Simon

Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara, Takayuki Sugō (Old) (Japanese); Josh Grelle (A.D. Vision dub), Yuri Lowenthal (Bang Zoom! dub), Tony Oliver (Old, Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Personal Gunmen

• Lagann
• Gurren Lagann
• Arc-Gurren Lagann
• Super Galaxy Gurren Lagann
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
• Tengen Toppa Lagann (movie only)
• Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (movie only)

The series' protagonist, Simon (シモン, Shimon) (pronounced as SEE-mohn) originally started off as a boy in the beginning of the story who suffered from low self-esteem due to his lack of parents (who were both killed in a cave-in) and a fear of earthquakes. Though physically underdeveloped for his age and ignored by adults and snubbed by girls, Simon is a valued digger in Giha Village. Simon is eventually befriended by Kamina, whose inspirational speeches start to give him enough confidence to muster his courage and take action in bouts of intense determination. Finding Lagann during his dig, Simon joins Kamina in going to the surface where he develops a crush on Yoko before learning she has feelings for Kamina. When Kamina died during the formation of Team Dai-Gurren, Simon is thrown into a maddened and pervasive depression, driving him to be overly aggressive in combat while isolating himself among the Team. But Simon's meeting with Nia helps him come to a revelation about his own nature, leading to him discarding his fears and doubts as he takes over Kamina's role as Team Dai-Gurren's leader.

In the second half of the series, Simon has grown into a young man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kamina, but is able to exercise caution when necessary. Simon planned to marry Nia until Antispiral uses her to begin their attack on Earth. This results with Simon being sent to jail by the government to ease the people, later breaking free with Viral's help to take back Cathedral Terra as he leads Team Dai-Gurren to save Nia and destroy Antispiral. Managing to marry Nia before she fades away, Simon gives Lagann's key to Gimmy as he leaves his friends to wander the planet under a low-profile as a nameless vagrant, stating that, "there are others more fit to travel down the tunnels I dug". In the epilogue, the old man that Simon has become watches his former comrades setting out to contact other races throughout the galaxy to help prevent the Spiral Nemesis and ensure the safety of the universe. It is revealed that the narrator at the beginning of most episodes is old Simon, since the narrator's Japanese and Bang Zoom! English dub voice actors also voice old Simon.

Kamina

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese); Brett Weaver (A.D. Vision dub), Kyle Hebert (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Personal Gunmen:

• Gurren
• Gurren Lagann

Kamina (カミナ) is a young man from Giha, a subterranean village, who dreams of leaving the underground and going to the surface, a place which he alone believes he saw as a child with his father. His father went on, but Kamina was too hesitant to join him. As a result, Kamina swore that he would one day return to the surface and rejoin his father. Possessing a seemingly arrogant personality, Kamina is very passionate about his goals and will pursue them without a trace of fear, hesitation, or sometimes sense. This attitude often manifests itself in dramatic speeches which have the power to rally all those who hear them to his call. As his first act of notoriety, Kamina forms "Team Gurren" and convinces his "blood-brother," Simon, to help him with his plan to drill through the roof of the village and get to the world above. However, the plan fails. Kamina willingly takes the blame for disrupting the peace and is jailed by the village chief. At night, Simon breaks him out to show him an extraordinary artifact he unearthed, only to be interrupted by a large Gunmen that crashes through the village's ceiling. A young girl sharpshooter named Yoko descends from the surface and ends up joining Kamina (now carrying a nodachi that he stole from the village chief) and Simon as they pilot the newly unearthed Gunmen Kamina names "Lagann". Together, they defeat the invading Gunmen and reach the surface in the process.

