Yoko Littner

Yoko Littner (ヨーコ・リットナー) is the female protagonist of the series. She is a girl from Jeeha's neighboring village of Littner who had been chasing the Gunmen that crashed into Jeeha Village during the events of Episode 1. She wields an extensive range of firearms, most frequently of which is a long range sniper rifle modeled after the Barrett M82. Although she is 14, the same age as Simon, she is very mature for her age and she is one of the most rational members of the group. Despite always badmouthing Kamina for his reckless behavior, it did not take long for her to confess her feelings to him. She was also Simon's love interest until he discovered that she was in love with Kamina.

Appearance
Yoko is a pretty, tall girl. She has red hair that extends down to her lower back. The most noticeable traits however, are her breasts and butt, that add to her extremely curvy figure. Yoko commonly wears a flame red bra and black, leather spandex type bottoms and wears a skull accessory on her head, while wearing two small needles for hairpins.

In part 2, Yoko appears very much the same, though physically older. At first, she wears the same outfit and a long cloak like jacket but when heading off to save Nia, changes into a yellow and black bra with stars instead of flames that goes from the sides rather than up and down. She also wears a white/silver jacket and similar pants.

Personality
Despite being Simon's age, Yoko is shown to be very mature and quite knowledgeable. Instead of being impulsive like Kamina, Yoko prefers to think things through before charging head-first into a battle. Because of this conflict, she would constantly get into fights with him. Yoko is shown to be a very protective person, especially towards Simon, Kamina and the children of the team. One of the best examples was when she told Kamina that she would defend his back as she said "Your back...is your one big blind spot". Yoko is also very vocal when it comes to situations, often being the voice of reason for Simon and Kamina. Like Simon, she becomes depressed (not as bad as Simon however) after Kamina dies, as she is shown crying about it in a shower despite telling Dayyaka she was fine. In part two, Yoko remains generally the same, but with a new look on violence. Having seen friends die, Yoko believes that violence, mostly senseless, is terrible and is against the harming of children.

Relationships
=Simon=

At the initial start of the series Yoko seemed to take an interest in Simon. Even so to the point where when he landed face first into her breasts, and then had hands on them immediately after, she simply raised her eyebrows with a mysterious sort of smile, that was a bit hard to read. However, after seeing how he fared in battle, she immediately took a disliking to him, finding him a bit annoying until she saw his true personality. Afterward, she began to notice him more, became more open around him, and became much more closer to him. She appears to be unaware of Simon's feelings towards her. After Kamina's death it is clear she felt pity for Simon but she said to Kittan that she should give no one special treatment. For a short time she co-piloted Gurren Lagann with Simon until she saw could handle it himself. During that time, when fighting in airborne combat, she is thrown from the lower cockpit and into free air. Simon risks the current route the mission was going to save her. He succeeds, yet Yoko is badly injured. He hovers over her, and she teases him about his worried face. He then swears to her that he will protect her, to which she has a look of awe and blushes. They have a brief conversation about her feelings and Kamina shortly thereafter in the sunset. After that time she always has a look concern whenever he goes of to fight, and screams his name whenever she thinks he's hurt.

In Part two Yoko Saves Simon and Viral from prison and helped Simon save the world. She was also present at Nia and Simons wedding, and was concerned about him when Nia vanished forever. She attempted to speak to him during the ceremony, but he cut her off. She then throws him the engagement ring that fell at her feet and he snatches it out of thin air as he leaves.



=Kamina=

When Yoko and Kamina first met, Kamina took no time in hitting on her thinking she was from the surface; he quickly lost interest when he figured out she's not from the surface. Their clashing personalities often led to bickering and banter. Still both of them remain very protective of themselves during combat against the Beastmen. Kamina is very tolerant of Yoko's beatings and scoldings, letting most of them fly and even apologizing to her for his behaviour in episode six (after a punch to the face). It's a belligerent relationship due to both of the characters unyielding personalities, yet it's also full of trust, care and genuine affection. It is shown that both Yoko and Kamina strongly rely on each other. Yoko states she was holding onto the thought that no matter what, Kamina would always think something out and pull through, and Kamina entrusts his safety in the battle against Tymilth to Yoko. Yoko also appears to be the only person to whom Kamina can reveal his true self as shown in their night conversations in episodes 7 and 11, when Kamina reveals his intentions behind the revolution and his normally hidden fear and doubt.

