The fictional characters from the manga series Blue Exorcist were created by Kazue Kato. The story revolves around Rin Okumura, a teenager who discovers he is the son of the god demon Satan, born from a human woman and the inheritor of Satan's powers. When Rin's guardian dies while fighting Satan, Rin decides to become an exorcist in order to defeat his father. Entering into the True Cross Academy to learn how to fight demons, Rin meets several other exorcist apprentices whom he starts to bond with. Critical reception to the characters has been positive for their traits and interactions.
Main characters Rin Okumura
is the fifteen-year-old son of Satan, born to a human woman and inheriting his father's demonic powers, which were sealed at birth into the sword by Mephisto Pheles. This allows Rin to live a human life with his twin brother Yukio and foster father Shiro Fujimoto until the seal breaks, triggering Satan's attempt to drag him back to Gehenna and resulting in Shiro's death. Enrolling at True Cross Academy under Mephisto, Rin trains as an exorcist to master his flames and confront Satan, striving to earn Yukio's respect and prove his humanity.
Drawing Kurikara transforms Rin into his demonic form, unleashing destructive blue flames that initially overwhelm him. With training from the spirit Kongo Ucchusma, he gains control over his power, while his familiar, the two-tailed cat-sìth Kuro, aids him. After Yukio awakens Satan's power in his own eyes and attacks Rin, the latter's demonic side briefly takes over, nearly killing his allies before he regains control—an event that permanently shifts his appearance closer to Satan's.
Yukio Okumura
is Rin's fraternal twin brother. Though initially believed to share Satan's power, Yukio was born fully human due to his frail body, with Rin inheriting all of their father's demonic traits. However, a spiritual wound from Rin at birth granted Yukio permanent awareness of demons. Trained secretly as an exorcist since childhood by Shiro Fujimoto to protect Rin, Yukio becomes a prodigy, achieving the rank of Meister in both Dragoon and Doctor classes while still a first-year student at True Cross Academy, where he teaches Anti-Demon Pharmacology.
Despite his early affection for Rin, Yukio grows resentful, blaming him for Fujimoto's death and envying his demonic power. Though he later reconciles somewhat, he fears Rin's recklessness will unleash his demonic nature. During a battle with Todo, Yukio awakens latent flames in his eyes—revealing his own partial inheritance of Satan's power—which drives him to uncover the truth of his birth. Convinced Fujimoto only raised him as a weapon, he joins the Illuminati in a mix of obsession and jealousy.
In the anime, it is changed so that he has the powers of Satan.
Exorcists
Shiemi Moriyama
is the daughter of an exorcist shop owner who spent her youth confined to her home, tending gardens with her grandmother. After Rin and Yukio exorcise a life-draining demon following her grandmother's death, she enrolls at True Cross Academy to become an exorcist. Initially struggling academically due to using homemade plant names, she improves after learning proper terminology. Though shy at first, she gradually befriends Ryuji, Konekomaru, Renzo, and even the initially hostile Izumo.
As a talented Tamer, Shiemi commands a Greenman spirit capable of producing healing herbs and plant-based barriers with exceptional stamina. She reconciles with Rin during the Kyoto mission after initial distress over his hidden demonic nature. While initially confused about romantic feelings due to her sheltered upbringing, she later realizes her love for Rin after nearly losing him.
Ryuji Suguro
, nicknamed , is a hot-tempered but diligent student who ranks first in his class. As heir to Kyoto's destroyed Cursed Temple, he vows to defeat Satan and rebuild his family's legacy, resenting his father Tatsuma for perceived failures. Initially rejecting Rin after learning his demonic heritage, Ryuji later reconciles after realizing his anger stemmed from Rin's lack of trust in their friendship.
During the Impure King crisis, Ryuji inherits the phoenix-like familiar Karura from his father, using its powerful flames to create protective barriers against the demon's miasma. Currently an Esquire training for dual Meister ranks in Aria and Dragoon, he becomes Lightning's apprentice after losing his sense of purpose.
Renzo Shima
presents himself as a carefree, woman-obsessed student—a persona masking his true capabilities. The pink-haired (naturally black-haired) Kyoto Temple orphan remains fiercely loyal to childhood friends Bon and Konekomaru. He quickly accepts Rin's demonic heritage, finding exclusion too troublesome. Though flippant about his studies, he seriously trains with his khakkhara staff to become an Aria Meister.
Renzo's facade shatters when he reveals unexpected power to summon high-level demons, though the effort exhausts him. Initially exposed as an Illuminati spy, his brother later claims Renzo was Mephisto's double agent all along. While rejoining his friends, his true allegiance remains ambiguous—his playful demeanor persistently obscuring whether he ever truly abandoned the Illuminati cause.
