This is a list of characters and organizations in the Kerberos Saga (ケルベロス・サーガ), a Japanese alternate history science fiction political thriller media franchise created by Mamoru Oshii in 1987. Set in an alternate history 20th century where Nazi Germany won World War II, eventually denazified, and occupied Japan (part of the Allies in this timeline) to establish authoritarian rule, the saga primarily follows members of the Metropolitan Security Police Organization's Special Armed Garrison, commonly referred to as "Kerberos", a heavily-militarized counterterrorist police tactical unit operating in Tokyo. Characters are sorted by organizations or groups according to the original works. The English adaptation equivalents are mentioned when available.

Metropolitan Security Police Organization

The Metropolitan Security Police Organization (首都圈治安警察機構), commonly shortened to just the Metropolitan Police (MP), is a paramilitary law enforcement agency established to maintain order in Tokyo and effectively combat terrorism where regular police cannot, providing a politically- and constitutionally-acceptable alternative to the domestic deployment of military forces.

Metropolitan Police Defense Division

The Metropolitan Police Defense Division (首都警・警備部) is the main armed branch of the Metropolitan Police, tasked with maintaining public order. It maintains an armored combat unit, armored cars, a helicopter unit, and a sniper team. It is directed by Isao Aniya.

Special Armed Garrison "Kerberos"

The Special Armed Garrison (首都警・特機隊 ケルベロス) is the core combat unit of the Metropolitan Police. Its members wear black-colored Protect Gears, armored powered exoskeletons that distinctively feature a Stahlhelm and a gas mask with glowing red lenses. Kerberos members are primarily armed with MG 42 machine guns (often using the bipod as a makeshift foregrip), although alternative weapons such as the StG 44 and FG 42 are also seen to be issued, with the Mauser C96 as a standard issue sidearm; additional ammunition is stored and dispensed from the Protect Gear's integrated backpack. It is headed by Shirou Tatsumi. Notable members include Koichi Todome, Soichiro Toribe, Midori Washio, Toru Inui, and Kazuki Fuse.

Jin-Roh

Jin-Roh (人狼) is a secret counterintelligence unit formed inside Kerberos to protect it from threats within the police and government. It is headed by Hajime Handa.

Metropolitan Police Public Security Division

The Metropolitan Police Public Security Division (首都警・公安部) is the other branch of the Metropolitan Police, specializing in intelligence-gathering and espionage. It has an interservice rivalry with Kerberos. It is directed by Bunmei Muroto.

Self-Police

The Self-Police (自治警察) are the prefectural police—or, for works in the saga set before the 1954 Police Law, the municipal police—of a given prefecture or municipality, respectively.

Tokyo Metropolitan Self-Police Department

The Tokyo Metropolitan Self-Police Department (警視庁) is the Self-Police of Tokyo Metropolis or, for works implied to be set before 1954, Tokyo City. Into the late 1940s and the 1950s, they were unable to maintain public order in the face of spiking levels of terrorism and crime, sparking the creation of the Metropolitan Security Police Organization. The Self-Police and the Metropolitan Police share a jurisdiction over Tokyo and have many of the same duties, resulting in an uneasy relationship between them, though they are shown to cooperate with the Public Security Division more than Kerberos.

Spezial Sturm Gruppe

The Spezial Sturm Gruppe (SSG) is the elite counterterrorist police tactical unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Self-Police Department. They are largely based on the German Federal Police's GSG 9 but are otherwise analogous to the Special Assault Teams of real Japanese police, and are essentially the Self-Police's version of the Metropolitan Police's Special Armed Garrison. In Kerberos Panzer Cop Act 4, they respond to the Lufthansa Flight 666 hijacking at Tokyo International Airport and are briefly involved in a standoff with Kerberos during a dispute over who will engage the hijackers. They are ultimately assigned to resolve the hijacking, but are beaten to the plane by Kerberos.

Japan Self-Defense Forces

The Japan Self-Defense Forces (自衛隊) are the military of Japan. Under Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, Japan is not permitted to go to war, and instead maintains a "defense force" for the country's own self-defense; though in real life this clause came about under American occupation, it can be assumed this also occurred under German occupation in the saga's timeline. The inability of the Japanese government to deploy the JSDF domestically to maintain public order led to the establishment of the Metropolitan Security Police Organization.

1st Airborne Brigade

The 1st Airborne Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. It is a "Panzer Jäger Unit" (ギア部隊) or "Armored Soldier" (機甲隊員), essentially the military equivalent of the Metropolitan Police's Special Armed Garrison, and is likewise also equipped with Protect Gears; however, they primarily use anti-tank rifles instead of machine guns. It is led by Tetsurō Kai.

Anti-government movements and terrorist groups

Various anti-government movements that were formed or otherwise grew as a result of, or in response to, increasing economic, social, and political tensions following the German occupation, the creation of the Weimar Establishment, and the resulting internationalization and urbanization of Japan. Economic reorganization under the Weimar Establishment led to increased poverty, class stratification, and the growth of slums, as well as spikes in organized crime and black market corruption, all of which in turn led to large protests in Tokyo. The government responded with police repression and authoritarian policies that ultimately worsened the situation, forcing public protest movements underground and radicalizing them to become underground guerilla militias and terrorist groups.

The Sect

The Sect (セクト) is a left-wing terrorist group that emerged from mergers of other anti-government and leftist movements, especially after the Metropolitan Police and Kerberos began cracking down on such groups. The Sect relies on the Tokyo sewers to transport and store firearms and explosives. Notably, young girls wearing red clothing, nicknamed Little Red Riding Hoods (赤ずきん), are used by the Sect's Division Jacobson (ヤコブソン機関) to smuggle materiel, most commonly bombs, using their non-threatening appearances to smuggle without drawing suspicion.

Four Seasons League

The Four Seasons League (四季協会, shiki kyokai) is a communist terrorist group. A splinter group of the Sect, it was formed after the Sect's leaders made a compromise with the government to disassociate with its most extreme and violent members. Its background and modus operandi resemble those of the real-life Japanese Red Army.

Fast Food Grifters

Tachiguishi (たちぐいし) are con artists known for committing dine and dash crimes at tachigui (立ち食い), a type of Japanese fast-food restaurant or style of eating where patrons stand as opposed to sitting that, in the saga's universe, have been made illegal.

German military

The German military is the main protagonist faction in the Kerberos Panzer Jäger radio drama series. Though they are initially the Wehrmacht under Nazi Germany, they are eventually restored to the Reichswehr following the assassination of Adolf Hitler and the following denazification process.

808th Propagandakompanie

The 808th Propagandakompanie (立ち食い) is a unit of the Wehrmacht during World War II, deployed on the Eastern Front.

Other characters

Cameo characters