Ban Midou
Sometimes serious, sometimes bumbling and unfocused, but always 110% confident and self-assured, Ban Midou is the brains behind the Get Backers (which would explain why all their plans go bust on them. Unfortunately, Ban has nothing on Murphy’s Law).
At first sight, Ban seems silly, immature, and directionless, but (and that is a word that often comes up when describing him) he is actually very calculating and shrewd. He is a genius in battle, using raw power and speed to trounce his opponents when they least expect it. And in fact, he is okay with the constant underestimation of his power because it gives him all the more reason to overwhelm and surprise whoever it is he’s battling. The best example of this includes Ayame from the first arc in Limitless Fortress. With only little provocation, Ban immediately jumped into the fight to show Ayame’s lack of skills, completely taking him by surprise. And when “cornered”, he broke through Ayame’s supposedly impenetrable defenses through sheer willpower alone. In fact, his strong willpower and secretive nature is what makes Ban so dangerous to begin with.
Of course, refusal to acknowledge Ban’s great skills after he’s made them clear is not much appreciated. Ban wants the respect he feels he deserves (which is where his ego and arrogance kick in) and if he doesn’t get it, you best be prepared for a good verbal or physical beatdown. Even when making jokes or being immature, Ban means what he says, and he holds everyone else to the same standards. This experience with words and his intuitive nature makes him excellent at reading and predicting people, and he can tell if you can support your bragging when talking big. On the flip side, only very few people can do the same to him.
Basically, Ban’s opinion of himself is that only HE has the right to brag, since no one is good enough to compete with him anyway.
Despite his fighting prowess, Ban tends to “run away” or abandon his fights at any given point, giving the impression that’s he very cowardly and dishonorable–and unfortunately, he’s made a few enemies that will vouch for this. But when it comes down to it, his reasoning (or excuse, depending on how you look at it) is that he’s running a business whose point is to get back stolen items, not dabble in battles. To him, fighting is just an aside that just comes with the territory of being a Get Backer, and he never fights unless he HAS to or there is no other option. It may seem contradictory considering that Ayame worked little to goad Ban into conflict, but I would like to point out that Ban probably already knew that the conflict was inevitable. He fights only after assessing the situation as advantageous towards him, something that MakubeX figured out early.
Anyway, up until this point I’ve harped on the darker side of Ban. However, he does have morals that he sticks to–and this good side is highlighted by Ginji’s presence. Actually, I’d say that Ban needs Ginji as much as Ginji needs Ban, although it may not seem like that on the surface. Since Ban likes to make decisions on his own it may seem that being alone is the best way he works, but once he finds a team he likes, he’ll stick to it loyally (though circumstances keep pushing him to move on–making him seem like the bad guy in the process. Like I said, Murphy’s Law). He’s actually very warm-hearted, and has a surprisingly forgiving nature. Ban is also firm and protective of those people and things that matter to him, and the one thing that he cannot stay silent about is the exploitation of the weaker by the stronger.
And it doesn’t hurt that he’s highly intelligent off-battle too– he’s knowledgeable about the arts and sciences, understands German fluently (or well enough to translate it on the spot), and can even play the violin!
But that’s nothing you didn’t know already, right?
I don’t approve of his awful smoking habit. He def. picked it up from his father [genetic] and Yamato [environmental]. Although this is the ONE thing I would change about him if I could, I still find myself iffy on this subject. After all, the lighter has sentimental value to him.
Top Quotes
“And is that make-up or were you mugged by a bag of flour?!”
“Being invincible sure gets boring sometimes…”
“We get back we shouldn’t be gone–and the Get Backers never fail!”
“You stupid brats always say the same thing. What about you? What do you know about other people? You better stop assuming the pain you feel is anything unique or special. Well, I doubt that telling you that will do any good, so if you got a problem, why not just keep coming at me? Maybe getting your ass kicked over and over will do you some good. I know it helped ME…”
“Just a minute. Did you have a nice dream?”
Get Backers 
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