The Black Lagoon manga series feature a cast of characters created by Rei Hiroe

The Lagoon Company operates as a mercenary and pirate organization based in Roanapur, specializing in maritime smuggling and retrieval operations for the city's criminal underworld.

Rokuro Okajima / Rock

, known as , begins as a 25-year-old Japanese salaryman working for Asahi Industries in Tokyo. In 1994, during a smuggling operation where he unknowingly transports sensitive documents, he is taken hostage by the Black Lagoon crew. When his company abandons him, declaring him dead to cover up the operation, he joins the Lagoon Company as their negotiator and accountant. Despite his civilian background, he adapts to the criminal underworld of Roanapur while maintaining his business attire and preferring diplomacy over violence.

Rock demonstrates proficiency in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Romanian, and Russian, along with geological knowledge from his corporate career. His intelligence and charisma earn him respect from various Roanapur figures, though his moral compass frequently clashes with the city's ruthless environment. Over time, he develops a more pragmatic approach, orchestrating complex schemes during the Roberta incident that reveal his growing understanding of criminal dynamics. However, he retains his fundamental humanity, as shown when he risks his safety to protect Feng Yifei without personal gain.

His family in Tokyo maintains minimal contact with him, their relationship strained after his academic failures and subsequent disappearance.

Revy

, also known by her real name Rebecca Lee, serves as the primary combatant for the Lagoon Company. Born in Chinatown, Manhattan, near Mott Street, she is a Chinese American with a criminal past. Flashbacks suggest she developed her firearms proficiency through informal practice, including shooting at cans, and may have killed her abusive father as a teenager. The CIA notes she remains infamous with the NYPD, particularly the fictional 27th Precinct.

Revy is aggressive, foul-mouthed, and emotionally volatile, favoring violence over diplomacy. Despite her hardened demeanor, she is highly ticklish and indulges heavily in smoking and drinking. Her relationship with Rock begins with hostility—she once nearly kills him during an argument—but she later becomes fiercely protective of him, saving his life multiple times. Eda's teasing implies romantic tension, particularly when Revy deflects questions about her feelings rather than outright denying them.

A supremely skilled fighter, Revy's marksmanship and reflexes border on superhuman, with few rivals such as Roberta and Ginji. She acknowledges Mr. Chang's superior skill but aspires to match it. Her preferred weapons are a pair of modified Beretta 92FS pistols, featuring extended barrels, suppressor compatibility, and engravings including a Jolly Roger and Thai inscriptions. Ambidextrous, she earns the nickname in Roanapur, a reference to Douglas E. Winter's novel Run. She also demonstrates proficiency with rifles and grenade launchers. Shaped by a traumatic past, Revy adopts a nihilistic worldview, relying solely on her own strength and resources.

Dutch

is the African American leader of the Lagoon Company and captain of the Black Lagoon, a former U.S. Navy PT boat. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he served in the Marines before going AWOL near the war's end and relocating to Thailand as a mercenary.

Dutch initially opposes Revy's impulsive decision to take Rock hostage but later permits him to join the Lagoon Company after recognizing his usefulness. Preferring negotiation and strategy over direct combat, Dutch handles contracts with Roanapur's criminal factions while rarely engaging in violence himself. Despite this, he remains a capable fighter, proficient with shotguns and revolvers. His demeanor is generally calm and courteous, though his past raises questions—some doubt his claimed military history, and a fellow soldier warns that Dutch's deceptions likely conceal significant motives.

Physically imposing, Dutch wears sunglasses, camouflage pants, and a flak jacket. His exact age is unclear, though his Vietnam service suggests he is in his 40s or 50s. He shares a mutual respect with Balalaika of Hotel Moscow, having once saved her life. A later storyline involving French assassins hints at unresolved elements of his past.

Benny

is a University of Florida dropout who joined the Lagoon Company after Revy and Dutch saved him from both the FBI and the mafia. Serving as the group's mechanic, computer specialist, and researcher, he also operates their vehicles. During the first season, he drives the group's 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner, which was then replaced by a 1965 Pontiac GTO.

Of Jewish descent, Benny maintains a calm demeanor and openly acknowledges his lack of combat skills compared to his crewmates. While he accepts the violent methods employed by Revy and Dutch, he remains protective of his computer equipment. His technical expertise eventually leads to a relationship with Greenback Jane, who returns to Roanapur after the Lovelace Incident.

Hotel Moscow is a Russian mafia faction operating in Thailand, named after Moscow's historic Hotel Moskva. Using the Bougainvillea Trade Company as a front, the group consists of former Soviet–Afghan War veterans fiercely loyal to Balalaika. Though recent arrivals in Roanapur, their military discipline and extreme violence quickly establish their fearsome reputation among the city's criminal elements.