In episode 8, Yoko confessed her love for Kamina with a kiss, which Kamina was more then happy to accept as he kisses her again, telling her he will return that feeling 10 times over later causing Yoko to giggle, not knowing what he meant. Unfortunately Kamina was unable to fulfill that promise as he was killed. Yoko was greatly affected by Kamina's death although Yoko tried to stay strong for everyone in the brigade. When Dakkaya asked if she was alright she stated that she was fine although later in the shower Yoko cries stating that Kamina was an idiot because even though he said he would return her love tenfold he only left a big hole in her heart. She gets irritated with Nia when she talks about Kamina loosely without ever knowing him and she reminisces about him occasionally.

In Part 2 When Yoko was in the dream world Kamina appears with a television set showing Yoko her possible future, however Yoko turns it off. The smile warmly at each other and she thanks him before returning to battle. The scene is in the area of their last romantic encounter suggesting that Yoko's inner most desire was to be with Kamina. It is also suggested that Yoko hasn't entered in a relationship since Kamina, suggesting that she still loves Kamina to the point where she will not engage a relationship with anyone else even after his death.



=History=

Before Beastman War Arc
Unlike Simon and Kamina, much of Yoko's background is never revealed. However, what is known is that when Littner ViIllage was filled with gas, Yoko was among them and was forced to flee to the surface.

Beastman War arc


When Simon and Kamina attempted to defeat the Gunmen that appeared in their home, Yoko appears to offer then aid. Kamina remarks that "Surface girls are hot" and helps Yoko destroy the Gunmen though Kamina's ego makes the task much more difficult. She then decides to join the two and helps them by providing back up fire and support. She tries her best to help Kamina face Viral but when she sees Simon cowering in fear,she yells at him to help. This helps Simon muster the courage to help Kamina. Over the next few episodes, she helps Simon and Kamina in their battles and in Episode 7 gets worried when Kamina tries to defeat Thymilph's Dai-Gunzan. She stands against other Gunmen with just a revolver until Kittan and the others arrive. In Episode 8, she reveals her feelings for Kamina, which he readily returns, and the two embrace and kiss. Simon accidentally witnesses the whole situation and runs off heartbroken. During the battle, Yoko saves Kamina from a sneak attack and provides support. When Kamina is killed, she, like Simon, takes it the hardest. When Simon meets Nia, she doesn't trust her at first (that's after she reveals she is Lord Genome's daughter). She is captured, along with most of Team Dai Gurren. She attempts to escape and doubts getting out but sees Simon digging and remembers what Kamina said about Simon that he refused to be laughed at by Simon's back.

On the deck of the ship, she shoots at Guame, but his armor protects him.She watches Simon's speech and is in awe, while commenting that he needs some work. She gets uneasy of Nia while waiting for Dai-Gurren to be fixed. However when Adiane attacks, Yoko appears and shots her Gunmen square in the shoulder. Afterwards, she makes peace with Nia and admits to herself that she was stupid for distrusting her. From there, she helps Simon by piloting Gurren for Rossiu. She does her best but when Viral attacks, she opens her hatch to shoot which Viral then hits, causing her to be knocked out. Simon saves her and she watches him fight Viral one on one remarking that he can pilot alone. Cytomander

however holds her hostage,but when Dai-Gurren attacks, Simon saves her again. She then asks Simon if he knew that she loved Kamina, to which he smiled and said yes. From there on she helps Simon by advising him. She orders him to go on and defeat Lordgenome and helps by fighting against the Gunmen.

Before Anti-Spiral War arc
After the Beastman war, Yoko was around to help Kamina City get established but leaves because she feels that she has no place in government or politics despite Rossiu and Simon's attempts to get her to stay. She eventually left for a small island where she became a teacher under the name of Yomako.

