This list of Space Battleship Yamato characters is a list, with biographical details, of major characters appearing in the anime series Space Battleship Yamato and its American dubbed version, Star Blazers, as well as the 2010 live-action film remake. Not all the American voice artists are known for the first two seasons (owing to their non-union status they were not credited in the shows' closing titles), and a different group of actors provided voices in the third season.
Yamato crew First season Captain (Captain Abraham Avatar): The stern captain of the Yamato, utterly devoted to his mission to save Earth from the Garmillas threat, even at the cost of his own life. Before becoming a captain of the UNCF he was a famous captain, star of a popular fish brand called Findus, but, after the declaration of war against the Garmillas he joined the United Nation Space Fleet. He is in fact dying, and becomes increasingly ill during the course of the first season, but remains convinced that he will live to see his home world again. He regards Susumu Kodai almost as a replacement for the son he lost in battle, and sorely regrets his son's death in battle at Pluto, along with the apparent death of Kodai's older brother, Mamoru. Even when his illness leaves him bedridden, he remains a source of advice to the crew, and to Kodai in particular. In the movie Final Yamato, it is revealed that he was kept in cryogenic suspension for some time until the Earth physicians could revive him and cure his sickness. He then went on to lead the Star Force again in its fight against the Deingillians. In the English edition, it was revealed that he was revived from death by residual energy from the Cosmo DNA's cleansing of Earth, but was bereft of nearly all of his memories as a result. He was kept in hiding by Doctor Sane until later in the series. In Final Yamato it became partially true, as he was shown to be held into a cryogenic sleep to be cured from his otherwise fatal disease. In Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Admiral Okita is revealed to have been a senior naval commander for some time having led a United Nations fleet in a war with human colonists of Mars before headquarters got him suspended from his command after he refused an order to fire upon the Garmillans at their first encounter at Pluto, and ordered forward commander Commander Daigo Shima instead to do it. This results in the Garmillans fighting until near Mars, where Okita engineers a costly victory which included the death of his son who was also a naval officer. Garmillas pulls back to their base on Pluto and intensify their bombardment of Earth with irradiated asteroids. Okita leads an assault on the Pluto base, where his fleet was decimated by a far superior force, but managed to distract the Garmillans from noticing the arrival of a ship from the distant planet of Iscandar piloted by Princess Sasha, who perished while delivering the warp core that powered up Okita's new battleship, the Yamato. Okita is known for his aggressive head-on tactics, and it saw the Yamato through several battles. He also uses terrain with his ferocity to his advantage, frequently upsetting opponents with unexpected tactics. He would also be diplomatic when called for, making alliances more than once with Garmillans when necessary. He formed a bond with Susumu Kodai, reminding him strongly of his elder brother Mamoru whom he had mentored. He encouraged Kodai to think independently, giving Kodai the confidence to disobey orders. During the course of the series he had to contend with his illness, which caused him to collapse a few times, one of which required emergency surgery while battling the dimensional submarine at a protoplanet; but he even overrode the objections of his friend and immediate superior Admiral Hijikata before the voyage, just to be on it. He led the ship all the way to the Garmillan homeworld (revealed to be Iscandar's twin planet), smashing their way to the heart of the empire at Dessler's palace. Okita then chose to use the Wave Motion Gun to save the people of the Garmillan capital Baleras when Dessler attempted to sacrifice it just to destroy the Yamato. Okita was unable to leave the ship upon arriving at Iscandar, and became increasingly bedridden on the return journey, even during their encounter with the Celestial Ark and a Gatlantean expeditionary force and a final confrontation with Dessler within the warp gate dimension. Okita died as the Yamato came into Earth orbit having achieved his mission and seeing his home planet again, his spirit being captured by the Cosmo Reverse System, left vacant by Mamoru Kodai's spirit when he prematurely activated the system. Thus it was Okita's spirit and memories that directed the Cosmo Reverse System's restoration of Earth to a healthy world.
