This is the list of characters that have appeared in Flame of Recca. This list is heavily based on the manga, but relevant information based on the anime series are also noted.

Main characters

Team Hokage

Recca (Japanese for "blazing fire" or "furious flame") is a teenager obsessed with ninjas and anything related to ninjas. Recca was born the second son of Ōka, the leader of the Hokage ninja clan that existed over 400 years ago. Recca's older half-brother, Kurei, was supposed to be the heir to the leadership because he was the eldest and was born with the ability to control fire, but Recca also exhibited the same abilities as an infant, and is declared the true heir of the Hokage leadership. In an attempt to save him during the slaughter of the Hokage ninja clan, his mother (Kagerō) used a forbidden technique that opened a portal that would transport him into the future, where the Flame of Recca storyline begins. Recca's flame power is derived from eight Flame Dragons named Saiha, Nadare, Homura, Setsuna, Madoka, Rui, Kokuu, and Resshin. Recca's powers were apparently so strong that they had to be sealed with a wrist guard. In the end, the eighth dragon Resshin (actually Recca's father Ōka) reveals that Recca's flame has no original form (something every Flame Master's flame is supposed to have, such as Ōka's and Kurei's phoenix flame), thus Recca is the true cursed child, fated to end the Hokage. Ōka reveals that if Recca becomes the ninth dragon, he would become "a stupid, useless dragon with no ability whatsoever, a waste of space inside Kurei". After the destruction of the Tendo Jigoku, every remaining madogu disintegrated to naught, as well as Recca and Kurei's flame powers. His appearance varies slightly between the anime and manga, as in the manga, his hair has a red highlight and bright blue eyes, and in the anime his hair is a dull blue highlight and his eyes are a similar color.

Yanagi is a teenage girl gifted with the innate ability to heal any kind of physical injury, and Recca immediately offers to serve her as her loyal ninja after seeing her compassion when she healed a severely injured puppy in a local park (in the anime series, she heals Recca after a pile of metal pipes collapsed on top of him). She is the prime objective of the series' main antagonist, Kōran Mori, as he believes that her healing powers will help him attain eternal life. In the manga, it is revealed that she is the reincarnation of Sakura-hime (Princess Sakura), the daughter of Oyakata and princess of Sawaki clan, who lived over 400 years before the series' actual storyline. , Caitlynne Medrek (English; young Fūko) Fūko, a tomboyish teenage girl, is Recca's best friend who has always aspired to defeat him in battle so that he would serve her as her ninja. She initially gets irritated by the fact that Recca chose to become Yanagi's ninja just because he wanted to. For this reason, she decides to accept the aid of Kagerō, who offers to lend her a powerful madōgu that controls wind called in order to enable her to defeat Recca. In actuality, Kagerō implanted a stone in the Fūjin that allowed her to brainwash Fūko, but Recca manages to defeat Fūko and destroy the sphere. Fūko ends up being friends with both Yanagi and Recca after the incident, and she also keeps the Fūjin and wields it throughout the rest of the series. Fūko is often described as tomboyish by other characters, and is often laughed at or teased when she shows or says something sensitive or feminine. Fūko greatly respects human life, and hates those who take it for granted. This characteristic is shown on several occasions, the first being when one of her opponents, Fujimaru, states that he would do anything and kill anyone - even women and children - to achieve victory. Fūko's character design varies in the adaptations of the series. While she has brown hair and green eyes in the manga and both of the Flame of Recca video games, she has red violet hair and blue eyes in the anime series.

Domon is Recca's schoolmate who is known for his prowess in physical strength and in fighting (he is referred to as by other students that he has defeated in fights). Like Fūko, he has always wanted to defeat Recca, and the reason behind this is that Fūko told him that he could only challenge her if he manages to defeat Recca. He is unable to defeat Recca despite his numerous attempts, and he eventually aids the latter in defeating and rescuing Fūko when she is brainwashed by Kage Hōshi. Afterward, both he and Fūko join forces with Recca and remain allied with him throughout the rest of the series. Domon wields the , a madogu which enhances his physical strength. Later in the series, he also wields the , a super-sharp snapping claw on an extendable chain, and the , which transmutes his entire body into a living iron golem for brief periods. Domon is depicted as someone who is physically strong, but intellectually inept. Another of his assets is his strong will-power, which is recognized even by one of the series' antagonists, Kurei, after Domon manages to thwart Noroi's efforts to erase his memories due to his will-power. It is openly shown that Domon is interested in Fūko romantically, although he is prone to getting attracted to other women as well. , Mayumi Asano (Japanese: young Tokiya) Tokiya is a second year studentIn the manga, Tokiya 16 years old (shown in Volume 12, Chapter 116); the same age as Recca and their comrades. However, the booklet accompanying the anime series' second official soundtrack lists his age as 17. at Nashikiri High School, and he wields the madōgu , a sword that utilizes water to create its blade and is capable of creating and controlling all three states of water (liquid, solid and gas). He is often referred to as by his last name, though his companions have made up nicknames for him, such as "Mi-chan" or "Mī-bō". He uses the Hyōmon Ken style which was developed specifically for the Ensui and the Hyōma En (a madogu that also controls water, but focuses more on water in its solid form). He joins forces with Recca in attempting to rescue her from Mori Kōran's mansion, and he continues to be part of their team throughout the rest of the series. Tokiya in both the anime and manga is initially portrayed as callous and aloof; often insulting his teammates' abilities and intelligence. He wanted to take Yanagi away from Recca because she looks exactly like his sister, Mifuyu Mikagami, who was murdered in front of his eyes when he was young. Tokiya is protective of Yanagi, and he is shown to be interested in her romantically in the manga. Other characters have often praise Tokiya for his intellect and composure during battle, with some going as far as to say that he might be the strongest Hokage member when it comes to normal battles. Another characteristic of his that makes him stand out among his teammates is the fact that he is more ruthless and cruel than the rest, a fact recognized by both Kurei and Mikoto, who both act as antagonists throughout most of the manga. Certain characteristics in Tokiya's personality and appearance are different in the anime series as opposed to the manga and games. His hair is light blue in the manga and games, and brown in the anime series. In the booklet accompanying the Flame of Recca Original Soundtrack Vol. 2 CD, his age is listed as 17, while the filler page in the manga states that he is 16 years of age. Apart from these differences, Tokiya's character development in the anime is not as obvious as it is in the manga, wherein he becomes more open to emotions other than his desire for vengeance towards the end of the series. Tokiya attributes this change to his encounter with Kai, a fellow Hyōmon Ken practitioner, and his friends.

