Counting Down the 20 Coolest Anime Characters - #20 Kittan Black, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

"So this is the power of the spiral...Not bad...Not bad at all."
                                                                     -Kittan

Seems fitting that a show like Gurren Lagann would produce the first character on this list. To me, Kittan is one of the most underrated characters in the show. Of course, it's hard to stand out when one is surrounded by so many characters that each exude so much badassitude already. Kittan is a character that I certainly didn't really pick up on during my first run through of the show. However, the second time that I got around to watching it he was the character that really stood out.

Kittan and the other members of the Black Siblings

Kittan was the leader of the "Black Siblings" a group that consisted of himself and his three sisters. In the earliest episodes he never aligns himself entirely with Kamina, Simon, and Yoko. However, the parallels between him and Kamina are quite apparent. One of the key aspects of his character is the traits about him that make him so much like Kamina and yet the ones that make him so different. After Kamina's death, Kittan takes it upon himself to be the leader of Team Dai-Gurren, a task that he finds he isn't quite good at. He lacked Kamina's ability inspire the troops in any situation no matter what the odds were. However, Kittan learns that his ability to inspire didn't come from his words but from simply leading by example. Kittan's real value that while Simon pulled from the top, Kittan pushed from below. Kittan found his niche as the leader of the team's grunt soldiers. Like most characters in the show, Kittan was not lacking in the badassery department. In fact, Kittan was the the first one to rally the others around Kamina's cause. Kittan showed up with the cavalry in the first battle against General Tymylf and stole Gunmen for the other soldiers to use. Not to mention that he makes his entrance in a badass, Big Damn Heroes style. Kittan is also important for the fact that he's the one that goes to bat for Simon after the time-skip and seems to be the only one who still remembers the spirit of Team Dai-Gurren before the fight against the Anti-Spiral. After Kamina's death, Kittan is the character who embodies the spirit of the team, their never say die spirit and their willingness to fight against near impossible odds.

Like I said before, it's easy the first time around to miss Kittan. After all, he's not one of the principal main characters and doesn't get as much development as Simon or even Yoko. However, I was surprised the second time around at how strong of a character he was. Kittan's strengths are never the ones that people pick up on right off the bat. Frequently, the show likes to portray him as a shadow of Kamina, and insecurity that Kittan certainly carries with him after Kamina's death. Kittan's crowning moment is in the battle against the Anti-Spiral. He gets an episode all to himself and it really shows how far he's come as a character. In earlier episodes, he was brash and arrogant, trying to be someone he wasn't. In this episode it's seen that Kittan knows this and the insecurity he feels about not being able to be the same man that Kamina was hurts him deeply. All of Gurren Lagann's characters had to deal with Kamina's death and the fact that he was no longer there to inspire them. I thought that Kittan's despair in the fact that he could never be that kind of man was the most interesting and underrated storyline in that respect. In Kittan's special episode he comes to terms with the fact that he's not Kamina and goes on to pull off acts of badassery that might even top Kamina in that department. Kittan serves as a reminder that it's while it's great to want to be like your idol, you should never forget who you are and embrace what makes you great as well.

Kittan is a super cool character, even when you just take his badass exploits at face value. Deep down though what makes him so cool is the complex character that he is beneath. In a universe in which just being a badass makes you pretty normal, Kittan actually manages to surpass many of his more famous comrades. Not to mention that he's a reminder of the show's themes of being yourself and "kicking logic to the curb and doing the impossible. If anyone serves as a reminder of how Team Dai-Gurren rolls, it's Kittan.