Balalaika

commands the Russian mafia group Hotel Moscow. Born Sofiya Pavlovna Irinovskaya, she served as a Soviet Army captain and VDV paratrooper during the Soviet–Afghan War, earning her callsign from Soviet troops' slang for the Dragunov sniper rifle. After the USSR's collapse, she established Hotel Moscow in 1992 with fellow Afghan War veterans. Recognizable by her cigar smoking and extensive burn scars (earning her the epithet "Fry-Face"), Balalaika maintains disciplined control over her organization. She employs former Soviet special forces operatives (Vysotoniki) who operate from the cargo ship Maria Zeleska. Despite being on Interpol's watchlist, she travels internationally using diplomatic credentials under the alias Vladilena N. Vasilinov. Balalaika demonstrates mutual professional respect with Roanapur's criminal elements, particularly valuing Rock's strategic insights and maintaining a working relationship with Lagoon Company after Dutch saved her life. Her combat experience and tactical acumen make her both a feared adversary and respected leader in Roanapur's underworld.

Boris

serves as Balalaika's second-in-command in Hotel Moscow. A veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War, he bears a distinctive scar across his face from forehead to cheek. Balalaika addresses him as "Comrade Sergeant", indicating their previous military relationship where he likely served as her platoon sergeant. Despite his imposing physique, Boris maintains a calm demeanor marked by his deep Russian accent. He demonstrates unwavering loyalty to Balalaika and frequently expresses concern when she participates directly in combat operations.

The Hong Kong Triad The Hong Kong Triad are a branch of the Hong Kong-based Triad stationed in Roanapur. They are led by Mr. Chang, who is a proficient gun fighter in his own right. Chang is more patient than Balalaika in terms of getting into battle. Under his services are Shenhua, who is his top assassin; Sawyer, who does disposal jobs for him frequently despite not being a member of the organization, and Leigharch, who is their getaway driver until recent events prevented him from acting in this capacity.

Mr. Chang

, also known by his rank as , leads the Thailand branch of the Sun Yee On Triad. He is a former officer of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, who betrayed his colleagues in a mission and left them to die at a Star Ferry pier. He maintains Roanapur's criminal equilibrium through strategic cooperation between factions, recognizing that outside interference would destabilize all organizations. His approach reflects pragmatic understanding of power dynamics rather than idealism. Chang demonstrates exceptional combat skills, particularly with handguns. His proficiency surpasses even Revy's abilities, earning him her reluctant respect. This technical mastery likely stems from his background in law enforcement, a fact he reveals when confronted about his criminal activities. Despite his violent profession, Chang maintains an unusually relaxed demeanor, showing amusement at unconventional strategies and ironic situations.

The triad leader shares a complex relationship with Balalaika of Hotel Moscow. Though mutually respectful, they deliberately avoid formal alliances to preserve professional challenges. Chang's operations receive covert CIA support through an arrangement that tolerates his criminal activities in exchange for maintaining regional stability. This arrangement becomes apparent during communications with Eda, though Chang resents the implicit American control. Chang survives numerous combat encounters through skill and composure, including direct confrontations with Balalaika and Roberta. His tactical abilities often go unnoticed due to his calm personality, contrasting sharply with more volatile figures in Roanapur's underworld.

Chang's character draws inspiration from Chow Yun-fat's triad roles in John Woo films, particularly resembling Mark Lee from A Better Tomorrow (1986) in both his Triad affiliation and distinctive dual-pistol combat style.

Shenhua

is a Taiwanese assassin working for Mr. Chang's triad organization. Specializing in close-quarters combat, she employs various bladed weapons, including modified kukri knives connected by leather ropes. Her fighting style incorporates throwing knives and rope dart techniques. Shenhua maintains a professional rivalry with Revy, exchanging derogatory nicknames during their encounters. She practices Taoism despite occasionally claiming atheism, a contradiction stemming from translation discrepancies. Her speech patterns mix Chinese and English in broken phrases.

After sustaining severe injuries during the Greenback Jane operation, Shenhua recovers and later assists Garcia Lovelace against Colombian cartel forces targeting Roberta. This confrontation marks the first instance where she displays fear in combat. She frequently partners with Sawyer for disposal operations, though unlike her associate, she exclusively uses bladed weapons rather than engaging in unarmed combat.

Leigharch

is an Irish getaway driver who worked with Shenhua during the incident involving the Islamic Liberation Front. A compulsive user of marijuana, he has a distressingly frequent tendency to hallucinate at inopportune times, such as in the middle of a car chase. Most of his hallucinations are actually references to Western pop culture, such as Playmates, Star Trek characters like Jean-Luc Picard and Klingons, or 1960s rock music such as Jimi Hendrix. Leigharch is said by Shenhua during the Greenback Jane incident to have suffered a massive overdose (he "couldn't get back from Mars"), inducing psychological damage severe enough to commit him to full-time medical attention. Despite his drug addiction and hallucinations, he was still considered a skilled driver before his overdose. His vehicle of choice was a 1988 Jeep Cherokee.

The Colombian Cartel