After the trio breaks through, they meet many enemies and friends as they continue forward. Kamina eventually gets his own Gunmen, which he names "Gurren". During a fight, Kamina discovers a skeleton that turns out to be his own father. After burying him, Kamina takes his father's tattered cloak and a small piece breaks off at the end. Simon grabs this piece and ties it around his arm, signifying their bond. The once two-member "Team Gurren" expands to the size of an entire resistance force aiming to overthrow the Beastman Empire. Kamina leads this force and names it "Team Dai-Gurren". Kamina's largest battle involves the capture of one of the enemy’s moving fortresses belonging to one of the Four Divine Generals, Thymilph. The mission is a success, but not without cost. Heavily wounded, Kamina combines with Simon to form Gurren Lagann and defeats the Beastman General with his signature move: "Giga Drill Breaker." Kamina dies in the cockpit, leaving Simon with this: "Listen up, Simon, and don't forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the me who believes in you. Not in the you who believes in me. You should believe in yourself!" These words are long remembered after his death, giving Simon the confidence to uphold his destiny as the "one whose drill will pierce the heavens." Also, Kamina's signature pose, in which he sticks his index finger up into the air, along with his catchphrase, "Who the hell do you think I am?" (俺を誰だと思ってやがる, Ore wo dare da to omotte yagaru?) is mirrored by several characters during the show as a tribute to him and as a symbol of confidence in Team Dai-Gurren. Kamina is buried in the battlefield where he died, his nodachi stabbed into the ground and his cloak tied to its sheath.

After the fall of the Beastman Empire, a new city is built from the ruins of the former capital, Teppelin, and is named "Kamina City." A huge statue of Kamina stands at the center of the city in his honor. However, the monument is destroyed after the citizens discover the truth about the Human Annihilation System and revolt against the government.

Kamina died in episode 8 and reappeared in episode 26, although in completely different character. Simon, under the influence of the Anti-Spirals, witnesses visions of a false childhood where Kamina eggs Simon on to drill into banks and jewelry shops to steal valuables for him. He is shown groveling at the feet of beastmen on top of a hill, begging for his life and urging Simon to do the same. Simon reaches for his Core Drill and finds it missing. Then the true Kamina appears, wearing his cloak and holding his nodachi, and asks Simon if he lost his Drill. Kamina then reminds Simon that his drill is his soul, that Kamina and his fallen comrades will live on in him, and that he is the one whose drill will pierce the heavens. Simon is reminded of what he is fighting for: for the sake of Nia and for the fate of the Spiral Universe. This breaks the Alternate Multiverse Labyrinth, allowing Simon to reassemble Team Dai-Gurren and face the Anti-Spirals for the final time. In the epilogue, Kamina's grave is seen surrounded by other swords that represent the members of Team Dai-Gurren who gave their lives in the final battle.

Yoko Littner

Voiced by: Marina Inoue (Japanese); Tiffany Grant (A.D. Vision dub), Michelle Ruff (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Personal Gunmen:

• Yoko M Tank (movie only)
• Space Dayakkaiser (anime only)
• Space Yoko W Tank (movie only)
• Tengen Toppa Yoko W Tank (movie only)
• Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (movie only)

Yoko Littner (ヨーコ・リットナー, Yōko Rittonā), the series' lead female character, is a young woman from the village of Littner. She has considerable combat experience even before her chance meeting with Kamina and Simon. In Episode 1 a gunman crashes through the roof of Giha village and prepares to attack the populace when Yoko, who has been tracking the Gunmen, rappels down a cliff whilst firing her electromagnetic rifle. Her solo attack disables the Gunmen, giving Kamina and the villagers time to seek safety. Kamina, however, chooses instead to make advances at Yoko and initially diminishes her combat qualifications on the grounds of being a woman, yet acknowledges "that lady's spunk".

She decides to accompany Simon and Kamina on their quest. Despite their constant banter Yoko soon becomes infatuated with Kamina. She is also the object of Simon's naive crush until he discovers the two kissing. Yoko is stated to be the same age as Simon, but it is heavily implied that her home-town measures time differently, as all humans live underground and might have a differing number of days in a year. She is very mature for her age and is the most rational member of the group. Those traits helped her to cope with Kamina's death although she remained affected by it.

