Note: All Information Current as of Feb 2006.  Feb 2007 Info here

Divines:

Belldandy

Norn of the Present

    Belldandy's office in Yggdrasil is in the Goddess Relief Office, Sector A-Epsi-2378-Durgea-Thon-4114.  This sector compasses 1000 inhabited planets, including the Earthrealm.  Belldandy was summoned to the Earthrealm to grant a wish by Morisato Keiichi, a freshman student at Nekomi Technical Institute.  Keiichi's wish was for her to be near him at all times.  She was thereafter assigned to fulfill his wish.  This was in the 2nd week of Nov. 2002.  Several months later, Belldandy unexpectedly develops an emotional attachment to Keiichi...and the rest is history...and this story...

Age in 2006:  240,xxx Earthrealm years.  Belldandy's manifest age is 24 mortal years equivalent

Goddess Rating:    Goddess First Class, Unlimited, Unrestricted License. 

Method of Transport:  Mirrors

Pet Peeves:    Urd and Skuld fighting, arrogant Earthrealm males, Keiichi's cigarette smoking,      

Guilty Pleasures:  Various Teas,  "New Japan Women" type magazines, "Friends" reruns

Fave Music:    God's Music, Vivaldi, Mozart, John Adams, Bee Gees,

Fave Movies:    Casablanca, Mononoke Hime, Titanic, the Shall We Dance series,

Belldandy is very kind and loving, though sometimes in an "iron fist in a velvet glove" fashion.  She tends towards shyness and naiveté.  She can be impulsive in matters involving Keiichi or her sisters.

Urd

Norn of the Past

   Urd's office in Yggdrasil is a Node of  the Yggdrasil Mainframe, Arcane Sysop Division.  She came to Earth after her younger sister Belldandy was engaged in an unusual wish request.  Urd found out that Belldandy and her mortal charge were developing feelings for each other; in a typical burst of Big Sisterly ambition, she decided to speed things up between Keiichi and Belldandy.  In 2006, by a freak accident, she is pulled away from pestering her sisters to grant a wish request from a mortal named Cevn...

Age in 2006:  270,xxx Earthrealm years.  Urd's manifest age is 27 mortal years equivalent

Goddess Rating:    Goddess Second Class, Limited, Restricted Licensee

Method of Transport:  Television sets

Pet Peeves:    Skuld's brattiness, Bell and Keiichi's lack of sexual ardor, jobs outside of her expertise     

Guilty Pleasures:  Pulp romance novels, fantasizing about being an idol star

Fave Music:    God's Music,

Fave Movies:   Anything sexy.

Urd projects a virago-like nature, but her sexy-naughty image is only partially a reflection of the inner person.  Her apparent cupidity is actually the result of her insecurity.  

Skuld

Norn of the Future

   Skuld's office in Yggdrasil is Sysop Trainee.  She becomes overwrought when both of her sisters remain on the Earthrealm...her emotional distress goes over the top when there is a Bug outbreak in Yggdrasil.  Urd connived her to fill in for Urd's Sysop role; as a trainee, Skuld lacks the necessary skills to stem the outbreak.  With a shrug of her shoulders and a swing of Mjolnir, Skuld abandons her post and transports herself to the Earthrealm, only to find her sister is in love...with a mortal!  Because of her inability to fulfill Urd's Sysop role, Skuld is reassigned to be an Earthrealm Trainee.  In this capacity, Skuld decides to make things ugly for Belldandy's beloved, Keiichi...as only she can...

Age in 2006:  120,xxx Earthrealm years.  Skuld's manifest age is 12 mortal years equivalent

Goddess Rating:    Goddess Second Class, Limited, Restricted Licensee

Method of Transport:  Water, as long as it is contained in man-made objects (baths, pools, etc)

Pet Peeves:    Urd's perfectionism, mechas that are inoperative, Keiichi, all Earthrealm males, bust checks

Guilty Pleasures:  Imported Ben & Jerry's, Clamp studio shojo manga, Ranma 1/2

Fave Music:    God's Music, SMAP, Kome Kome Club, L'Arc en Ciel, W-inds

Fave Movies:    Kiki's Delivery Service, Ultraman, Miyuki in Wonderland, The Princess Bride

Skuld's most obvious attribute is possessiveness.  She is extremely possessive of her sisters and machines.  Under this is a girl who is struggling to find an identity; she is often faced with her own insecurities.  Skuld has a tomboyish nature, which causes her many qualms when in situations where she has to relate to males.

