[Hispanic Heritage Month] Top 10 Latino Characters in Anime
This winter season has brought us tons of Action, Romance, Comedy and more. But not just that, Latino anime fans have seen themselves represented in three different anime! Quetzalcoatl from Luck & Logic is obviously Mexican and he’s so cute in his chibi form! You have no idea how excited I got when I first saw him, “Hold on, that’s Quetzalcoatl, right!?” And it was! XD And of course we have cat-girl Cassidy and her partner Sanchos in Dimension W as the Mexico team. And Luis Garcia from Bubuki Buranki is from the USA, but he’s obviously of Latino descent. It’s not very often Latinos see ourselves represented in anime; especially as main characters or at least supporting cast. But although Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela appear more often, Latin America is made up of many other nationalities and many of them have been shown in anime in one way or another. This is why we decided to make a list to mention 10 outstanding anime characters that are Latin-American! The chosen ones are either important characters, very strong or simply memorable. This is a celebration of all Latinos equally so they’re listed by airing date, starting with the older shows. ¡Disfruta! (Enjoy!)
10. Sunshine from Kinnikuman (Peru)
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']Sunshine is a powerful luchador from Nazca, Peru and one of the six Akuma Choujin. He is also the trainer of the Nightmares. As an Akuma Choujin, Sunshine is considered one of the most powerful and tough wrestlers in the universe. He is 3 meters tall (almost 10’) and his superhuman power is one of the highest at 7,000,000. Sunshine shows his Peruvian heritage in his attacks, many of which involve sand or pyramids. Some people say his body is based on the Sunshine 60 building in Tokyo, but if you see the pyramids at Nazca, he resembles them much more, and that makes more sense, right? This Peruvian is certainly a strong character and he even defeats the previous Hawaiian champion. Considering people in Peru are such big fans of anime that they name their kids after anime characters, I’m glad there’s at least one powerful character representing them. But I think they deserve more!
9. Juan Diaz from Captain Tsubasa (Argentina)
[Spanish: Super Campeones (Latin America); Campeones: Oliver y Benji (Spain)]
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']Many of us grew up with this anime in Latin America. Juan Diaz is the captain and star player of the Argentine team in Captain Tsubasa. He is so talented as a soccer player that he is considered the next soccer superstar and is compared to Maradona. This makes him a little stuck-up since he considers himself the best of the best, but that all changes when he faces the Japanese team and has a duel with Tsubasa (Oliver Atom in Spanish) where Argentina loses by only one goal. With his light skin, blue eyes and his amazing ability for soccer, Juan Diaz embodies the Argentinean spirit surprisingly well. His name is a reference to Ramon Angel Diaz who was also a start soccer player in the past, but really, Juan is mostly based on Diego Armando Maradona. Considered “the pride of Argentina” in the show, Juan Diaz earned a spot on our list!
8. Io Scylla from Saint Seiya (Chile)
[Spanish: Caballeros del Zodiaco]
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']Another look at our childhood! Io Scylla (Eo de Escila in Spanish) is in charge of protecting the Mammoth Pillar of the South Pacific Ocean. When Shun gets to the pillar Io almost kills him with his five powerful beasts which represent all the parts of Scylla; a bear, an eagle, a bee, a snake, and a bat. When Io finds himself almost defeated by Shun, he releases his Big Tornado and forces Shun to fire up his Cosmo to the extreme to free himself. When Kiki shows up with the Libra gold cloth, Shun throws Libra’s Nunchaku towards the pillar and Io jumps in front of the attack to protect it. Unfortunately, after their fierce battle, the Scylla Scale was damaged and Io ends up losing his life. A Chilean Saint! Io is originally from the island of St Felix. And even though he is a supporting character and we only see him in a short part of the series, Io is one of the Saints with the most techniques. He is a Marina General of Poseidon and he is the only one to die after an attack from one of Libra’s weapons. Io is passionate, strong, and fierce and he put up a great fight against Shun. He has a well-deserved spot on our list.
7. Pedro Domingo from Excel Saga (Colombia)
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']Pedro is a Colombian immigrant who left his “sexy wife” and his son Sandora back in his country so he could send them money and give them a good life. Except, thanks to Excel’s antics, Pedro dies in an accident and ends up wandering the world as a ghost while he tries to find his way back to his family. The poor thing even ends up as the boy-toy for The Great Will of the Macrocosm before escaping and reuniting with his family. Unfortunately for Pedro, his “sexy wife” had already forgotten him and shacked up with his friend Gomez. Poor Pedro carries a lot Latin stereotypes, but Excel Saga is a ridiculous comedy anime that does it all with good humor. His “sexy wife” is a dark skinned Latina with great curves who’s really lovey, Pedro emigrates to provide for his family and he works in construction. Even though he is a secondary character, Pedro brings a lot of laughs in the show and especially that “Noooooo!” that we all love to imitate. Let’s show some love to this charismatic, down-on-his-luck Colombian, I think he deserves it!