After the war of liberation, in which she plays a major role, Yoko eschews taking part in politics at Kamina City. Desiring to distance herself from her warrior past, she takes the name Yomako and moves to remote Koreha Island. There, she accepts the job of teacher at that island's elementary school. However, after learning of events occurring at Kamina City, and being attacked by two gunmen she temporarily leaves the island and breaks into Rinkane Jail to release Simon. After leaving the prison with Boota, Simon and Viral, she joins other members of Team Dai-Gurren and pilots the Dayakkaiser to pursue the war against the Anti-Spirals.

In the epilogue an older Yoko is seen at the same school mentioned earlier, but in the role of principal.

Nia Teppelin

Voiced by: Yukari Fukui (Japanese); Luci Christian (A.D. Vision dub), Hynden Walch (young, Bang Zoom! dub), Bridget Hoffman (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Personal Gunmen:

• Tengen Toppa Solvernia (movie only)
• Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (movie only)

Nia Teppelin (ニア・テッペリン, Nia Tepperin) is a mysterious young girl found sleeping in a capsule in the middle of a dump site by Simon when he was still distraught over Kamina's death. Later revealed to be Lordgenome's daughter, she learns the harsh reason why her father left her to die. She had no prior contact with humans except her father, though she is very curious, pure and innocent. Despite early misgivings from her lineage, she is quickly accepted by Team Dai-Gurren, much to the initial irking of Yoko, who later becomes a close friend of hers.^[1] During her journey, she develops a strong empathy for Simon and joins him in the final confrontation against her father.

Seven years after the war with the Beastmen, Nia receives a marriage proposal from Simon. She refuses at first, after her bubbly contrived logic causes her to misunderstand his words, but after receiving counseling from Kiyoh and Kiyal, she decides to accept. However, when the population limit is reached, the Anti-Spiral data awakens within her and permanently converts her into an Anti-Spiral virtual lifeform, serving as the Anti Spirals' emissary in charge of Earth's Human Extermination System. But in spite of her emotionless persona and being a step ahead of Team Dai-Gurren, Simon points out to Nia that all her actions and appearances before him were in fact the act of her true feelings of her former self, who urges Simon to keep fighting, allowing Nia to have the strength to return to her former self while ending the Human Extermination. However, she is transported back to the Anti-Spiral homeworld so the data on Team Dai Gurren can be extracted from her for analysis, with Simon vowing to rescue her. Although she is saved, the Anti-Spiral's death makes Nia fade away because her existence as a program is dependent on the Anti-Spiral Race. She lasts long enough to be wed to Simon before vanishing, leaving behind only her ring. In the epilogue, which takes place 20 years later, a memorial site is seen in her honor, located adjacent to Kamina's burial ground.

She has a running gag of rambling on incoherently due to her lack of knowledge of regular customs, with one example being her cell phone away message stating, "I am not here right now, well it is not that I am not here it is just I cannot reach my cellphone right now. Also, please try calling my house than my cell...". Despite Simon describing it as making her nearly impossible to understand, he also notes she always spoke warmly and kindly.

Viral

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese); Vic Mignogna (A.D. Vision dub), Sam Riegel (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Personal Gunmen:

• Enki
• Enkidu
• Enkidudu
• Tengen Toppa Enkidurga (movie only)
• Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (movie only)

Viral (ヴィラル, Viraru) (pronounced "Veer-ral") is a member of the Human Eradication Army, who regards Kamina as a strong rival since losing his Enki's helmet to the newly created Gurren Lagann. Though being among the more humanoid of the Beastmen, his DNA contains aspects of tiger genetics. He is extremely loyal to Lordgenome and the four supreme generals, and he does his best to serve them. He has a personal Gunmen called Enki while under General Thymilph, which mainly utilizes swords and a powerful head-mounted laser (Named in the manga as the Enki Sun Attack). After Kamina's death, he continues to fight Gurren Lagann to regain his honor, thinking that Kamina is still alive. However, upon learning the truth, a shocked Viral focuses his frustrations on Simon before refusing to kill him on Cytomander's orders when he holds Yoko hostage. Brought before Lordgenome, Viral learns the truth of the Beastmens' lifespans before receiving the gift of immortality. Though he believed it was so he can kill Simon with no fear of death in his new Gunmen Enkidudu, Lordgenome reveals that the immortality was to ensure that he had an eternal witness of the Spiral King's power. But Lordgenome dies in the battle and an astonished Viral disappears as Dekabutsu collapses around him.

