Kamina

Kamina (カミナ) is a young man from Giha Village and the founder of Team Dai-Gurren. A central character to the show, Kamina is the former leader of Team Dai Gurren. While dying in Episode 8, his legacy would live on in Simon, making Kamina the driving force of the show.

Appearance
Kamina is tall and built, and prides himself on being "manly and tough". He has light blue, short, spiky hair and is frequently seen wearing his trademark sunglasses that cover his red eyes. His skin is peach, like Simon's, and he has tattoos along both of his arms which extend to his shoulders and near his upper back.

Personality
Kamina's personality from the start of the series till he died really didn't change but his personality is one of his trademarks. He is an idealist and is set in his ways, sometimes to the point of ignorance, and as Yoko said, he is "a man of unlimited stupidity." He never lets anything keep him down, even figuring out his dad had been dead for a long time, and even died with a smile on his face. One of his most remarkable traits is protecting those important for him, fighting with all his strength.

Despite his also insane actions, Kaminais a fairly deep person. He tells Yoko that he wants to give Simon and the younger people a world to which they can live without worry. He also has a uprisingly odd cleverness that often is what wins him battles. Despite his often moronic moves, he has a level of common sense, pointing of that if they fled from Dai-Gunzan, they would be wide open for attacks. This suggests Kamina has a more complicated personality then shown.

=Relationships= Simon

Kamina and Simon are exremely close, which shows within the first few minutes of the first episode. Kamina serves as something between a foster father and a foster brother to Simon, insisting on Simon to call him 'Bro' ('Aniki', a form used by yakuza). Kamina was the only one to realize Simon's potential, always encouraging and supporting him stubbornly and being the only one to side with the little ostracized digger. Due to a previous event which almost lead to their death, the two developed a bond which allowed them to pull incredible stunts and come out triumphant. The simple equation: Kamina's bravado and Simon's power proved to be unstoppable. Kamina always considered Simon his 'partner', both in crime (in their antics in Jiha Village) and in battle, which at the beginning basically meant Kamina dragging Simon into various dangerous situations. When offered to pilot Lagann, Kamina refuses on the grounds that he would never take his little brother's belongings. Kamina appears to be Simon's ultimate model of courage and manliness and influences greatly on Simon's views on a lot of things about life. Being a huge reliance to Simon, Kamina also strongly relies on the boy and believes him to be the "method to his madness". He also confesses to Yoko that he believes Simon to be the source of his power and reason for his victories. He is not afraid to tell that straight to his brother when they meet in the dream maze. It's safe to say that Simon loves Kamina dearly and refuses to bid farewell to his Brother saying that he lives on in his heart. Simon is probably the most important person in Kamina's life.

The official Gurren Lagann relationships graph (found in the Basic Drill', the initial guide-book to Gurren Lagann and in Final Drill guide-book, covering the latter part of the series) sets their relationship invariably as '相棒' ( "Partners" in japanese). Kamina and Simon remain partners even after Kamina's death.



Yoko

Due to her looks Kamina is instantly attracted to Yoko and starts to make advances on her even during a chaotic situation. He is severely disappointed upon discovering that Yoko was born underground which leads him to make several snarky comments about Yoko's figure and her place on the battlefield. This usually leads to a lot of bickering. 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. When Yoko finally manages to confess to him, he accepts her without hesitation in an embrace and the two kiss. Kamina makes an oath to return her love tenfold which prompts Yoko to giggle and Kamina to blush. Gurren Lagann's first theatrical feature provides a detail that Kamina rose from his fatal blow upon hearing Yoko's voice over the comm.

Kamina is somehow able to appear in Yoko's dream world and pull her out of it. In the entourage of their first romantic encounter, they share their last momment of closeness and silence smiling warmly at each other.

This realationship is designated as '10倍返しの恋' ("Tenfold return of love") in Basic Drill and '恋' (Love) in Final Drill (which means that even after his death Kamina still loves Yoko, mutually).



=History=

Pre-series
As a child, Kamina's father managed to reach the surface. He wanted to take Kamina with him, but Kamina was too scared of the strange world awaiting him, so his dad left him, promising to meet up again later on. Years later, Kamina decided he was old enough and began to aim for the surface.