6. Sado Yasutora from Bleach (Mexico)
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']Sado Yasutora (a.k.a. Chad) doesn’t look like the other Bleach characters. That’s because he is half Mexican! During the series, Chad shows that he is stronger than most can imagine and he seems to have an innate special power that develops rather quickly. He has superhuman speed and strength, tons of stamina, can withstand strong attacks and he has a large amount of spiritual power. His powers have Spanish names like Brazo Derecho de Gigante, El Directo and La Muerte. Although he’s not 100% Mexican, Chad has several Latino features since he grew up with his grandfather, who he calls “abuelo” (grandfather in Spanish), in Mexico. He is taller and more muscular than his friends, has dark skin, full lips, wavy hair and he looks older than he is. Chad also wears a Mexican coin around his neck which is a memento from his abuelo Oscar Joaquin de la Rosa (you can’t get more Latino than that name). Chad is part of one of the most popular anime around and he is a pretty interesting main character. That is why he gets a place on our list.
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5. Roberta (Rosarita Cisneros) from Black Lagoon (Colombia)
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']Roberta is a Colombian assassin who was trained by the Cuban militia and now works as a maid for the Lovelace Family. (Geez, good thing Latinos can pretty much do anything!). She is much stronger than she looks; she’s incredibly fast and has superhuman instincts. Since she has spent many years training, she is an expert at several martial arts, stealth attacks, and can wield several weapons with ease. Roberta is such a strong badass, she can shoot a grenade launcher with just one hand! Besides being a wild beast, Roberta is also very loyal to her master and his son. She loves little Garcia and lives to protect him with all she’s got. Roberta’s character seems to be based off El Mariachi with Antonio Banderas and she is so savagely cool, she has her own OVA! Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail. Hats off to this Colombian chica.
4. Garcia Lovelace from Black Lagoon (Venezuela)
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']Black Lagoon has several Latinos in it! The little Venezuelan boy, Garcia Lovelace, is the only son and heir to Diego Fernando Lovelace who was one of the 13 South-America nobles before being murdered, leaving Garcia as the head of the family. The Colombian cartel kidnaps Garcia and Lagoon Company treats him like cargo. He loves and trusts his “maid” and bodyguard Roberta with his life and later depends on Fabiola, another “maid” as well. Garcia is very clever and confident in himself, but he is also very loyal to his father and his servants. Still a young boy, he can be a bit immature at times and pout when things don’t go his way and sometimes he acts without thinking about the consequences; like when he gets Roberta to shoot him to snap her out of her hallucination. He’s a very sweet, yet tough little boy who is willing to die for those he loves. What a romantic Venezuelan boy!
3. Nadie from El Cazador de la Bruja (Mexico)
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']Nadie is a gunfighter and bounty-hunter from Mexico. And though the people who meet her think she has little Ellis to claim the bounty, the truth is she was hired to protect her since Ellis has special powers and is wanted for a murder she supposedly committed. Nadie is the only survivor of an attack in which all the people of her hometown were killed. Normally she’s very energetic and smiley but she has a short temper and she has no patience for her enemies. She’s an ace with her Colt 45 and while she watches over Ellis, she becomes closer to her and is willing to do anything for her. Nadie is another Latina who is the heroine of the story!
2. Michiko Malandro from Michiko to Hatchin (Brazil?)
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']Although the universe in Michiko to Hatchin is imaginary, it is clearly based on Brazil (all the names and signs are in Portuguese), and come on, have you seen Michiko? That girl is without a doubt Brazilian! Michiko is a super-Latina who doesn’t mess around. She is a wanted criminal who’s just escaped from prison and rescues Hana Morenos from her abusive adoptive family. Another Latina as a main character! This dark skinned beauty has it all; she’s strong, intelligent, and incredibly sexy. In fact, she is known as the “sexy diva”. Michiko has escaped from jail more than once and the most recent time, she is armed with a motorcycle and a gun to rescue Hana no matter who gets in her way. She’s a sexy, passionate, and ruthless Latina with a big heart. Michiko definitely earned her spot on this list.
1. Quetzalcoatl from Luck & Logic (Mexico)
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']Quetzalcoatl, as you may or may not know, is a feathered serpent with wings who is an Aztec god and basically a Mesoamerican dragon. Yes, we have dragons too! In Luck & Logic, Quetzalcoatl attacks the human world and sweet little Yukari Nanahoshi is forced to distract him while Yoshichika attacks him. However, as gentle and pure as she is, she wins over the giant (and super cool-looking!) Quetzalcoatl. Once defeated, Quetzalcoatl decides to become Nanahoshi’s partner since she showed him humans aren’t as bad as he thought. When we first see Quetzalcoatl he is a huge black and purple dragon that destroys everything that gets in his way. He’s big and powerful, strong and dangerous. But when he’s defeated, we see his real form; a cute and tiny little green dragon with Aztec designs and an insatiable appetite. I never thought a Quetzalcoatl this kawaii could exist! He is what inspired me to write this article. I couldn’t leave this little guy out!
Conclusion
There you have it, 10 Latino characters in anime. Of course there are more than 10 countries in Latin America and there are also more than 10 Latino characters in anime. I chose these because they have main roles, are powerful or memorable in some way. Many of them are main characters! There are countries that appear more often, like Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, but there are other countries that are not well represented in anime at all, like Ecuador and Guatemala just to name a couple. There are also some Latino characters in anime that are way too stereotypical and not something to be proud of (though they are few) so I didn’t include those. So? Did you enjoy the list? Did you find someone of your nationality or background you didn’t know about? If you know any other Latino characters that didn’t make it on the list, please share them in the comments section! We Latinos are hard to find in anime so help us find more!! I hope you enjoyed this Latino anime celebration! Hasta la vista amigos otaku! Nya~!
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