Years later, having protected some humans who wished to remain underground, Viral resurfaces and causes an uproar with Enkidudu, calling Simon out to fight him. He is later taken into custody by the Grapeals, placed in the same prison Simon later ends up as a scapegoat for the Anti-Spirals' appearance. Becoming a reformed villain of sorts, Viral pilots Gurren during the battle against the Anti-Spirals and seemingly gains his own Spiral Energy from being exposed to Simon's, seen in his Core Drill in the series and Tengen Toppa Enkidurga in the movie. It is also shown that his deepest desire is to get married and have children, but he cannot do so as Beastmen lack the spiral energy necessary for reproduction. In the epilogue, he becomes the captain of the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren and an emissary for Earth.

Rossiu Adai

Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga, Jouji Nakata (Old) (Japanese); Chris Patton (A.D. Vision dub), Johnny Yong Bosch (Bang Zoom! dub), Michael McConnohie (Old, Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Rossiu Adai (ロシウ・アダイ, Roshiu Adai) is a boy from another underground village, Adai, in which the people worship the Gunmen as gods. A modest but intelligent person, he is the apprentice of Father Magin, the High Priest who governs Adai and performs its ritualistic method of dealing with over population by having people draw sticks with the winners sent up to the surface to die, Rossiu's mother being among those chosen. But when Gimmy and Darry were selected to leave the village, Rossiu is horrified to learn Magin rigged it as they are orphans and decides to go with the twins and, thus joining Team Gurren. Before he leaves, the village elder gives him a book that seems to withhold some secrets from humanity's past, with the task to find someone able to read it, as no one in his village can decipher its contents. After joining Team Gurren, he is often teased by Kamina, who calls him "Forehead Boy". After Kamina's death, Rossiu temporarily begins piloting Gurren in his place.

After the end of the war, Rossiu became Simon's second-in-command, always trying to make him act more serious about his duties as the ruler of Kamina City. However, in spite of his time with Team Dai-Gurren, Rossiu became a lot like Magin and took Lordgenome's last words seriously, leading a secret project to access Lordgenome's memories and learn the history behind him and the Anti-Spirals. However, when the Anti-Spiralized Nia causes a riot across the city, with an angry mob formed against Team Dai-Gurren, Rossiu decides to use Simon as a scapegoat and overthrows him. Though he was the one who placed him in prison with the death penalty, keeping up a cold heartless facade in public, Rossiu lamented his actions in secret from all except Kinon. From there, Rossiu and his subordinates prepared a contingency plan by having the rest of the people to take shelter in the underground villages, assumed to be safe by the government, with a select few to board the excavated Arc-Gurren. However, when Leeron showed him that no life form, in the surface or underground, would survive the impact, which would render the planet completely uninhabitable for one year, Rossiu decided to change his plans, by filling the rest with animals and livestock, ensuring a chance of survival of them, and abandoning the rest of mankind. Earth was then attacked earlier than expected, and he had to escape with only half the expected refugees on board of the Arc-Gurren.^[2]

However, Rossiu's plans were once again foiled by the Anti-Spirals who had already set a large force awaiting to ambush the Arc-Gurren in space. Just when he was about to lose hope, Simon and the rest of Team Dai-Gurren came to his aid. One week after the Human Extermination System was stopped, Rossiu left a farewell message and set for Adai where he intended to commit suicide after settling things with Magin, revealing that he was never able to decipher the book; the best theory he has is that someone had filled the book with gibberish as a prank and the two share a laugh. However, Kinon found the message and Simon rushed with her in Gurren Lagann to stop him, with Simon beating some sense into him and giving Rossiu the strength to keep living just like Kamina had done for Simon. Rossiu takes the duty of watching out for Kamina City, while Simon and the rest of Team Dai-Gurren depart from Earth to the Anti-Spirals' homeworld, having Kinon and Guinble assist him. After the final battle against the Anti-Spirals, Rossiu was the priest for Simon and Nia's wedding, and in the epilogue, he is seen still holding the position of commander-in-chief, as Simon did not reclaim it and wonders if he did a good enough job as a leader or if Simon would have done better.