Kaoru was once a member of Kurei's Uruha, but later, he becomes a member of Recca's team in the Ura Butō Satsujin. He wields the , a puzzle-like weapon that has five different forms. In the manga, the weapon also has a mysterious sixth form: "Mu" (Nothing). Little is known of his early life, but given that in a manga flashback Kaoru was seen attempting to commit suicide, it can be assumed he was a lonely child until he met Kurei. He is the youngest member of Hokage, and as such, his personality reflects his age. Even in battle, Kaoru is playful, and sometimes has a tendency to toy with his opponents as if the battle were a game. In the manga and video game, Koganei has blue hair and blue eyes. He wears a white T-shirt with a vest over it, as well as shorts and sneakers. He wears different sorts of street clothes throughout the rest of the manga. Under a bandanna he wears tied around his right wrist is a suicide scar. In the anime, he has brown hair and eyes, he wears a necklace with the similar color to Kogun Anki, and an attire similar to the manga and game.

Kage Hōshi, whose real name is , is the first antagonist of the series, and is later revealed to be Recca's mother. She possesses the madōgu , which allows her to teleport through shadows, show people the past, and perform acts of scrying. Later in the series she is also seen wielding a and the madogu . She performed a technique called Jikūryūri (a technique which allows the user to travel or send another person to a different time) to save the infant Recca from being killed along with the rest of the Hokage clan. The technique, however curses the user with immortality.

Villains

KureiIn volume 8 of the manga, Kurei's name is romanized as "Cray" in the title page for chapter 068. is Recca's older half brother and Archenemy. He was born in 1571 (four years prior to Recca's birth), and is the firstborn son of Flame Master Ōka and his mistress Reina. He was initially recognized as the next leader of the Hokage clan due to his innate flame powers, but the Hokage elders label him as a cursed child when his younger half-brother, Recca Hanabishi, also exhibits the same powers. Kurei was supposed to be killed in order to save the clan, but due to Kagerō's intervention, Kurei and his mother are exiled instead. Kurei then eventually attempts to kill Recca, and ends up imprisoned for his crime. He eventually escapes the prison when it is destroyed during Oda Nobunaga's raid on the Hokage village, and he jumps into the time portal Kagerō opened in order to save Recca by sending him into the future. Kurei is then found and adopted by Tsukino Mori, the wife of one of the series' main antagonists, Kōran Mori. Kōran raises Kurei to become a "machine", repeatedly telling him that he does not need human emotions and that he should just throw them away. Upon seeing how much Kurei loved his mother, Kōran has her transferred to a different house and keeps her under house arrest. When Kurei ends up falling in love with Kurenai, Kōran Mori's adopted daughter, Kōran has her killed. This causes Kurei to despise his adoptive father, but since Kōran is holding his mother hostage, he obeys Kōran's orders. Kurei is the leader of the Uruha, a group of skilled warriors hired to serve Kōran Mori and to assist Kurei in missions that Kōran orders him to undertake. Like his father and his half-brother, Kurei has the innate power to produce and manipulate fire. The main form of his flame is the , and is shown to be of a different color compared to Recca's. Kurei has the ability to absorb souls into his flame, and use them to produce humanoid flames that fight for him and obey his commands. The first time Kurei absorbed a soul into his flame was when he absorbed Kurenai's soul right after Kōran killed her. The second instance of this was when he absorbed the soul of a loyal member of the Uruha named Jisho. His power is not limited to absorbing just one soul at a time, as shown by his absorption of several souls after an opponent slaughters many men in the latter part of the manga.