Beastman War arc
As his first act of notoriety, Kamina forms "Team Gurren" and convinces his "soul-brother," Simon, to help him with his plan to drill through the roof of the village and get to the world above. However, the plan fails. Kamina willingly takes the blame for disrupting the peace and is jailed by the village chief. At night, Simon breaks him out to show him an extraordinary artifact he unearthed, only to be interrupted by a large Gunmen that crashes through the village's ceiling. A young girl sharpshooter named "Yoko" descends from the surface and ends up joining Kamina and Simon as they pilot the newly unearthed Gunmen that Kamina names "Lagann." Together, they defeat the invading Gunmen and reach the surface in the process. After the trio breaks through, they meet many enemies and friends as they continue forward. The once two-member "Team Gurren" expands to the size of an entire resistance force aiming to overthrow the Beastman Empire. Kamina leads this force and names it "Team Dai-Gurren". Kamina's largest battle involves the capture of one of the enemy’s moving fortresses belonging to one of the Four Divine Generals, Thymilph. The mission is a success, but not without cost. Heavily wounded (Thymilph not only stabbed him through the chest, almost tearing him in two, he also shoots a beam through him, causing severe blood loss), Kamina combines with Simon to form Gurren Lagann and defeats the Beastman General with his signature move: "Giga Drill Breaker." Kamina dies in the cockpit, leaving Simon with this: "Don't believe in the Kamina who you believe in. Don't believe in the Simon that I believe in. Believe in the Simon who believes in himself." These words are long remembered after his death, giving Simon the confidence to uphold his destiny as the "one whose drill will pierce the heavens." Kamina is buried in the battlefield where he died, his nodachi stabbed into the ground and his cloak tied to its sheath.

Anti-Spiral War arc
After the fall of the Beastman Empire, a new city is built from the ruins of the former capital, Teppelin, and is named "Kamina City." A huge statue of Kamina stands at the center of the city in his honor. However, the monument is destroyed after the citizens discover the truth about the Human Annihilation System and revolt against the government. Later, Simon, under the influence of the Anti-Spirals, witnesses visions of a false childhood where Kamina eggs Simon on to drill into banks and jewelry shops to steal valuables for him. He is shown groveling at the feet of Beastmen on top of a hill, begging for his life and urging Simon to do the same. Simon reaches for his Core Drill and finds it missing. Then the true Kamina appears, wearing his cloak and holding his nodachi, and asks Simon if he lost his Drill. Kamina then reminds Simon that his drill is his soul, that Kamina and his fallen comrades will live on in him, and that he is the one whose drill will pierce the heavens. Simon is reminded of what he is fighting for, for the sake of Nia and for the fate of the Spiral Universe. This breaks the Alternate Space Labyrinth, allowing Simon to reassemble Team Dai-Gurren and face the Anti-Spirals for the final time.

=Weapons= Kamina originally had a nodachi (his sword), that he had stolen from the Jiiha village chief. In episodes 2 and 3, Kamina used a pistol given to him by Yoko, and he also used her rifle to hunt animals. During his fight with Viral, he used his Nodachi, and a hidden arrow that he had picked up from an animal Viral shot, as well as some assistance from Simon and Yoko. Kamina's most valuable weapons were the Gurren and Gurren Lagann. Originally, Kamina couldn't pilot the Gurren as well as a Beastman, which put him at a disadvantage: Viral could easily beat him one on one until Gurren Lagann was formed. However, thanks to training with Simon, by episode 8, he had mastered the controls and was an ace pilot.

Skills
Expert Physical Fighter: As shown numerous times, Kamina's fighting skills are well above that of normal humans. He was able to fight Viral one on one with his Nodachi and while being injured, landed a blow on Viral. He also is shown to be a good fist fighter as his punch on Simon caused him to almost flip over in his seat.

Quick Learner: Despite not being very obvious, Kamina is shown to be a quick learner. By the time of episode 3, where he just started using ranged weapon a moment ago, Kamina's beginner aiming skills impress even Yoko, whose an extremely skilled Sharpshooter. He just stolen his village chief by the first episode and able to use it rather well pushing even Viral, an expert at combat being a natural born beastman and a well trained soldier. By the last episode he appeared, he's also a very great gunmen pilot, able to push and surprise Viral with his Piloting skills despite just started using Gunmen for a short time.