Kittan Bachika

Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama (Japanese); Jason Douglas (A.D. Vision dub), Christopher Corey Smith (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Personal Gunmen:

• King Kittan
• King Kittan Deluxe
• Space King Kittan

Kittan Bachika (キタン・バチカ, Kitan Bachika) is the oldest of the Black Siblings. During his first encounter with Team Gurren, he mistakenly confuses Kamina for a Beastman. This is reconciled, when it is discovered that Kamina is piloting the Gunmen, Gurren. Shortly after, the two teams (the Black Siblings and Team Gurren) come into contact with the sixteen-headed enemy Gunmen, whom the Black Siblings had crossed paths with earlier. After the eventual defeat of the enemy Gunmen, the two teams part ways. (In the manga, they meet up with Kamina and co at the same time Viral makes his entrance.) Kittan eventually parted ways with his sisters, who join up the Team Gurren soon after, before returning to aid Team Gurren against Thymilph in his own acquired Gunman, King Kittan, and with others inspired by Kamina who obtained Gunmen of their own they have captured and customized. This event consequently leads to the formation of Team Dai-Gurren. As a result of the death of Kamina, Kittan temporarily takes over as the leader (though self-proclaimed) of the team, but after Simon recovers from his depression over Kamina's death, Kittan transfers the control of leadership to him.

After the war, Kittan became the Chief of the Legal Affairs Bureau in Kamina City, but starts to resent Rossiu when he sentences Simon to death and then allow his sister Kinon to wear an explosive-equipped vest to accompany Simon in the case he attempts to escape. Though he eventually understands the position Rossiu was in, Kittan resigns after discovering about Rossiu's plan to evacuate Earth using the Arc-Gurren, along a small fraction of the human population, and abandoning the rest to die, when the moon falls. Before leaving, he demanded Rossiu to return the Core Drill he took from Simon and rushed on his Gunman to deliver it back to him.

In episode 25, Kittan meets his demise by protecting the other members of Team Dai-Gurren. Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, unable to escape the incredibly dense space sea produced by the Death Spiral Machine, is ordered by Simon to move towards the center of the sea, where the Machine rests surrounded by a powerful shield. After the ship's weapons fail to get anywhere near the shield, Kittan offers to take the Space King Kittan on a mission to destroy the shield and fire spiral-based missiles at the core of the Death Spiral Machine, but not before stealing a kiss from Yoko, and apologizing for "[his] selfishness". Though he successfully breaks through the shield, the Space King Kittan is crushed by the immense gravity of the space sea, leaving Team Dai-Gurren shocked at what they think is the death of Kittan. However, the original King Kittan, wielding one of the drills that broke off from the Gurren-Lagann when it was attempting to transform Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren into humanoid form, flies towards the Machine's core, screaming his final speech. Kittan awakens his own Spiral Energy, melding the drill to his King Kittan, and performing his own variation of the Giga Drill Breaker (King Kittan Giga Drill Break) to destroy the Death Spiral Machine. The resulting explosion engulfs and kills Kittan, who acknowledges his interest in Spiral energy before his demise, but also frees the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren from the space sea, allowing Simon to transform it into Super Galaxy Gurren-Lagann and fulfill Kittan's dying wish.

In the epilogue, a memorial site, in the form of a sword, is seen in his honor right alongside Kamina, Nia, and the other members of Team Dai-Gurren who gave their lives in the war with the Anti-Spirals. In the movie, there is a brief scene after the final battle where Kittan's siblings mourn their brother's death, with his memorial marker still placed alongside Kamina.