Konekomaru Miwa
is a timid but brilliant individual, able to come up with complex strategies in a short window of time. He is very loyal to Ryuji and Renzo, as they had grown up together at the same Temple in Kyoto. He is kind to everyone, but it takes a long time for him to reconcile with Rin after discovering his secret, despite seeing his true character. He is an orphan and the surviving head of the Miwa family. He plans to achieve the Meister in Aria. In the anime, a crow demon took advantage of Konekomaru's fear of Rin and possessed him, before Rin is able to save Konekomaru.
Izumo Kamiki
comes from a lineage of Inari shrine maidens and excels academically, though her personality makes her difficult to approach. Only her childhood friend Noriko Paku broke through her defensive shell. Despite her pride, she becomes the first classmate to accept Rin after learning his heritage.
A talented Tamer-in-training, Izumo commands two ancestral fox spirits. Her painful past reveals the Kamiki family's pact with a nine-tailed fox demon—a burden her mother bore to protect her. Tricked by the Illuminati into becoming the fox's next vessel to save her sister Tsukumo, Izumo nearly sacrifices herself until her mother's final act of love breaks the cycle. This trauma teaches Izumo to value her academy friendships and move forward from self-pity after learning Tsukumo found happiness elsewhere.
True Cross Order The is the main organization of Exorcists within the series, a global exorcist institution that is controlled by the Vatican. The True Cross Order has roots in Christianity, and was founded by medieval Christian knights. Originally established as a military order, the organization's centuries-long campaign against demons has allowed it to discover and develop new exorcism techniques from all around the globe. As of today, the Order is the largest and most powerful exorcist organization in the world. Given that they have defended mankind from demons for roughly 2000 years, the Order trains exorcists. In addition, the Order takes it upon itself to heal humans who have been harmed by demons, as well as to proactively investigate possible demonic activity. An additional mission of the True Cross Order is to find and destroy human organizations that support demons and demonic activity, such as Demon Eaters or the Illuminati.
Mephisto Pheles
, publicly known as , serves as True Cross Academy's eccentric chairman. Despite his flamboyant persona and penny-pinching habits, he wields significant influence as an Honorary Knight. He spares Rin after Shiro Fujimoto's death, enrolling him instead of executing him per orders.
As the demon king Samael, "King of Time", Mephisto ranks second only to Lucifer in Gehenna's hierarchy. His temporal powers manifest through reality-warping abilities like transformation and spatial manipulation. While claiming to pursue peace between Assiah and Gehenna, his true agenda remains ambiguous—he subtly manipulates events around Rin while maintaining his human facade. His German chants ("Eins, zwei, drei") and fourth-wall-breaking philosophical musings hint at his ancient, calculating nature beneath the playful exterior.
His name is derived from Mephistopheles, a demon from the German legend of Faust.
Shiro Fujimoto
was a Catholic priest, Paladin of the True Cross Order, and foster father to Rin and Yukio Okumura. As the organization's strongest exorcist (holding Meister ranks in five classes), he wielded the demon-slaying sword Kurikara alongside his familiar Kuro, a cait sith. After sealing Rin's demonic powers at birth, he raised both twins as his own.
Shiro's origins trace back to Section 13's cloning experiments—he was an Azazel clone created as a potential vessel for Lucifer. Having escaped the facility with Yuri Egin, he later fell in love with her despite initially rejecting her feelings. His unique ability to resist Satan's possession ultimately failed when Rin's emotional outburst weakened his resolve, allowing Satan to take control. In his final act, Shiro regained momentary control to commit suicide, preventing Satan's plans while fracturing his sons' relationship.
Shura Kirigakure
is an Upper First Class Exorcist who trained under Shiro Fujimoto, achieving Meister rank in Knight. Her signature technique summons a demonic sword from a chest tattoo by chanting "Devour the Eight Princesses, slay the Serpent". Despite her revealing attire and carefree demeanor—marked by heavy drinking and chronic lateness—she possesses formidable combat skills rivaling demon kings like Amaimon.
Bound by her ancestor's pact with a snake deity, Shura faces an early death at 30 unless she produces an heir. Initially assigned to eliminate Rin as part of her investigation into Mephisto's activities, she instead honors Shiro's legacy by training Rin to control his powers. Her true mission involves monitoring Mephisto's suspicious activities within the Japanese branch.
Igor Neuhaus
is an Upper First Class Exorcist as well as lecturer in the academy, who obtained the titles of Tamer, Doctor and Aria. He wears an eyepatch over his left eye, and has Aria incantations and magic circles tattooed on both arms. He had a run-in with Satan when he was younger, which robbed him of his family and the sight in his left eye, which is why he holds immense hatred for Satan and demons that are related to Satan. Yet ironically, he is extremely loyal to Mephisto, willing to listen to his every command, which is why he stopped his attacks on Rin prior to the latter becoming an Exorcist.
In the anime, he ends up the suspect for the Masked Man attacks on those allied with Rin; however, the truth is much worse. "Someone" used a demon to bring his wife, Michelle, back to life, and her mental instability at the horrible memory of the Blue Night caused her to attack anything related to Satan, even the friends of his sons.
Arthur Auguste Angel