Kafka Hibino

Kafka Hibino grew up determined to join the Defense Force, the branch of the military that fights giant monsters called kaiju, after one of these creatures destroyed his hometown when he was a child. Despite that promise, he fails the Defense Force's entrance exam year after year and ends up working for a cleanup crew that handles the mess kaiju attacks leave behind.

Everything changes when a strange, parasite-like kaiju flies into Kafka's mouth and merges with his body, giving him the power to transform into a kaiju himself. Terrified of what people will think, Kafka hides this secret while he finally earns a spot in the Defense Force under a false story, becoming known publicly only as the monster called Kaiju No. 8.

Kafka's personality balances goofy, easy-going humor with a fierce loyalty to the people he cares about, especially his childhood friend Mina Ashiro, who is now his superior officer, and Reno Ichikawa, a much younger recruit who renews his drive to keep trying. Though he struggles with the fear of being discovered, Kafka's warmth and determination quickly earn him real friends inside the Defense Force.