Boota

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese); Monica Rial (A.D. Vision dub), Julie Ann Taylor (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

The unofficial mascot of Team Dai-Gurren, Boota (ブータ, Būta) is a small pig-mole from Giha village, whom Simon keeps as a pet. Boota is characterized by his sunglasses and star pattern surrounding his tail. No matter how many years pass, Boota's physical appearance does not change much. Although he can only say "BOOTTA!" (hence the name), he can understand humans, and even has near-human intelligence. His favorite spots to stay are between Yoko's breasts or on Simon's shoulder. He has ripped off his tail and consequently the tip of his rear end as an emergency food supply for Kamina and Simon so as to provide energy to the starving duo during a crucial fight, and also has served as a morale figure to Yoko, when she first hesitated at piloting Gurren in place of Kamina. He too was thrown in prison along with Simon, and even had his own pair of miniature handcuffs. When Simon and Viral broke out of jail, Boota loyally ran to Simon's shoulder. However, upon seeing Yoko again, he hastily jumped in her cleavage once more.

Boota proved his true value to Team Dai-Gurren in episode 25, when he asked Viral for entry into Gurren's cockpit and from there, released a massive surge of Spiral Energy to aid a worn-out Simon in his task to power up Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren. Lordgenome stated that this occurred not only because humans aren't the only beings capable of generating Spiral Energy, but it also may be a reaction from Boota, being frequently exposed to Simon's Spiral Energy. In episode 26, Boota stands to protect Lordgenome from the Anti-Spiral trying to attack him, and when their Spiral Energy resonates, he is transformed into an anthropomorphic humanoid. His attacks are laced with Spiral Energy. Curiously, his "human form" appears in the prologue of the first episode. The glasses Boota has in his humanoid form look similar to the glasses Nono wears in her Buster Machine No. 7 form in the anime Diebuster. Unfortunately, this transformation allows the Anti-Spiral to trap Boota in the Multiverse Labyrinth; when he was freed by Simon, the transformation was undone.

In the epilogue, he is seen wandering the world alongside an aged Simon.

Leeron Littner

Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (Japanese); Mark Laskowski (A.D. Vision dub), Steven Blum (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Leeron Littner (リーロン・リットナー, Rīron Rittonā), nicknamed "Ron", is the village mechanic of Littner, who is able to repair and scavenge the various Gunmen he and his group encounter. Quite knowledgeable, rather flamboyant, and homosexual, Leeron was the first one to join Kamina, Simon, and Yoko on their quest to defeat the Beastmen. He has become the main technician for Team Dai-Gurren, as well as being in charge of coordination and communication between the Gunmen during battle from Dai-Gurren. His ability to learn and adapt is incredibly great, seeing as he once mentioned that he didn't even know how to read before becoming a mechanic.

In part 1, upon first meeting Kamina and Simon, Leeron acts extremely flirtatious around the two newcomers, using a rather graphic array of phrases when around them. Kamina reacts to Leeron with threats, drawing his nodachi and cursing him. Simon for the most part doesn't mind, but still regarded him with concern. Later in the series, Leeron pulls off of his attempts to proposition the boys, resulting in a more cordial relationship, and many times Simon praises Leeron for his work.

At several points in part 3, Leeron makes flirtatious advances of a kind on both Gimmy and Viral, resulting in both of them leaping out of his immediate vicinity. This happens 3 times in the case of Gimmy and once with Viral. Viral reacted the same way Kamina did, drawing his cleaver and cursing him. It is speculated that it was "breaking" Viral in, that he had become the character that had once been his biggest rival, Kamina.

After the war, Leeron became the Chief of the Science Bureau of Kamina City, and his team even succeeded in launching a rocket to the Moon in order to investigate it and confirm the veracity of Lordgenome's ominous prophecy.

Throughout the series, Leeron never seemed to age (except for a brief appearance in the epilogue, where his normally green hair appears to be somewhat greyer).

