Spiral Commanders

Lore & Background

Simon is the series' protagonist, a boy who initially suffered from low self-esteem due to being an orphan, with his parents having died in an accident/collapse, and a fear of earthquakes. Despite being physically underdeveloped, Simon is a valued digger in Giha Village. Kamina eventually befriends him and inspires him, giving him the confidence to muster his courage and take action. After finding Lagann during a dig, Simon accompanies Kamina to the surface.

When Kamina dies during the formation of Team Dai-Gurren, Simon falls into a depression that causes him to be overly aggressive in battle while isolating himself from the team. However, his meeting with Nia helps him come to a revelation about his own nature, leading to him overcoming his fears and doubts as he succeeds Kamina as Team Dai-Gurren's leader. In the second half of the series, Simon grows into a young man who is able to exercise caution when necessary.

Simon proposes to Nia, but the Antispiral uses her to begin their attack on Earth, causing the moon to descend. The government sends Simon to jail to ease the people, and he later breaks free with help from Yoko to take back Cathedral Terra as he leads Team Dai-Gurren to save Nia and destroy Antispiral. Managing to marry Nia before she fades away, Simon gives Lagann's key to both Gimmy and Darry as he leaves his friends to wander the planet as a wanderer still known and recognized.

In the epilogue, Simon is now an old man and watches his former comrades set out to contact other races throughout the galaxy to help prevent the Spiral Nemesis and ensure the universe's safety. It is revealed that the narrator at the beginning of most episodes is an older Simon.

Reader's Guide

Yoko Littner is a young woman from the village of Littner. She has considerable combat experience even before her chance meeting with Kamina and Simon. When a Gunman crashes through the roof of Giha village and prepares to attack the populace, Yoko, who had been tracking it, intervenes and attacks it with an electromagnetic rifle, disabling it and allowing Kamina and the villagers to flee. However, Kamina chooses to make advances at Yoko and initially diminishes her combat qualifications because of her gender, yet acknowledges 'that lady's spunk'.

She decides to accompany Simon and Kamina on their quest. Despite their constant banter, Yoko soon becomes infatuated with Kamina, with Simon also having feelings for her until he discovers the two kissing. She is stated to be the same age as Simon, but it is implied that Littner measures time differently, as all humans live underground and may have a differing number of days in a year. She is mature for her age and the most rational member of the group, traits which helped her to cope with Kamina's death.

After the war of liberation, in which she plays a major role, Yoko eschews taking part in politics at Kamina City. Desiring to distance herself from her warrior past, she takes the name Yomako and moves to remote Koreha Island, where she becomes a teacher at its elementary school. However, after learning of the events occurring at Kamina City and two gunmen attacking her, she temporarily leaves the island and breaks into Rinkane Jail to release Simon.

After leaving the prison with Boota, Simon and Viral, she joins the other members of Team Dai-Gurren and pilots the Dayakkaiser to pursue the war against the Anti-Spirals. In the epilogue, an older Yoko is seen at the school, now in the role of principal. Nia Teppelin is a mysterious young girl Simon finds sleeping in a capsule amidst a dump site when he was still distraught over Kamina's death. She is later revealed to be Lordgenome's daughter, who abandoned her. She had no prior contact with humans except her father, though she is very curious, pure and innocent.

Did You Know?

• Simon is voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara in Japanese and by Jessie James Grelle in the A.D. Vision dub and Yuri Lowenthal in the Bang Zoom! dub.
• Kamina's dying words to Simon are: 'Listen up, Simon, and don't forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the me who believes in you. Not in the you who believes in me. You should believe in yourself!'
• After the war of liberation, Yoko uses the pseudonym Yomako while working as a teacher at an elementary school on remote Kiyal Island.