Anti-Spiral war arc
Despite being a teacher and not usually being involved in the affairs, she hears about Simon's trial and gets angry by Rossiu's decision. Sometime later ,as the island is being evacuated, two Beastmen attack and hold a little girl hostage. Yoko is forced to grab her rifle and change into a similar outfit to her original. She defeats the two Beastmen, while lecturing her class that violence and stealing is wrong, and decides to go save Simon. Heading to the city,Yoko runs into Kittan (who's in his Gunmen) and informs him of her plan to save him. Arriving at the prison, she shoots at the Anti-Spiral Nia which forces her to flee. She frees Simon and Viral (At Simon's request) and helps them by piloting the Dayakkaiser into battle. She helps Simon by fighting along side him and helps protect the Arc-Gurren. When Simon decides to go save Nia, Yoko goes as well, sporting a new outfit (much to Kittan's surprise). She helps the members of Team Dai-Gurren by holding out till Simon can transform the Chouginga Dai-Gurren. When the group returns to the ship and it gets dragged down into the dark sea, Yoko, Kittan, Gimmy and Darry go out and destroy the Anti-Spiral ships.

When the missile to destroy the Death Spiral Machine fails, she decides to go and destroy it but Kittan goes instead, and steals a kiss form her. He states that he is sorry for being selfish (both for the kiss and knowing that there is a strong possibility that he will die leaving everyone behind). Yoko merely hugs him and tells him that this is what he wants and so she cannot stop him. After Kittan death Yoko is shown mourning the loss as she sheds tears.

Later she takes one of the gunner seats when Simon attempts to destroy the fleet of ships but, like everyone else, is trapped in the Space/Time Labyrinth. In her dream, she is a bounty hunter and a teacher, who is revealed to be the best shot in the galaxy, a super model, and married to Kittan. However, she, reaches forward to touch the screen before it shuts off, thanking Kamina and heading off to help Simon. This could also hint that Yoko's "True Desire", out of the many she desired (hence the flipping of the channels), was to be with Kamina again as the setting took place the last time they interacted before his death.

She appears as one of Simon's drills and takes a position on the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. She appears after the final battle at Simon's and Nia's marriage.When Nia fades away, she attempts to speak to Simon, but he cuts her off. As Simon begins to leave, she tosses him the ring, which he catches.

After Anti-Spiral War Arc
Yoko appears as a middle aged woman, waving to several students at the end of Episode 27. Her face isn't seen but they call her by her Alias "Yomako". She appears mostly the same, albeit aged. The children also refer to her as "Principal", implying that she became the principal of a school.

=Powers and Abilities=
 * Skilled Marksmen:Yoko is a skilled shot with her rifle and has shown to be able to take out two Gunmen alone and without being injured. She is also shown to be able to hit weak spots on Gunmen even in the middle of a fight. One of greatest examples of her marksmanship is during her battle with Viral when she piloted Gurren Lagann with Simon. She was able to nearly hit Viral,despite being in the air and moving around (She missed him by a hair).


 * Skilled Gunmen Pilot:Like most members of Team Dai-Gurren, Yoko is skilled in Piloting a Gunmen. She piloted Gurren-Lagann with Simon once and piloted the Dayakkaiser in the second half and she, along with Kittan, Gimmy and Darry, took out many Anti-Spiral ships alone.

=Trivia=
 * Yoko has the last line in Gurren Lagann (Not counting the Epilogue).
 * Yoko says she doesn't wear clothes because it restricts her movement during combat.
 * A running gag is that Kamina makes fun of Yoko's buttocks and large breasts.
 * Another running gag is that Boota commonly sits in between her breasts, and other people, such as Simon, land on them, causing them to jiggle.
 * There is an unnamed character in the Shonen Jump series One Piece anime who bears an uncanny resemblance to Yoko. During one of the more recent arcs, the Amazon Lily Arc, there is a Kuja woman (an allusion to an Amazon warrior) who bears a similarity to Yoko. She has a flame print black bikini top, Yoko's hairstyle, but has brown hair and eyes instead of Yoko's red hair and yellow eyes. Another interesting note is that the director of the episode that featured her worked on Gurren Lagann. So most likely this was intentional as a shout out.
 * None of the people Yoko kissed have survived in the same episode she kisses them. Which has caused many fans to joke ironically that she gave them the "Kiss Of Death".
 * Although Yoko is stated as 14, in the official anime guide it states that she is really 18 in the start of the anime.