The character is modelled on Leiji Matsumoto's father.『さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト 愛の戦士たち 設定資料集』（スタジオDNA、2001年）pp. 124-125。 and the characters names is based on the Japanese science fiction writer Unno Juza and Okita Sōji.『さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト 愛の戦士たち 設定資料集』（スタジオDNA、2001年）p. 126
Japanese voice artist: Gorō Naya『宇宙戦艦ヤマト画報 ロマン宇宙戦記二十五年の歩み』（竹書房、2001年、ISBN 978-4-8124-0700-4）pp. 202-211。 (original), Takayuki Sugō『宇宙戦艦ヤマト2199 COMPLETE WORKS-全記録集-脚本集』（マッグガーデン、2015年、ISBN 9784800004697）pp. 294-318。 (2199) American voice artist: Gordon Ramsey (original), Brian Mathis (2199) Live-action actor: Tsutomu Yamazaki (Derek Wildstar, also known as Jason Kodai in the English dub of the first Yamato movie): A young orphan, it was the death of his parents during a Garmillas planet bomb attack on the Miura Peninsula that drove him to follow in his older brother Mamoru's footsteps and join the Earth Defense Force. He is initially hot-headed and prone to bursts of anger, and at first blames Captain Okita for the death of his brother in battle. However, he matures during the first season thanks to his responsibility as the Yamato battle chief, and ultimately Okita nominates him acting captain when he is unable to continue. Kodai continues commanding the Yamato and its crew for most of the rest of the franchise (although he is not formally promoted to captain until Yamato III), only relinquishing command twice: to Yamanami in Be Forever Yamato, and to a revived Okita during Final Yamato. He is also a talented pilot, flying his own Cosmo Zero fighter as the leader of the Black Tigers, and in the second season frequently joining the Cosmo Tigers in battle. His Japanese given name means "to go forward, to improve". He remains the lead character throughout the original timeline serving as the Yamato's commander until Final Yamato when a revived Okita retakes command. He retires from the military afterwards, joining the merchant fleet raising a daughter with Yuki Mori although the relationships become estranged as he spend more time away from Earth. Sanada recalls Kodai to command a rebuilt Yamato in Resurrection after Mori's ship goes missing. In the 2010 live-action film, his story begins as a scavenger who left the Earth Defense Force five years prior. He blamed himself for redirecting a Garmillas bomb toward a space station, killing his parents and Daisuke Shima's wife. He re-enlists prior to the launching of the Yamato as the ship's gunner before eventually being promoted by Okita as acting captain. Though the Yamato succeeds in retrieving the means to restore Earth's surface, the remaining Garmillas ship cripples it before preparing a missile to destroy the planet. After ordering all surviving crew to abandon ship, Kodai sacrifices himself and the ship to destroy the missile and save Earth. In the 2199 series Kodai is depicted as a young, freshly graduated cadet officer and is promoted suddenly to command the tactical division of the Yamato when most of the junior officers are killed by Garmillas aircraft bombs immediately prior to boarding the Yamato. He matures quickly as one of the bridge crew on the Yamato and is the first to fire the Wave Motion Gun. After an initial confrontation with Okita over his brother's death, he forms a bond with him, who was his brother Mamoru's former mentor. Okita encourages Kodai's independent streak and he takes on Okita's aggressive tendencies in battle tactics, most notably disobeying Sanada's orders and developing anti-submarine tactics during their first confrontation with the Garmillan dimensional submarine. He and Operations Officer Yuki Mori become romantic partners over the course of the series and become engaged before the start of the 2202: Warriors of Love series. After the Yamato crew are summoned to Telezart by Teresa, Kodai gather the crew to rebel against the Cosmo Navy and steal the Yamato from dry dock where the ship had been rebuilt. Sanada gives Kodai command of the Yamato, noting that Kodai is a leader where he is not. Kodai struggles with command as he is still in his mid-twenties and placed under great strain which is only relieved when Admiral Hijikata accepts Kodai's offer of command as the ship approaches Telezart. Later when Yamato crashes onto Zemuria, Kodai is one of the few left behind when the crew abandons ship and is devastated when Mori loses her memories of their time together. Kodai offers his life to end the conflict during a confrontation with Dessler and Mir but Mori takes the shot intended for Kodai. After the Yamato is rebuilt it becomes the spearhead of the final assault on the Comet Empire. Hijikata is killed during the assault and Kodai takes command, storming Emperor Zworder's throne room with Yamamato and the Marines. Surviving this personal encounter with Zworder, Yamato is abandoned once again. Kodai and Mori use the Yamato's failing wave motion engine to destroy the Ark of Destruction and Zworder. Months later the Yamato reappears within the time-displaced Time Vault. The missing Yamato is found on board revealing Kodai and Mori are alive within the higher dimensions. Kodai feels no desire to rejoin humanity and is seemingly willing to walk aimlessly in eternity and Mori is unable to convince him to return until, the potential future of having a child with Mori is revealed. As Kodai and Mori reconcile by having regained a sense of responsibility to life, a refurbished Yamato arrives, penetrating this dimension and retrieving Kodai and Mori and returning them to Earth. Japanese voice artist: Kei Tomiyama, Kōichi Yamadera (PlayStation 2 games, Rebirth), Daisuke Ono (2199) American voice artist: Kenneth Meseroll (seasons 1 & 2), John Bellucci (season 3), Christopher Wehkamp (2199) Live-action actor: Takuya Kimura (Alex Wildstar, also known as Alex Kodai in the English dub of the first Yamato movie): The older Kodai/Wildstar brother and captain of Missile Ship 17, the Yukikaze (Paladin in Star Blazers), Mamoru appears to die in the first episode while holding off enemies so Okita's stricken flagship may escape the battlefield. In the original, Mamoru was insisting he could not face the souls of his dead comrades if he fled whereas in Star Blazers he dies for the sole purpose of providing cover for Okita's ship. In fact, it emerged his ship had crash-landed—in one piece—on Titan, and he had been captured alive by the Garmillans, but the ship in which he was a prisoner crashed on Iscandar, where Queen Starsha healed him. He fell in love with his rescuer and decided to stay on Iscandar, fathering a daughter named Sasha. His Japanese given name means "to protect". He sacrificed his life in Be Forever, Yamato in order to save Admiral Heikuro Todo from execution. The character of Mamoru Kodai was originally planned to have appeared midway through the series as a scarred space pirate under the guise of Captain Harlock. When the series' episode count was cut, these plans had to be scrapped and his storyline was quickly wrapped up with his appearance on Iscandar. However, this space pirate angle still remains in Leiji Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato manga.