Simon The Digger

## Overview

**Simon, シモン** (Pronounced Simone) is the main character and protagonist of the anime and manga series *Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann,*known as Gurren Lagann outside of Japan. In the beginning, he is a scared and nervous kid, only feeling safe in the tunnels he digs to expand Jiha village. As he discovers the core drill and the mech named Lagann, he makes his escape to the surface with his friend, the larger-than-life and hot-headed Kamina, his pet miniature mole-pig Boota, and the sniper Yoko who hails from the surface. This marks the beginning of a journey unlike any other...

## Appearance

In the beginning, Simon has a small stature even at age 14, when the series starts. He has dark blue hair and a round face. For the first act, his outfit only undergoes one change. He wears large brown shoes, shorts held up by a belt with a large number of bandages under, and a brown rag around his body, plus his trademark goggles. After ascending to the surface and forming Team Gurren, he changes to a red and blue jacket bearing the team's symbol on the back, and a piece of Kamina's cloak is wrapped around the right arm.

After the time skip, he's much taller with a height of 6'2 and has a sleeker face featuring sharper edges and a lean body. His outfit changes drastically. He wears a shirt and coat befitting his title as Supreme Commander of Kamina City and the new human presence on the surface. Later he goes through one more drastic change, as he changes to jeans, a black waistband, a large black coat bearing the symbol of Team Dai-Gurren, and his goggles. In the epilogue, he wears a large brown hooded cloak.

## Personality

Simon starts out quiet and reserved, he's scared and submissive without the motivation of Kamina. Over time he grows in confidence as he grows through experience and believes in Kamina's faith in him. He even displays some excitement towards fighting during the battle for Dai-Gunzan. After Kamina's death from injuries he suffered during the Battle Of Dai-Gunzan, Simon enters a heavy depression. He tries to imitate the fearlessness Kamina displayed but it turned to rage. This causes Gurren Lagann to go berserk and reject him. He is broken out of this through Nia, who helps him realize the path he's on, and that he can't be Kamina, he has to be himself. After he is much more confident and brave, inspiring the members of TeamDai-Gurren and never backing away from challenges that seem impossible to some. After the time skip, he's just as confident, and his personality truly awakens at the start of the war against the Anti-Spiral. He becomes inspiring and Encouraging like Kamina, but keeps himself level headed to strategize and claim victory,

## Equipment

Simon's standard equipment includes his goggles, which feature a built-in light system. His other equipment is the large hand drill he used for drilling tunnels to expand his village and the core drill which serves for a part of the series at the key to Lagann and the conduit of his spiral power. In the epilogue, he carries a large drill-tipped staff.

## Powers and Abilities

Fourteen-year-old Simon has the expect physical capabilities as a relatively short fourteen-year-old. His core drill contained enough power to blast a massive hole through the chest of a reawakened Lordgenome, who was strong enough the destroy Lagann without his Gunmen. after the time skip, Simon is able to match Viral, a trained beastman soldier with an immortal regenerating body in hand-to-hand combat. Simon even as a child is an extremely skilled pilot and this only grows throughout the series. As his spiral power grows, he takes his rightful place as one of the most powerful fictional characters, capable of easily destroying and creating universes far more complex than our own.

**Spiral Power**

Spiral power is Simon's main weapon, aside from Lagann and it's combinations. It is the force of evolution, ever-present in humanity but only awakened by a select few. Its evolution and progress materialized into a force of god-like power and potential. This power caused the rapid growth of humanity after their freedom from the reign of the Spiral King, having gone from a somewhat advanced civilization to space-age in a matter of seven years. While what is described here may not sound like combat power, spiral power is the strongest weapon in the series. Through its use Simon can preform feats surpassing gods. Creating and destroying extremely complex spiral universes, resurrecting the dead, space-time teleportation, physical power, and far more. It is not all too different from Saiyan Power and rage boosts from the Dragon Ball franchise, as the spirit of humanity and their confidence further the spiral power within them, and transforms them to new levels. At the end of the series, Simon had become an infinite source of spiral power and was compared to a god. He rejects this title, as the power of the spiral should be used sparingly. One of the greatest assets of Spiral power is its evolutionary capabilities. Through determination and spirit, Simon could overcome and surpass any threat he faced through his determination and the courage of the human race, making Simon almost unbeatable, as he'll rise to surpass any obstacle set in front of him.

**Lagann**

Lagann is the smallest variation of the Lagann mech and its combinations and transformations. It's strong enough to destroy a large Gunmen and drill through dense mountains. Its strength comes in form of its power to combine. It's responsible for all of its combinations, too control of Dai-Gunzan, and gave Gurren Lagann the power of flight by combining with an (unwilling) flying gunmen.

**Gurren Lagann**

Gurren Lagann is the resulting combination of Gurren and Lagann, the series' namesake. It combines Gurren's brutish strength with Lagann's maneuverability and drills to create a mech of far greater power, capable of leveling mountains with ease. It's capable of flight, creating massive drills capable of breaking through any foe.

**Arc Gurren Lagann**

Arc Gurren Lagann is the combination of Gurren Lagann and the battleship Arc-Gurren. It features power far surpassing that of Gurren Lagann. It effortlessly defeated Mugans, enemies even Gurren Lagann struggled against. It had enough raw power to break the barrier of reality and send a Mugan into the end of the space-time-continuum with a single strike.

**Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann**

The combination of Arc Gurren Lagann and Lordgenome's flagship, Cathedral Terra. While it has the least screentime, it has enough power to destroy galaxies. It had countless planets thrown at it, which had no effect upon its superior defenses.

**Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann**

The evolution of Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann. It had enough power to form and destroy extremely complex universes. It matched the Anti-Siral in combat and was physically big enough to stand atop and outgrow galaxies themselves. In physical strength, it could throw galaxies and tank an explosion that far surpassed the power of multiple big bangs.

**Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann**

This evolution was featured only in the movie version of Gurren Lagann. Both the movies and the show are canon, so take your pick of which you like more. This transcended the concept of a mech and was a mass of pure spiral energy, resembling Simon. It far surpassed Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and made even galaxies seem puny in comparison. The insane power of the Anti-Spiral was larger than even this form, so Simon himself ascended to a different plane of reality to engage the true form of the Anti-Spiral in a brutal slugging match, he emerged victoriously, the hero of the universe and savior of all the Spiral races.