Mastery of Planning: As shown early in the series compared to later part of the series, Kamina although covered by his hot blooded personality is a good Tactician which make him a great model for a leader. The battle featuring him usually involve a development of new fighting style, using a rather unpredictable and well planned move to read through his opponent's weak point or the most effective way to beat him such as hijacking Dai-Gunzan and the strongest Gunmen on the field (which later became Dai-Gurren and Gurren respectively) rather than fighting it and noticing the field condition when fighting against Dai Ganzan for the first time. Compared to the way the Brigade fight post his death, the battle during his leadership use more complex planning.

Enhanced Endurance: What makes Kamina a deadly fighter is his stamina. Kamina has been shown to be able to take blows that would kill most people and continue fighting. After suffering wounds by Viral's cleaver, he shrugged them off and fought Viral with his Gunman. The greatest example was when he was stabbed by Thymilph twice and managed to recover and kill him. However, he succumbs to his wounds and dies shortly afterwards.

Fighting Spirit: Although he never awakened the ability to use Spiral Power (due to his death), Kamina makes up for it with his fighting spirit. His fighting spirit is shown to be able to enable him to power Gurren when it wouldn't work and in some ways, replaces his lack of Spiral power. It's also stated that Kamina was killed by Tymilphs first assult meaning that his fighting spirit allowed him to temporary come back from the dead to avenge his death.

Kamina was shown to have great reflexes. At one point, he dodged an arrow Viral aimed at him.

=Outfit= Kamina's outfit, although not complicated, is flashy and expresses his personality; he wore long dark blue pants tied with a belt, a traditional Japanese sarashi (a protective bandage on abdomen and forearms), sandals, and later took the cape from his father's grave marker. He usually wore a pair of flashy orange sunglasses. After his death, his cape was used to mark his grave. His glasses were smashed to pieces during Thymilph's assault. [|cap]

Etymology
Kamina's name comes from Kami meaning 'above' in Japanese. This references his desire to go to the surface.

=Trivia=




 * Kamina's catch phrase, "Who the hell do you think I am?" has been said by many of the shows characters. Simon was the first to say it, followed by the other characters, including Kittan.
 * Despite dying in the 8th episode, Kamina is mentioned (whether directly or indirectly) in almost every episode of Gurren Lagann.
 * Of all of Kamina's dynamic actions, his famous "Towards-the-Heavens" pose (with him pointing his finger to the sky) has become extremely popular; so much so that it has even been done by Simon, Nia, Kittan, and by Gurren-Lagann and King Kittan when doing the Giga Drill Breaker.
 * Of all of Gurren-Lagann's characters, Kamina is considered by far to be the most popular, even after his death.
 * The scene of Kamina riding the herd of pigmoles mirrors a scene from the manga "Ashita no Joe", whose protagonist- Joe Yabuki shares a lot in common with Kamina including attitude, looks and another significant scene.
 * Kamina's parents official names are: Joe and Wenny.


 * Gainax stated that "Kamina died a virgin," although they provided nothing else about the subject.
 * Kamina is also an expy of Sanson, a character from another Gainax anime called Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.
 * In the movie adaption Gurren Lagann The Movie: The Lights in the Sky are Stars, it is revealed that Simon himself carved the statue of Kamina in Kamina City.
 * Kamina bears resemblance to Teddy from Mother 1(aka Earthbound 0) in that they both wield swords, wear little on their top halves, die not long after they are introduced(in the Japanese version of Mother 1. Teddy is heavily wounded, but recovers in the english version) and both have the same iconic glasses. As a result of this, Teddy is portrayed as being very like Kamina in terms of personality in many, many Mother series fan works.


 * In the anime show Kampfer, one of the main characters named Akane imagines herself a dream-version of the show's main character, Natsuru. When she does, she imagines him, but he appears different, resembling Kamina greatly. Shortly after, she quotes Kamina by saying "My brother said to always believe in the me who believes in myself."
 * Kamina is usually at around the same level as Pikachu (from the Pokemon series) in terms of popularity, making him one of the best loved characters to be in an anime as a major character.
 * Kamina, or at least someone greatly resembling him makes a cameo appearance in Episode 2 of a fellow Gainax series, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. Simon, Viral, Nia, Yoko and Attenborough make cameos in the same scene.