Peorth

Goddess of Eternity

   Peorth's office in Yggdrasil is in the Goddess Relief Office, Earth Otasuke Division.  Peorth has a simmering animosity towards Belldandy stemming from an incident in their teen years.  This situation is exacerbated when Belldandy's wish contract with Keiichi gains her renown throughout Yggdrasil.  Peorth feels that she has been one-upped by her rival GRO agent; Belldandy is fully a year younger...and yet, she even received an assignment on the Earthrealm, which is the 'turf' of Peorth's office.  Chagrined, Peorth decided to come to the Earthrealm to set things straight.  Unfortunately, she cannot manipulate Belldandy's charge to change his wish...because Keiichi is in love with Belldandy.  It becomes more complicated when Peorth discovers that she is attracted to Keiichi....

Age in 2006:  250,xxx Earthrealm years.  Peorth's manifest age is 25 mortal years equivalent

Goddess Rating:    Goddess First Class, Unlimited, Unrestricted Licensee.

Method of Transport:  Cameras of any kind 

Pet Peeves:    Belldandy's naiveté, shy mortal males, brutish mortal males, the Germans    

Guilty Pleasures:  Cadberry bunnies, crepes, shojo manga, admiring herself in the mirror

Fave Music:    God's Music, Debussy, Harmonium, Jean-Michael Jarre, Le Ange 

Fave Movies:   Jean Cocteau, the 'Colors' series, La Femme Nikita 

Peorth is cupidic, but unlike Urd, this attribute is not a coverup or defense. She is naive like Belldandy, but doesn't admit to it.  Peorth's vivacious nature is the result of vanity, rather than being a man-eater.  She easily gets jealous, which is a manifestation of her own securities.  She is fixated on things French.

Mara

Demon Grief Office Agent

    Mara's office in Vanagdrasil is in the Demon Grief Office, Sector Z-Ispe-8732-Aegrud-Noht-1441.  This sector comprises 1000 inhabited planets, including the Earthrealm.  Mara was assigned to answer Keiichi's call and cause him grief, but her longtime Goddess rival Belldandy arrived first.  Now, she has to remain on the Earthrealm until she can create enough Grief in Keiichi's life to offset the positive effects of his Wish.  Since Belldandy is accompanied by her two sisters, Mara's job becomes much more difficult.  Also, with the introduction of Cevn into Keiichi's group, Mara sees another problem: he has made a wish that she needs to thwart as well.... 

Age in 2006:  270,xxx Earthrealm years.  Mara's manifest age is 27 mortal years equivalent.

Demoness Rating:    Demoness First Class, Unlimited, Unrestricted Licensee. 

Method of transport:    Video Game consoles

Pet Peeves:    Belldandy and Peorth, Sere-hawk droppings, Keiichi, Cevn, PS4 crashes      

Guilty Pleasures:  Final Fantasy RPGs, Eggnog, Devil/Vampire anime

Fave Music:    Demon's Music, X-Japan, Piass, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Tool, King Crimson

Fave Movies:    Nosferatu, The Cult, The first half of the Grinch, Lost Boys, Godzilla series

Mara is very cunning, but this attribute has been forged by a survivor's instinct.  The Demon world wasn't very kind to her; her aggressiveness is a compensation for her frustrations.  

MORTAlS:

Morisato Keiichi

    Keiichi attended high school, and then took 2 years of the usual college prep school prior to enrolling in N.I.T.  He was immediately glomped on by his sempai, Tamiya and Ootaki, to join the N.I.T. Motorcycle Club (the NIT-MCC).  While honing his driving and mechanic skills as a freshman, he calls for fast food delivery...and winds up talking to Belldandy.  Flippantly, he makes a wish that she remain with him for the duration...and his wish is granted!  Suddenly saddled with a beautiful Goddess who cannot leave his side, Keiichi does the most illogical thing possible...he falls in love with her!  He and Belldandy end up being gifted with a Buddhist Temple complex, and live together.  And then the others starting coming, one-by-one...

Age in 2006:  24 years.  Keiichi is Megumi's older brother.  Junior at NIT

Pet Peeves:    Skuld.  Urd.     

Guilty Pleasures:  Space Battleship Yamato garage kits, airguitaring instead of studying

Fave Music:    Deep Purple, Steppenwolf, Lindberg, Chisato, Shame, Kasi-Kase Speed X

Fave Movies:    Built for Speed, the Matrix series, any sci-fi, Gone in 60 Seconds, 

Keiichi is a study in contrasts.  He has taken the brave step to fall in love with a Goddess, yet he is too unsure of himself as to how to consummate this love on any of a number of levels.  A romantic at heart, he struggles against a significant trait of low self esteem, the result of his loneliness and short stature growing up.

