# List of Blame! characters
*[Blame!](https://www.edgepedia.org/blame)* is a science-fiction manga by [Tsutomu Nihei](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsutomu-nihei), serialized in Kodansha's *Monthly Afternoon* from January 25, 1997 to July 25, 2003 and collected in ten tankōbon volumes under the Afternoon KC imprint[1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/blame). Its cast is deliberately small: the story follows a silent wanderer named Killy through a chaotically grown megastructure called the City, and most other figures belong to a handful of factions, human remnants such as the Electrofishers, the Safeguard security system, the Silicon Life, and the machine intelligences of the NetSphere[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy) • [3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life). In Kodansha's English synopsis the protagonist is named Kyrii, a transliteration of the same [Japanese name](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-name) rendered Killy in most other editions[4](https://kodansha.us/series/blame/).
| Character | Role | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| Killy (霧亥) | Protagonist | Provisional Safeguard unit armed with the GBE, searching for the Net Terminal Gene; appears in Log.1 through Log.65[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy) |
| Cibo (シボ) | Scientist, companion | Chief scientist first met as a preserved brain in a decaying body; a hacker who gives the quest its context[5](https://www.fandompost.com/2017/03/14/blame-master-edition-vols-01-02-manga-review/) • [6](https://horrormangaguide.com/blame-manga-review/) |
| Sanakan (サナカン) | Safeguard operative | Female high-level Safeguard, level 6, equipped with a graviton beam emission device; first appears disguised as a girl inside a settlement[7](https://w.atwiki.jp/blame/pages/7.html) |
| Silicon Life | Antagonist race | Cyborgs descended from a trans-humanist cult; notable members include Ivy, Maeve, Davinelulinvega, Schiff, Pcell, and Blon[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life) |
| Dhomochevsky and Iko | Provisional Safeguards | A pair who, like Killy, are hinted to be provisional Safeguards; also parodied in *BLAME! Academy and So On*[8](https://rehnwriter.com/books-and-media/manga/blame-review/) • [9](https://kodansha.us/series/blame-academy-and-so-on/) |
| Seu and Mensab | Toha Heavy Industries | Mensab is the AI consciousness of Toha Heavy Industries and Seu is her guardian[10](https://higevs.wordpress.com/2006/05/20/blame-vol-4-review/) |
| Electrofishers | Human group | Descendants of the Planters, who worked for Toa Heavy Industries; central to the 2017 film arc[11](https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2017/05/21/blame-movie-review-all-you-need-is-killy/) |
## Killy
**Killy** is the protagonist, a male figure classified on the Blame! Wiki as a Safeguard race[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy). Armed with the Graviton Beam Emitter (GBE), a handgun-sized device able to carve through kilometers of structure in a single shot, he is a provisional Safeguard unit tasked with finding the Net Terminal Gene, the genetic mutation that once allowed humans to access the cybernetic NetSphere; finding it would halt the expansion of the City and end the hostility of the rogue Safeguards toward humanity[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy) • [4](https://kodansha.us/series/blame/).
He has the fewest speaking lines of any major character, barely more than a few words a chapter, and his body carries cybernetic features that are not readily visible[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy). During the partial destruction of the unofficial stratum, brought about through a high-level Safeguard formed from data stolen by Davinelulinvega, he loses 40.82% of his body mass and is left as a cybernetic skeleton fused to molten metal[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy). Tsutomu Nihei has stated that Killy is over 3000 years old and that his memory loss is a side effect of his age[2](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy).
## Cibo
**Cibo** is the scientist who becomes Killy's closest companion and gives the story much of its emotional weight[6](https://horrormangaguide.com/blame-manga-review/). Killy first meets her as little more than a desiccated corpse, her brain kept alive in the bowels of the city, punished for challenging her boss; before meeting him, she and her team had tried to access the NetSphere with artificial net terminal genes, evoking the Safeguards' wrath[5](https://www.fandompost.com/2017/03/14/blame-master-edition-vols-01-02-manga-review/). She supplies most of the story's dialogue and exposition, explaining in fragments what the NetSphere is and what went wrong[12](https://horrormangaguide.com/nihei-manga-blame/).
Her identity shifts repeatedly across the series. At one point her consciousness is merged with that of a Silicon Life creature, producing a hybrid that retains elements of both personalities, and she later connects to a massive Safeguard body before being incorporated into an ephemeral sphere-like being with a child[13](https://animepapa.com/article/analyzing-the-representation-of-post-humanism-in-blame).
## Safeguards and provisional Safeguards
Serving as the Net-Sphere's security system, the **Safeguard** works to destroy any person missing the Net Terminal Gene who attempts to connect to the network[13](https://animepapa.com/article/analyzing-the-representation-of-post-humanism-in-blame). Its agents manifest in the physical world as exterminator-class units and humanoid figures such as Sanakan, a female high-level Safeguard of level 6 who carries her own graviton beam emission device and first infiltrates a settlement disguised as a girl[7](https://w.atwiki.jp/blame/pages/7.html).