Beastmen Kingdom

Beastmen are a "species" of humanoids that act as the primary antagonists for Parts I and II of the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann. They are the product of an ideal blending of human and animal genes, intentionally flawed hybrids with a human intelligence and form but great diversity in size, shape, and limbs. Their animal features can be almost anything: marine, amphibian, mammal, bird, or sometimes an entirely unrecognizable type of animal. Lordgenome originally engineered the Beastmen as soldiers against the Anti-Spirals, because the substitution of animal genes distorted the shape of human spiral DNA and rendered them invisible to detection. However, doing so came at the cost of evolutionary potential, for Beastmen lack Spiral Energy and thus cannot pilot Gunmen without the use of solar-powered batteries. Furthermore, their bodies deteriorate at an accelerated rate and their cell lines weaken overtime, thus forcing Lordgenome to deep freeze unborn specimens who are in a constant state of regeneration.

Following the extinction of the Spiral Warriors at the hands of the Anti-Spirals, Lordgenome retreated to Earth and recommissioned his Beastmen to act as population control. Piloting towering Gunmen, the Beastmen patrolled the planet's surface and used their superior technology to kill any human who trespassed above ground, preventing the human population from ever growing large enough to be detected by the Anti-Spirals. Lordgenome divided his forces into the four branches of the "Human Eradication Army", each led by one of his four Supreme Generals, responsible for monitoring a distinct cardinal direction of the planet's surface. Each of the four "Supreme Generals" is a representation of one of the four classical elements: earth, air, fire and water.

After Lordgenome's death, the Beastmen armies were disbanded and all Gunmen were scrapped. Many Beastmen living within Teppelin itself survived its collapse, and were persuaded by Nia Teppelin to accept peace with the human victors and were integrated into Kamina City's society without prejudice. On the outskirts of civilization, liberated Beastmen warlords continued to wage campaigns against human settlements, so battles between the New Government and Beastmen erupted over time. Seven years following the Battle of Teppelin, few if any of these resistance forces remained, most having been eliminated by Grapearl Squadrons.

Antispiral

Voiced by: Takaya Kamikawa (Japanese); Dave Mallow (Bang Zoom! dub) (English)

Antispiral (アンチスパイラル, Anchisupairaru) is the true main antagonist of Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, and the main antagonist of the second story arc. He is both the leader and collective mental manifestation of the Anti-Spiral Race (反螺旋族, Hanrasen Zoku, literally "Anti Spiral Tribe"), a mysterious group of beings that long ago realized the danger of Spiral Nemesis. In order to combat it, they found the means to halt their own evolution by purging themselves of Spiral Power, trapping themselves in a state of suspended animation as their collective consciousness took form to purge the universe of all Spiral Life.^[4]

He first appears as a disembodied voice in episode twenty four, but is formally introduced in episode twenty six. His physical form is a chaos of arbitrary human concepts fluctuating on a black silhouette, with cartoonish gestures and exaggerated expressions. His near-infinite spiral energy gives the Anti-Spiral extensive, almost supernatural powers, which manifest in the form of purple energy. With these abilities, he is able to manipulate or even break physical and chemical laws (going as far as altering probability), which he does regularly both offensively and as a form of intimidation. Antispiral has the mannerisms of a scientist, suggesting he had a hand in both the creation of Anti-Spiral technology and the decision to undergo the millennia-long battle against the universe's spiral beings.^[5] Antispiral is very proud and holds deep contempt for Spiral beings, frustrated that in spite of his efforts, there are Spiral beings who still resist the limiting of their populations and continue to defy the resolution of his race and their ideology. Antispiral is depicted as being omniscient and omnipresent on a multiversal level, having complete control over every dimension Team Dai-Gurren encounters, having knowledge of everything they are doing, and at one point trapping their consciousness in a Multiverse Labyrinth of "infinite possibilities".