Morisato Megumi

    Megumi is just a year behind Keiichi.  After graduating high school and taking two years of college prep school, Megumi decided to go to Keiichi's school.  After moving in temporarily with Keiichi and Belldandy, she finds an apartment...but has to move back to the temple during her sophomore year, which is a source of great frustration to her older brother.  When Cevn arrives, Megumi takes a sisterly liking to him, and begins to see him as an 'adopted older brother'.  Megumi has a love interest, a fellow NIT-MCC club member by the name of Genji.  Genji is a class behind her, but winning his heart will be difficult...because Genji is the younger brother of Mishima Sayoko...who possesses no small degree of rivalry and enmity with Keiichi and his cohorts...

Age in 2006:  23 years.  Megumi is Keiichi's younger sister.  Sophomore at NIT.

Pet Peeves:    People who tease Sora, broken bicycle parts      

Guilty Pleasures:  Poetry, long-distance bicyling, munchies like arare, choco stix, sushi, potato chips

Fave Music:    Denki Groove, the Move, Chage and Asaka, Double, Underworld, Dirty Vegas 

Fave Movies:   Ruruoni Kenshin, Japanese Beauty, Life of Oharu, anything by Mizoguchi and Shinoda

In many ways, Megumi is the opposite of her brother.  She is very uppity, which many men confuse for being sexy.  Yet this uppity nature also has the effect of alienating her love interests, as they become intimidated by her, or view her as out of reach.  Developmentally, she is much more mature than Keiichi.

Hasegawa Sora

   Sora is a bit of a child prodigy.  Instead of taking two years of college prep, her excellent academic skills allowed her to enroll in N.I.T. directly out of high school.  Tamiya and Ootaki recognized her genius, and enticed her into the NIT-MCC with a promise that she'll eventually be allowed to drive in the races.  Sora is much younger than her peers; this, along with the fact that is she is a late developer, causes her great amount of frustrations, as she looks like a 15 year old, not a college freshman.  Megumi views Sora as a little sister, and is Sora's best friend.  Sora is ill-starred by virtue of the fact that her love interest is Aoshima Toshiyuki, who is a notorious skirt-chaser and reprobate...

Age in 2006:  19 years.  Freshman at NIT

Pet Peeves:    People who think she's a "Lolita", slow thinkers, conservative mindsets      

Guilty Pleasures:  Beef bowls, Clamp School Detective manga, chocolate chip cookies

Fave Music:    Radiohead, Pizzicato Five, the Aluminum Group, Stereolab, Tetsu Inoue, Sigur Ros

Fave Movies:   The Iron Man series, Blueseed, Contact, War and Peace, Cowboy Bebop

Sora is all girl...until one finds out her true age.  She embodies the Japanese work ethic, helping out with her parent's shop and getting high marks in school.  This creates a situation where she has a difficult time knowing how to cut loose.  In this regard, Megumi is Sora's sempai...teaching her how to have fun.

Cevn Ava

   Cevn formerly lived in Hawaii, until Urd pulled him through a TV set and deposited him in Makuhari, Japan.  By a quirk of fate, Urd was called upon to grant a wish request by Cevn.  A recovering drug addict with a diagnosed depression, Cevn battles with the events of his past.  He is nearing the end of his PhD work in Asian studies and psychology, and is very studious.  However, he has a phobic orientation towards women, particularly attractive women.  Suddenly brought to Japan and surrounded by Goddesses, his uncertainties increase...

Age in 2006:  29 Earthrealm years

Pet Peeves:    Women who act sexy,  his own inadequacies, people who shoptalk all the time         

Guilty Pleasures:  Star Trek and Farscape, Godzilla movies, 

Fave Music:    Yes, Van der Graaf, Klaus Schultze, PFM, Echolyn, Tangerine Dream

Fave Movies:    Seven Samurai, Metropolis (1929), Ikiru, 2001, Das Cabinet, 

Cevn, like Keiichi, is a study in contrasts.  Despite his kind bearing, he views himself as flawed and hopeless.  Thus, he is troubled by relating to others.  The many abuses of his past, plus his drug addiction and depression, causes him to react inconsistently to situations that would cause others little or no problem.

Toraichi Tamiya

    Tamiya was born and raised in Hokkaido; he is noticeably Ainu in physique. He was raised on his grandparent's farm after his parents were killed in an accident.  There, his interest in repair small machinery grew until he was a full-fledged mechanic at 16.  Struggling through school, he enrolled in NIT, and was recruited by Chihiro when she founded the NIT-MCC when he was a freshman.  Tamiya mistook her enthusiasm as a sign that she was attracted to him, a mistake that cost him his clothes one night.  Thus, he is very intimidated by her.  Yet, despite his mishaps with Chihiro and Peorth, Tamiya has his eyes set on an impossibly high goal as far as future girlfriends are concerned.

