKerberos Panzer Jägerradio drama series. Though they are initially theWehrmachtunderNazi Germany, they are eventually restored to theReichswehrfollowing the assassination ofAdolf Hitlerand the following denazification process.
The 808th Propagandakompanie(立ち食い,Dai 808 Senden Chutai)is a unit of theWehrmachtduring World War II, deployed on theEastern Front.