Thousands of years before the events in Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann take place, Antispiral defeated Lordgenome's army of Spiral warriors, and overwhelmed Lordgenome's mind by explaining the nature of Spiral Nemesis to him, causing him to accept Antispiral's conditions for allowing the continuation of the human race. These were the instillation of an Anti-Spiral factor within humanity's genetic code that would activate once Earth reached Spiral Energy Level 2, with the total human population at one million, converting its one host into an Anti-Spiral "virtual program" that would carry out the mission to end all life on Earth in order to prevent Spiral Nemesis. When this failsafe eventually occurs, Nia becomes Antispiral's messenger, executing the "Human Extermination System", which is soon revealed to be the moon itself, spiraling out of its orbit to collide with the planet and kill all life upon it. Simon stops the collision by activating the moon, revealing the gigantic battleship Cathedral Terra, and Nia, having recovered part of her former self, states that the battle is far from over: mankind's survival of the Extermination has fated it to face the true might of Antispiral. Team Dai-Gurren gain possession of the Cathedral Terra and rename it to the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren, and use its systems to pinpoint Nia's whereabouts via Simon's deep connection with her in order to battle Antispiral at the source. However, before their arrival, Antispiral sets a decoy signal between the 10th and 11th dimensions to lure them into the Galactic Spiral Abyss, which they barely escape thanks to the sacrifice of Kittan. But once overcoming Antispiral's second trap, Team Dai-Gurren rescues Nia and defeats Antispiral, being killed by Simon. In the series, Simon achieves this with help from Nia in Lagann while in the movie, Simon fights Antispiral before using his own blood to create a drill to land the killing blow. Antispiral refuses to accept that his race was wrong to restrict Spiral Power, but with his last breath, he asks Simon if Earth will now assume the responsibility of protecting the universe.

Team Gurren/Team Dai-Gurren

Team Gurren was first created by Kamina in Giha Village. However, at that time, it was made up of a few boys from the village, as well as Simon and Kamina, who tried various attempts at getting to the surface. After a failed attempt to reach the surface, the other three boys blamed Kamina for the incident to avoid punishment, which resulted in Kamina disowning them from Team Gurren. Simon and Kamina (accompanied by Yoko) later reached the surface, and traveled to Littner Village. There, Kamina stole a Gunmen from a Beastmen, and left to find the Gunmen base, along with Yoko and Leeron as the newest members of Team Gurren. Along the way, Team Gurren met the Black Siblings, but they refused to join.

Later on, Rossiu, Gimmy and Darry from Adai Village joined Team Gurren, and it made its way to a local hot springs resort. There, the Team Gurren met the female members of the Black Siblings once again. The resort turned out to be a Beastmen-run Gunmen, and so the Black Siblings and Team Gurren worked together to defeat them, acquiring the mysterious Old Coco as a new member during the chaos.

After the incident, Viral and the Dai-Gunzan met Team Gurren and Gurren Lagann fought the fortress Gunmen. Simon and Kamina were almost defeated by the Dai-Gunzan, but were rescued by Dayakka in his personalized Gunmen. The rest of Team Gurren were rescued from a group of Gunmen by Kittan, the eldest Black Siblings, who also had a custom Gunmen. Simon was able to trick the Dai-Gunzan and collapse it into the bottom of a gorge, and returned to find that people had heard of Kamina stealing a Gunmen, copied him, and assembled to join Team Gurren, now renamed Team Dai-Gurren due to their abundance of new members. They later managed to steal the Dai-Gunzan, at the price of Kamina's death, and it became the new base of operations for the team. Led by Simon, they decided to go to Teppelin and defeat the Spiral King.

From that point on, many others have joined Team Dai-Gurren, including Nia, and a large force of humans, who saw Simon's success in defeating Divine General Guame, joined their offensive against Teppelin.

The symbol of Team Dai-Gurren is a flaming red skull with Kamina's signature red sunglasses. However, after the timeskip, most members wear a simple 5-pointed star, as they have become key members of the Earth's new government. High-ranked members wear two stars in their chest, and Simon, being the commander-in-chief, wears three. Rossiu also wears a large one on his back in the epilogue shaped similar to Simon's glasses; it could be an indicator of rank (he's president) or possibly the government's official logo.

Government

Most of Team Dai-Gurren have become part of the government, mostly as heads of departments managing the city, or parts of the military. However, there are some new characters not seen before the timeskip, mainly found in Rossiu's Intelligence team.