Unlike Killy or the Silicon Life, Safeguard entities lack a biological ghost altogether; they are programs that temporarily don physical avatars, yet some, Sanakan included, develop behavior resembling emotion, such as protectiveness toward Cibo and her child[13](https://animepapa.com/article/analyzing-the-representation-of-post-humanism-in-blame).
**Dhomochevsky and Iko** are a pair Killy encounters who, like him, are hinted to be provisional Safeguards[8](https://rehnwriter.com/books-and-media/manga/blame-review/). Their relationship is one of the story elements carried into the school-parody spinoff *BLAME! Academy and So On*[9](https://kodansha.us/series/blame-academy-and-so-on/).
## Silicon Life
The **Silicon Life**, also called Silicon Creatures and Cyborgs, are a race of hostile creatures that serve as one of the main antagonists of *BLAME!*[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life). As hinted in the prequel *NOiSE*, they arose long before the main story from a trans-humanist cult seeking the next stage of human evolution; illegal experiments produced the first Cyborgs, and although the Administration's Safeguards eradicated the cult, they failed to eliminate all Silicon Life because the City's growth interfered with Safeguard control[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life).
All but a few Silicon Life share the goal of destroying the Net Terminal Gene and its carriers: a human connected through the Gene could order the Administration to stop the City's expansion, and as unauthorized residents the Silicon Life would then be hunted to extinction[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life). They have adopted a warrior culture, wandering in nomadic bands and killing humans where possible, though some, such as Davine Lu Linvega, pursue personal goals instead[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life). Named members include Ivy, Maeve, Davinelulinvega, Schiff, Pcell, and Blon; Pcell leads the infiltration of Toha Heavy Industries during the Toha arc[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life) • [14](https://shapes.inc/fandom/blame/deep-dive). Modification varies widely, from Blon, a hulking mass of limbs, to Pcell, who appears almost human[3](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life).
## Human and machine supporting characters
**Electrofishers** are a human group descended from the Planters, who originally worked for Toa Heavy Industries; in the 2017 film adaptation their village, protected by a barrier that Safeguards cannot cross, sits atop the Rotten Shrine, beneath which someone with Net Terminal Genes may exist[11](https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2017/05/21/blame-movie-review-all-you-need-is-killy/). Zuru is a young Electrofisher who appears in the film[11](https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2017/05/21/blame-movie-review-all-you-need-is-killy/).
Within **Toha Heavy Industries**, Killy and Cibo meet Mensab, the AI consciousness of Toha, and her guardian Seu, who wields a large sword[10](https://higevs.wordpress.com/2006/05/20/blame-vol-4-review/).
## References
1. [Blame! — series — VALÉORINE](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/blame)
2. [Killy, Blame! Wiki](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Killy)
3. [Silicon Life, Blame! Wiki](https://blame.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Life)
4. [BLAME! – Kodansha USA](https://kodansha.us/series/blame/)
5. [Blame! Master Edition Vols. #01-02 Manga Review, Fandom Post](https://www.fandompost.com/2017/03/14/blame-master-edition-vols-01-02-manga-review/)
6. [BLAME! Manga Review: A Beginner's Guide to Nihei's Masterpiece, Horror Manga Guide](https://horrormangaguide.com/blame-manga-review/)
7. [キャラクター(BLAME!) - 弐瓶勉 wiki@2ch, atwiki](https://w.atwiki.jp/blame/pages/7.html)
8. [Blame! - Tsutomu Nihei's Cyberpunk Masterpiece, RehnWriter](https://rehnwriter.com/books-and-media/manga/blame-review/)
9. [BLAME! Academy and So On – Kodansha USA](https://kodansha.us/series/blame-academy-and-so-on/)
10. [BLAME! Vol. 4 Review, Hige vs. Otaku](https://higevs.wordpress.com/2006/05/20/blame-vol-4-review/)
11. [Blame! Movie Review, Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2017/05/21/blame-movie-review-all-you-need-is-killy/)
12. [BLAME! Manga by Tsutomu Nihei: Where to Start & Reading Guide - Horror Manga Guide](https://horrormangaguide.com/nihei-manga-blame/)
13. [Analyzing the Representation of Post-Humanism in Blame!, Anime Papa](https://animepapa.com/article/analyzing-the-representation-of-post-humanism-in-blame)
14. [Blame! Deep Dives, Shapes](https://shapes.inc/fandom/blame/deep-dive)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Anime and manga genres, tropes, and characters › Individual anime and manga characters › Titles A to K*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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