Humans and Mystes

Yuji Sakai (Mystes)

Yuji, the main character of the story, is just an average high school student. However, his world is turned upside down when he discovers that he is already dead and does not have much time before he disappears. Fortunately, Yuji is a Mystes who contains a treasure known as the Reiji Maigo ("Midnight Stray Child"). Unlike normal torches, the treasure inside him restores his Power of Existence every night at midnight.

With the Reiji Maigo, Yuji has the possibility to live on like an average human as long as he makes sure that his Power of Existence does not run out before midnight. Due to Reiji Maigo, no one is sure if Yuji will age like a regular human or be immortal as he is. Since Reiji Maigo restores his power of existence, Yuji is training to use that power in the hopes of fighting alongside Shana. In the second season of the anime, it is mentioned than Yuji's power of existence can rival that of a Lord of the Crimson Realm, in terms of quantity.

Even when Yuji was ignorant of the fact that he possessed the Reiji Maigo in the first episodes of the first season of Shakugan no Shana, Yuji develops a somewhat optimistic, yet ultimately fatalistic view of his life. Even when he believed he was slated to perish as a Torch, Yuji took the information in a stride after the initial shock, and did not seem too disturbed or melancholy with the idea that everyone would simply forget about him, accepting this. Rather, his acts of heroism, demonstrated often in the series, is justified by his belief that even if his existence would one day disappear, his sacrifice would be proof that he had once lived.

Although Yuji lacks of the training and discipline of a Flame Haze, he has demonstrated an admirable amount of intelligence and logic, often thinking outside the box and solving puzzles others can't (though it still stands for a fact that he is totally clueless to the fact that Shana likes him and is often jealous of any girls who get too close to him). While many Flame Hazes and Lords of the Crimson Realm would be deceived or confused by unconventional casting of magic, Yuji is able to quickly deduce and see through the ploy despite his unfamiliarity with many magical spells, enabling his allies, generally Shana, to strike at the heart of their opposition. Furthermore, by the start of the second season, Yuji's training has enabled him to foresee as well as dodge a good majority of attacks from skilled Flame Hazes such as Shana and Wirhelmina, and he has gained the ability to cast Power of Unrestraint. He also has the ability to wield Blutsager and infusing it with some of his own power. He also can create his own fire, which is silver in color, to fire at targets.

Locked inside the Treasure are two entities. One is Johan, the lover of Pheles who created the Treasure. The other is "The Snake of the Festival" (, Sairei no Hebi), the Crimson Lord with the black flame and silver shadow who is one of the true gods of the Crimson World and is the founder/true leader of the Bal Masque. He is later reborn and merged with Yuji, whom he honored by telling his subordinates to refer to him as "Sairei no Hebi" Yuji Sakai ( "Sairei no Hebi"), unlike other Lords who used mythological names of angels, gods or demons. When Yuji first activates the Fuzetsu on his own, the presence of the silver flames indicates an omen to The Snake of the Festival's return into the world, for the silver flames were a tool created by the "God of Creation" (Sōzōshin^?) himself to collect necessary elements in his revival. Later, Pheles' second attempt to free Johan causes the Bal Masque's god to awaken.

Yuji is a kind person who puts others before himself. This often draws much confusion and annoyance from Shana, as prior torches from Shana's experience exhibited selfish attitudes. Simultaneously, Yuji's compassion and empathy sow the seeds of attraction between him and Shana.

Upon Chigusa's pregnancy, it was revealed by Kantaro that Yuji actually had a twin brother who died at birth. Thus, in memory of the first baby and from the parents' wish, the second baby was given the name Yuji, which means "Second (child) who shall live long ".

By the end of the second season of the anime and in the sixteenth light novel, it is revealed that Yuji chose Shana over Kazumi. So, in conclusion of this in the sixteenth novel, he accepted the direct proposal to merge from the Snake himself within Yuji's own will. Later, employing his new powers which exceed even that of a Lord class, Yuji defeats Shana and kidnaps her away to the Seireiden.

Kazumi Yoshida

Kazumi is a fifteen-year-old girl and Yuji's classmate. She has a crush on him, but is a bit too shy to tell him directly. In the first season, she spends most of her screen time remaining ignorant of Shana's true nature and her actual relationship with Yuji. When Shana became her love-rival, she vowed to tell Yuji her feelings and to let him decide between her and Shana.