Age in 2006:  25 years. Keiichi's sempai.  Senior at N.I.T.

Pet Peeves:    Being single, bad tasting ramen and sake, slow work by Club members, Aoshima     

Guilty Pleasures:  50's Enka, girl-idol TV soaps, collecting posters of foreign auto races

Fave Music:    The Eagles, various Enka (when he's drunk), the Go-Bangs and other 90s girl-groups

Fave Movies:    Rocky series, Rambo series, any Jet Li movie, Kagemusha, Zatoichi series

Tamiya is a brute of a man...with the heart of a small boy.  Magnanimous to a fault, his enthusiasm often unbridles others.  His stature has shaped him; he often relies on resolving difficulties with force, rather than negotiation.  As leader of the NIT-MCC, he attempts the politician...and becomes an elephant in a tea shop.

Aoyama Ootaki

   Along with Tamiya, Ootaki is the co-president of the NIT-MCC.  Ootaki is a senior at NIT, a perfect place for him to play out his obsession with vehicles and tools.  Ootaki is an extremist, but he has a good heart.  His love interest is Yamano Satoko, daughter of  Dean Yamano of the NIT Electronic Studies Dept.  Ootaki fell in love with her his sophomore year; Satoko is a year behind him...and the top student of her class.  Ootaki's freshman year was filled with another obsession...Fujimi Chihiro.

Age in 2006:  25 years.  Keiichi's sempai.  Senior at NIT

Pet Peeves:    People who mess with his toolboxes, otherwise pretty much nothing...until he tells you so   

Guilty Pleasures:  Collecting talismans and Shinto tokens, miniature cars, Love Hina manga

Fave Music:   Oingo Boingo, Texas is the Reason, X-Japan, Piass, Sheena and the Rockets, Iggy Pop

Fave Movies:    Eijanaika, any Jim Carrey movie, the Austin Powers series, Beat Takashi movies

Ootaki is an oddball.  His bleached, moussed long hair pretty much is an accurate barometer of the man inside.  Decidedly non-conformist, his aloof nature often gets him...and whoever is with him at the time...in trouble.  Tamiya is often the foil for his schemes...or is it the other way around?

Mishima Sayoko

   Sayoko has known Keiichi for almost 8 years, having attended the same high school as Keiichi did.  She is the oldest child of the Mishima family, who own the multibillion yen Mishima Zaibatsu.  As such, she was raised in privilege, but she rebelled against her parents, who wanted her to be a famous doctor.  She was pulled from private school and enrolled in Keiichi's high school.  She is used to being Queen of all that she surveys...the primadonna of primadonnas.  But she is dethroned when Belldandy arrives; after all, what mortal woman can compete with a Goddess?  Beyond this, Sayoko has a unresolved crush on Keiichi, which makes Belldandy's presence in his life even more mortifying to her.  But Sayoko has a very significant problem in her life that overshadows everything she says and does...

Age in 2006:  24 years.  Sayoko is Genji's older sister.  Junior at N.I.T.

Pet Peeves:    Belldandy and Keiichi, her younger brother, anyone who interferes with her supply      

Guilty Pleasures:  Painting nude male models, long champagne bubble baths, overseas travel

Fave Music:    60-70's rock, YMO, U2, Klaus Nomi, Iruku Loop Child, Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix

Fave Movies:    Natural Born Killers, The Cell, Sgt. Peppers, Diva, Tombraider, Oni,

Take self-esteem and bloat it into vanity and pridefulness, and you have Sayoko Mishima.  Her hubris is the result of having to be overly self-reliant.  In a sense, Sayoko is counterdependent...she uses her money and forceful ice-queen personality to skate on the surface, so she doesn't get herself wet on the waters below.

Mishima Genji

    Genji is the eldest son of the Mishima family of the Mishima Zaibatsu, the CEOs of a sprawling portfolio of corporations that are in the "Big Five" of Japan.  His parents are worth almost 1.5 trillion yen...but one wouldn't know it by observing Genji's down-to-earth behavior.  Shy around women, intimidated by his older sister and very sensitive to his own feelings, Genji is looking for something to fill the gap in his heart, a something that all his parent's vast riches cannot buy... 

