For fans of the isekai genre, Eminence in Shadow is a fascinating story that delivers on the tropes we’ve come to love while also subverting them in a fun, fresh way. The success of its anime adaptation can largely be attributed to its comical premise, but even more so, its cast of incredibly quirky characters.
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With a number of characters introduced in the anime’s first season, fan favorites are beginning to emerge, and previously overshadowed characters are quickly gaining popularity. Based on MAL ratings, and the internet and social media’s response, these are the characters we just can’t get enough of.
Zeta is the sixth member of the Seven Shadows, and one of the two beastkin among its otherwise elf members. While we haven’t seen much of her in the anime, manga and translated light novels, the few glimpses we’ve got reveal she acts as a scout and intelligence operative for Shadow Garden.
Even though she is a beastkin who is usually impulsive and wild, Zeta isknown for her shrewdness, efficiency, and calculating nature. Her lone-wolf style of operating and tomboyish personality has been well-received by fans.
The seventh and last member of the Seven Shadows, Eta is the head of Shadow Garden’s research division and the brains behind its technological innovations. She is an elf and the second weakest member of the Seven Shadows but possesses an intelligence so high she even managed to reverse-engineer an internal combustion engine just from his stories.
Like Zeta, Eta is not a character we’ve had much time within the anime and light novels. From what we have seen of her, she appears to have a sleeping disorder and is often found napping or sleepwalking by other members. Her mad-scientist vibes and morally ambiguous approach make others wary of her, but that also makes her extremely intriguing to fans.
Gamma is the third and weakest member of the Seven Shadows. She is also its most enterprising and intelligent member and runs Mitsugoshi through her public persona as its director, Luna. Since she lacks combat skills, she pours her efforts into expanding Shadow Garden’s influence and acts as the strategist for their operations.
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Fans immediately fell in love with her adorably clumsy nature, which she tries to hide with an outwardly elegant demeanor. Lamenting her weakness, she devoted all her efforts to understanding Cid’s “Shadow Wisdom,” quickly grasping complex economic concepts, and even creating many of Mitsugoshi’s modern products. Even Cid is forced to realize the difference in their intellect, but of course, Gamma remains blissfully unaware of that.
The fifth of the Seven Shadows, Epsilon is known for being the best at controlling magic, even better than Alpha. She uses her public identity as Shiron, a genius composer and musician, to infiltrate aristocratic circles, gather information, and conduct espionage.
Epsilon is a very proud elf and uses her slime bodysuit to pad her figure. She has a longstanding rivalry with Beta, who are both competing to win Shadow’s affection. Her pride and motivations can best be described as ‘refreshingly fake.’ This, coupled with her tsundere tendencies, makes her immensely popular among fans.
6Claire Kagenou
Cid’s older, overbearing, and over-protective sister. Claire is the heir to the Kagenou family and is considered one of the most talented Dark Knights in the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy. People often call her a prodigy, comparing her to her mediocre brother. But Claire is sharp enough to realize that although she wins their duals, she always learns from her brother, but he never learns from her.
Claire is an ardent believer in Cid’s potential but continuously worries about his nonchalance and lack of motivation. Her brother complex gets triggered when anyone threatens to harm Cid, at which point she needs to be physically restrained from meting out violence. Fans have come to appreciate her sharp-tongued but caring personality.
5Alexia Midgar
As the second princess of Midgar, Alexia has always been compared to her talented elder sister, Iris, the strongest Dark Knight in Midgar. Her inferiority complex eventually drove the sisters apart, and she came to loathe her uninspired, ‘ordinary’ swordsmanship. However, after accepting Cid’s fake confession and witnessing Shadow’s peerless skills, she begins to take pride in her own technique and grows to cherish their bond in her own tsundere way.
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Alexia’s popularity shot up with the anime’s first season, largely due to the amazing voice acting by Kana Hanazawa. Her spoiled, condescending attitude is the furthest thing you’d expect from a proper princess – a facade she maintains for the public – but her sadistic nature, unfiltered opinions, and pragmatism have gained her a die-hard fan base.
The second of the Seven Shadows, Beta is a versatile, jack-of-all-trades operative, proficient in intelligence, combat, leadership, and espionage, without being the best at any one of them. Her public identity is Natsume Kafka, a celebrated author of many “original” works, which are all plagiarized versions of popular stories Cid recounted to her.
Beta keeps a journal with her at all times, in which she diligently documents Shadow’s actions. Anyone reading it, however, might notice she swaps out any damsel he dashingly saves with a character that sounds suspiciously like herself. Her fierce loyalty, beauty, and occasional fangirling make her one of the top favorites.
Alpha was the very first member Cid recruited to Shadow Garden. Being the strongest of the Seven Shadows, she used her strength and leadership to rescue other victims of possession and quickly grew Shadow Garden into the international organization it is today.
Alpha is a direct descendant of the ancient hero Olivier, even sharing strikingly similar features to her ancestor. While her strength is comparable to Shadow’s, she constantly strives to better herself so that she can stand at his side and ensure his well-being. Hercompassion, beauty, and charismahave charmed many fans, gaining her one of the top 3 spots on this list.
Delta is the second beastkin and fourth member of the Seven Shadows. In terms of strength, she ranks only behind Shadow and Alpha, but unlike the other members, Delta possesses no skill or technique.What she does pack, however, is pure, brute strength, with which she one-sidedly decimates her enemies.
Unlike Zeta, Delta is more like the stereotypical beastkin. She has the razor-sharp instincts of a natural predator, but her wild, impulsive personality caused even Cid to give up on teaching her any technique. Instead, he told her to just pack a bunch of magic into her attacks, which has worked out pretty well for her. Her simple, straightforward nature and brute-force solution to every problem never fail to amuse fans, earning her the number 2 spot on this list.
1Cid Kagenou
Like children dream of becoming superheroes, Cid always dreamed of being like the mysterious masterminds you see in stories. He devoted his life to achieving this but was only able to realize it when he got hit by a truck and was reborn in a fantasy world. Improvising the Cult of Diablos story, Cid created Shadow Garden to play at being a mastermind, not realizing the Cult actually existed.
Living a dual life, Cid acts as a background character by day and the enigmatic Shadow by night. All his actions can be attributed to him acting out his fantasies or just trying to be cool, but they get wildly misinterpreted by others as deep, calculated decisions. As one of the most novel, interesting protagonists to come out of recent isekai, he is a constant source of fun and craziness. And fans have responded by giving him the top spot, no contest.