These state of affairs, however, changed after her chance meeting with Khamsin Nbh'w, a Flame Haze, who requested her assistance in his tuning of the distortions in the city. After revealing the truth of the world to her, Khamsin provided Kazumi an eyeglass which can detect Torches after he realized Kazumi was worried if Yuji was a Torch. Kazumi decided to test the eyeglass on Yuji during the Misago Festival, and was horrified to discover that Yuji was indeed a Torch. However, as the battle with Bal Masque raged on, Yuji revealed that, with the Reiji Maigo, he would not disappear, and Kazumi eventually accepted that near the end of the season.

Kazumi carries a small relic provided to her by Khamsin during their first meeting, permitting her to move within a Fuzetsu. Yuji became aware of this in the second season. Also, it is revealed that Pheles gave Kazumi a cross shaped hougu, which would summon Pheles if there was any trouble happening to Yuji/Johan. The setback was that it would take all of Kazumi's power of existence, if she used it.

Hayato Ike

Hayato, otherwise chiefly known as Ike, is a fifteen-year-old high school student and has been Yuji's friend since junior high school. He carries the title "Megane-man" ("Glasses Man"), or Four-Eyes in the English version. He is secretly fond of Kazumi Yoshida. However, as Yuji's loyal (and best) friend, he is the one who helps her to show her feelings toward Yuji. He often gives Kazumi advice. He rarely competes with Yuji for her affection, except one time when he invited Kazumi to help him with his student council meetings. Ike is notably intelligent and is often unavailable due to having to study or attending extra classes outside school. During the school festival, he was continually dragged away by Fujiota, a fellow council member. Ike is prone to motion-sickness, and turns pale at the sight of buses. He cannot ride roller-coasters, and even kid rides, although he made it through a Ferris wheel when he was in kindergarten.

Ike is notably more emotionally-aware than single-minded Yuji. While Yuji's desire to help just about any girl is admirable, he seems unaware that this is a source of heartache for many others, especially Shana and Kazumi, and it is generally up to Ike to point this out to Yuji. This caused a slight problem when it is revealed that Ike also has feelings for Kazumi. At the end of the first season, Ike decides not to hold back where Kazumi was concerned. He even invited her out on Christmas Eve and confessed that he loved her. Kazumi has not returned Ike's love yet.

Chigusa Sakai

Chigusa is Yuji's mother. She can seem gentle but she is strong and very intelligent. Her husband, Kantaro, works outside the country. Chigusa remains ignorant of Shana and Yuji's true nature, but becomes a source of good advice for Shana on matters where Alastor can not counsel her. The Crimson Lord himself acknowledges and bows to her wisdom after a phone call between the two of them. Described as a woman who can accept anything, she seems to harbor absolutely no problems with Shana often visiting Yuji under the pretext of "training".

As Shana's affection for Yuji grows, she begins to seek out Chigusa more often for advice or help. Generally, this is in the form of asking her to teach Shana how to make a bento, as she is repeatedly jealous at Kazumi's ability to make Yuji a bento for lunch. Chigusa often coaches Shana through the steps, despite her obvious, if not dangerous, lack of progress. Chigusa may have bitten off more than she can chew when she attempted to teach Wirhelmina Carmel, an even more disastrous cook, which resulted in a rather large mess in the kitchen.

Keisaku Satou

Keisaku, a fifteen-year-old high school student, is Eita's friend and class-skipping companion. When Margery Daw came to Misaki City, she randomly chose Keisaku and Eita to be her guides to the city. When he and Eita found a Haridan, a magical map to the city that Friagne had been using until his demise, the two often acted as support. Being a member of a wealthy family and independent of his parents, his house becomes a place for Margery to stay. He and Eita like Margery, but he hides his feelings, although when betrayed by Margery, he displayed emotions even more powerful than Eita's. Keisaku has notably chose Yuji out as a rival, especially after he had learnt that Yuji was being trained by Flame Hazes, Shana and Wirhelmina. Though, after several events, he accepted the fact that he doesn't need to be like Yuji. Instead, he decided to study harder by changing school, so that he could someday work at the Outlaw to support Margery other than in combat. He is one of the characters with great alteration from novel to anime. He is more sociable and somewhat cheerful, and is friends with Yuji and Ike from the beginning of the story.