Age in 2006:  21 years.  Genji is Sayoko's younger brother.  Freshman at NIT

Pet Peeves:    Sayoko when she's loaded, his own virginity and clumsiness around women       

Guilty Pleasures:  Kabuki and Noh theatre, Soseki novels, Ukiyo-e art books

Fave Music:    Kitaro, theatre music, shakuhachi music, Cosa Nostra, Lindberg, Iruku Loop Child

Fave Movies:    Utamaro and His Women, Minpo, the Zatoichi movies, The Burmese Harp 

Genji reacted to the non-presence of his parents by becoming a traditionalist.  He actively studies anything to do with classical Japanese culture.  Genji is the opposite of his uppity sister...he is shy, retiring, contemplative.  Very insecure with himself, he never dated any girls, despite being the son of a billionaire.

Fujimi Chihiro

    Chihiro was a senior when Tamiya and Ootaki started at NIT.  Being raised in a cycling enthusiast family, Chihiro wanted to bring her skills to bear while in NIT; hence she formed the NIT-MCC. She grabbed Tamiya and Ootaki and mentored them, greatly increasing their mechanical and racing skills.  Upon graduation, she spent a year on the Krauser racing team in Europe, then returned to Japan to visit her old teammates.  She realized that she had lost out on the fun of racing, so she started her Whirlwind repair shop.  After a year, she went to America to get an advanced Engineering degree.  Right now, she is in the United States, and is homesick for her friends in Japan.

Age in 2006:  28 years.  President of Whirlwind, Founder of NIT-MCC

Pet Peeves:    Tamiya and Ootaki trying to be clever, Men who are attracted to her, romance movies 

Guilty Pleasures:  Pierre Ar Bras posters, Yamaha coffeemugs, Anime videos, car model kits 

Fave Music:    Shonen Knife, the Nelonies, Sha Ram Q, Judy and Mary, The Music, Kaito

Fave Movies:    Hong Kong cinema, American SFX cinema, mystery and suspense films      

Chihiro's interest in racing sports started in early childhood.  She is ambitious to the point where she can be kind to others at her own expense.  She regrets losing the 'playfulness' of racing, a result of her driven nature.  She's resigned herself to being single, because she doesn't want to choose between men and racing

Aoshima Toshiyuki

    Toshiyuki Aoshima is cousin to Sayoko and Genji, hence the 'ishima' surname.  His parents are also very wealthy, and like Sayoko, he rebelled against them.  His personal nature is profligate, as he hires people for his Four Wheel Club rather than recruiting them.  He formed a rival racing club simply because he wants to impress Belldandy and perhaps win her over from Keiichi.  To him, women are little more than conquests...

Age in 2006:  21 years.  Freshman at NIT.

Pet Peeves:    Gaijin, Keiichi and the NIT MCC, his cousin Sayoko (when her schemes backfire)     

Guilty Pleasures:  Spying on women he's attracted to, small engine repair, amateur filmmaking, food

Fave Music:    File, New Pink Lady, Princess Princess, SMAP, Yuming, Ayumi Hamasaki

Fave Movies:  Anything featuring a current teen female idol star.

As the result of being spoiled, Toshyuki is smarmy to a fault.  Thus, he has little self-efficacy; instead he finds fault in everything around him.  A master manipulator, he uses his family's enormous financial clout to appease his own ends.  He sees himself as a Don Juan...but others see him as being sleazy and arrogant.

Nakamura Tomohisa

    Tomohisa is Keiichi's only cousin, the son of his Aunt on his father's side.  Tomohisa hero worships Keiichi, which grates on Keiichi's nerves on occasion.  Tomohisa is an avid baseball fan, and he has been allowed the privilege of practicing with the senior high team, despite the fact that he is still a year away from 10th grade.  Tomohisa's sports interests are marred by his recurrent asthma, which is a source of concern for his parents.  Despite being aggrieved by this condition, he still plays his hardest.  Tomohisa seems to have a penchant for teasing Skuld, but he cannot figure out why he is doing this, since she is fully 2 or 3 years younger than him, which makes her a little girl in his eyes...

Age in 2006:  15 years.  

Pet Peeves:    Immature girls, poor baseball play by teammates, people who make fun of his asthma     

Guilty Pleasures:  Baseball cards, sumo, high platform diving,

Fave Music:    Creed, Buckethead, Orgy, top 40 but definitely not J-Pop,  Gusty Bombs

Fave Movies:    Star Wars, Mummy 1-4, all of the Gamera movies, Dungeons and Dragons

Tomohisa has the typical hormone-driven nature of any boy his age.  He obsesses about girls, but is too inexperienced to ask any out.  Thus, he finds himself identifying with the only other child in the group...Skuld.  His confidence is tempered by his asthma and his separation from his parents.