Counting Down the 20 Coolest Characters in Anime - #3 Simon, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

"Remember this! This drill will open a hole in space. And that hole will become a road for those to follow! The hopes of the fallen and the hopes of those who will come...Combining these into a double helix, I'll dig a hole to the future! That's Tengen Toppa! That's Gurren Lagann! My drill is the the drill...THAT CREATES THE HEAVENS!!!!"

I'm going to admit; doing this character without spoiling too much from Gurren Lagann is going to be quite difficult. Well, don't say I didn't warn any of the people reading this. Anyways, most people argue that the coolest character from Gurren Lagann is the original badass leader of the team (the previously covered #6 on the list Kamina). However, those people are forgetful that as awesome and as manly as Kamina is, he's only around for six episodes. Everybody knows who the real drive behind the team came from, the actual pilot of the Gurren Lagann himself, Simon. Simon starts the series as a timid, occasionally brave boy who stands in Kamina's shadow but by the end of the series one could argue that Simon has surpassed Kamina in every foreseeable way.

From humble beginnings to the badass in the above pic

Simon begins the series as a humble digger, the best digger in his village. Of course, his best friend is the rowdy Kamina. The two make a pretty awesome pair, Kamina with the motivation and Simon with the skills to make the impossible possible. (or the possimpible as Barney Stinson would have you refer to it as) Once the two escape from underground and find themselves fighting the beastmen, it becomes clear that Simon is one hell of a badass. For one, he's able to fight much bigger units one on one even when he's in his tiny Lagann unit. Once he and Kamina form the full Gurren Lagann, it's where Simon really is able to show his stuff. However, despite his skills Simon doesn't really have a whole lot of confidence in himself, he draws most of his confidence from Kamina (who has plenty to spare). After Kamina's death Simon is forced to find himself and it's him who takes charge of Team Dai-Gurren and leads them to victory. It doesn't come easy of course, but Simon makes it look that way. In fact, Simon is so freaking manly that the sheer power of his manliness is enough to destroy nearby units because of the fact that he's just so goddamn manly!! In the second half of the series, Simon becomes the biggest badass in the show, fusing the Gurren Lagann to all kinds of things like the Moon, giant spaceships, Spiral Energy itself, etc. By the end of the series, while trapped in another dimension, Kamina even notes that Simon is now taller than him, showing that Simon has finally grown into his real role and has even surpassed Kamina as a man. Simon possesses Kamina's way with words and blends it with his own unique badass style and finds greatness.

Too much awesomeness in one picture

Gurren Lagann is a show literally about kicking logic to the curb and doing the impossible. It takes awhile for Simon to really grow into his own, but that is what makes him such a realistic and relatable character. How else was Simon supposed to act when the man who he drew his inspiration from passed away. Kamina was the driving force behind the team before then, however, one can't ignore that Simon was the one the whole time setting the example with his badass fighting. Simon finally grows into himself and blends Kamina's style with his own to become the ultimate champion of manliness (this is Gurren Lagann deal with it). I think that the viewer can really relate to Simon's journey of maturation and having to find himself because it's something that everyone goes through. Sure, most of us won't find ourselves by piloting a giant robot that draws it's power from pure awesomeness but the message still sticks. Like Kamina says "Don't believe in the me that believes in you, believe in the Simon that believes in you".

Like I said earlier, most people find Kamina to be synonymous with the Gurren Lagann franchise and find it easy to forget that Simon is actually the lead protagonist. I'm not saying that you should disregard Kamina as an awesome character, definitely not, he is #6 on this list for a reason after all. Gurren Lagann is about the maturation of a young man at the same time that it's about ridiculously awesome action and explosions. Simon belongs on this list because he is literally everything that Gurren Lagann is about.