Eita Tanaka

Eita, a fifteen-year-old high school student, is a well-built classmate of Keisaku's. When Margery Daw came to Misaki City, she randomly chose the two to be her guides to the city. When he and Keisaku found a Haridan, a magical map to the city that Friagne had been using until his demise, the two often acted as support. He, as well as Keisaku, shows respect, admiration and affection towards Margery as an "ane-san" (respectable elder sister), but his feelings are more apparent than Keisaku's. However, he has shown some obvious affection towards Matake Ogata. Like Keisaku, he is friends with Yuji and Ike from the start in the novel. After an incident at school festival, Eita decided to keep his distance from the events concerning the Guze and part ways with Satou and Margery.

Matake Ogata

Matake is Yuji's classmate. She is a strong-willed physically active girl, as well as a bit of a tomboy. She also has feelings for Eita, and worries about his well-being.

Kantaro Sakai

Kentaro is Yuji's father. He first made his appearance in volume nine of the light novels. He usually resides outside Japan, but enjoys making sudden visits to the Sakai household, surprising his family. Despite his skinny figure, his athletic senses are good enough to retaliate a flying kick from Shana without scratch, who was mistaken that he was an enemy (although this particular defense was just a lucky one). His tailing and investigation skills are first-class, so good that even Shana couldn't follow him. During on a plot to save Yuji from being destroyed by Wirhelmina in the novels, he tricks the latter with clever timed exchanges of borrowed mascot suits. He eats an astonishing amount of food, and his eating method is just as absurd.

Yukari Hirai

Yukari was Yuji's classmate. She has dark-colorred hair which has two small ponytails tied up from it. She has a very upbeat personality, and is kind and quick to help others out, but is very melancholy and silent when she is a Torch. In the anime, she loved Hayato Ike (in the novel, it is suggested that she had a crush on Yuji instead), but she dies when a Rinne appears on her way home. Shana makes a Torch of Yukari that same day. Unfortunately, her flame burns out on the next day and she disappears as a result. Before she went, Yuji attempted to give her the best last day of her life, and persuaded Ike to hang out with her. They took a photo together, but Yukari's image fades out when her flame burns out. Her last moment in her life was when she sat on a hill watching the sunset, her favorite view. The fading of her existence teaches Yuji some very valuable lessons about both the world around him, and his own inability to affect it. Shana uses the remains of Yukari's existence to shift the perception of other's identification of Yukari Hirai to herself (others recognize her as Yukari Hirai, as if Shana had been so all along).

Tenmoku Ikko

Tenmoku Ikko is a Mystes known as "the worst Mystes in history" or "monster torch", he is a huge man wearing samurai armor and one-eyed Oni mask. Tenmoku Ikko was an ancient swordsmith who became Mystes on his own will so that he could find the strongest being worthy of entrusting the treasure Nietono no Shana, the greatest sword that he ever forged with the aid of a Crimson Lord, who had shared a wish to create a weapon paralleled by none. Tenmoku Ikko ironically reverses the usual order of things by consuming a Crimson Denizen, possibly to empower himself - or simply to end an annoying interference with Tenmoku Ikko's desire to face 'a strong one'. After Shana defeats him with a daring attack, she receives the Nietono no Shana.

Johan

The former Mystes of the Reiji Maigo. While he was an infant, Pheles murdered his father who tried to sacrifice Johan for a useless Power of Unrestraint to gain eternal youth. Pheles fled with Johan from his home and wandered the world together since. As she raised Johan, Pheles had expected his heart to become corrupted in the same manner as his father when she fulfilled his wishes and desires. It seemed by chance that when Johan reached a later age, he asked for one thing that caught Pheles off guard: herself, an indication that Johan had fallen in love with Pheles. Upon the beginnings of the Appointed Couple, the Reiji Maigo was created to ensure eternal life to Johan and Pheles ceased consuming humans. After his rebirth as a Mystes, he trained himself and became a powerful master of Power of Unrestraint, enhanced with his ability to sense the power of existence.