Footsoldier D

Footsoldier D looks like the other Dusters—villain soldiers with black suits and skull-like faces. He only shows this form during battle.

Most of the time, he uses his ability to disguise himself as a human. In this human form, he looks like a young man, but it’s just an imitation. If he gets hurt, his true identity can be revealed.

His main disguise is Hibiki Sakurama, whose real look is not fully explained. Sometimes this form is called "Young Man D" in the anime.

Footsoldier D is full of rebellion and wants to take down the hero squad, especially the five Dragon Keepers.

He acts confident and proud, but this is mostly to hide his inner worries and doubts.

D cares for those who are nice to him, even if they are enemies or humans. He can be kind to people on both sides, showing he’s not an ordinary monster.

He likes fair fights and doesn’t want to win by cheating or using hostages. D wants to fight as a true enemy of justice, not just play a villain in a fake show.

He isn’t used to human society and often misunderstands regular things. For example, he had to learn how to use a knife and fork to eat steak.

The author says D looks very confident outside, but is always struggling with fears inside. This story is about him searching for a version of himself he can accept.

D was created as one of the lowest-ranked Dusters from the villain army, born right after the war between the heroes and villains began.

He is 13 years old when the story starts, and he has been forced to lose over and over during fixed battles held under a peace agreement every Sunday.

After one wild attack outside the plan, D is defeated by Red Keeper. This pushes him to defy the heroes, especially the Dragon Keepers, and sneak into their ranks.

Inside the hero squad, D uses the name Hibiki Sakurama as his undercover identity, and is called "D" when acting as a soldier.

• Basic Combat Skills: D has trained in battle after years of fighting, but his body is very fragile.

• Immortality: Dusters like him can survive deadly attacks, but they aren’t truly unkillable.

• Disintegration: He can break his body apart into dust. He uses this to escape or transform.

• Reconstruction: He can rebuild or reshape his body, create weapons out of his arms, and even pull his body parts back if they get cut off.

• Disguise: D is especially good at disguising as a human. The more he knows about someone, the better the disguise.

He is much better than other Dusters at using these powers, doing creative things like hiding his body by crumbling it from his legs up, or controlling his dust to sneak behind enemies.

Annoyed By Fake Battles

D is sick of losing staged Sunday fights against the hero squad called the Dragon Keepers. He hates these planned battles and wants real action.

Breaking The Script

One day, disguised as a young man, he meets Yumeko Suzukiri and Hibiki Sakurama when trying to watch a battle. D then jumps into the fight as Footsoldier D and breaks the script by attacking seriously.

He is defeated by Red Keeper, but this event sparks his plan to infiltrate and destroy the hero squad from inside.

Infiltrating the Hero Squad

D sneaks into the entry test for new squad members and gets in. He is welcomed by Yumeko Suzukiri and Hibiki Sakurama but quickly gets found out.

Yumeko offers to help D take down the heroes. Hibiki offers to build a world where humans and monsters can live together. D decides to accept Hibiki’s form and sneaks deeper into the organization.

Rivalry and Team-Ups

He steals an important weapon from Red Keeper for Yumeko. He barely escapes, aided by Hibiki.

D and Hibiki make a deal: they’ll each try to "fix" the hero squad their own way, and whoever does it first wins.

Bonds and Growth

While inside, D slowly learns about human behavior and feelings. He cares about friends and even feels pain when he thinks someone has died because of him.

He helps Kanon Hisui and Angel Usukubo when they’re in trouble, and remembers advice to trust his own choices.

D rebels against the heroes who force faked battles, and also against villain bosses who treat the soldiers badly.

He can be ruthless against some opponents, like Red Keeper, but shows mercy or respect to those he likes or understands, even if they’re enemies.

His Meaning of “Enemy” and “Ally”

To D, an "enemy" is anyone he really dislikes and wants to defeat. But if he starts to like or care about someone, whether they’re human or monster, he doesn’t want to kill them anymore. This idea often affects his choices in battle.

• Hibiki Sakurama: The human D transforms into. Their partnership changes D’s way of thinking, and they support each other with their own goals.
• Yumeko Suzukiri: First seen as strange and scary, but D comes to respect her willpower, especially after she leaves the battlefield.
• Ranmaru Koguma: D felt strongly when Ranmaru was thought to be killed and acted unconsciously out of anger.
• Kanon Hisui: D helps her out on missions, and saves her when she’s in danger.
• Angel Usukubo: D listens to her reasons for fighting and even encourages her to control her own life instead of being manipulated.
• Red Keeper (Sosei Akabane): D is willing to do anything to defeat him, even attacking from behind without warning.
• Green Keeper (Chidori): When his cover is blown, D is unsure if Chidori is like Red Keeper or not, and hesitates to kill him.

D’s feelings and actions toward people depend on whether he likes or dislikes them, not on which side they are on.

"I’ll defeat them. Every last one of our enemies."

• Footsoldier D appears solo on the covers of Volume 3 (as Hibiki Sakurama) and Volume 13.
• The story is about a villain grunt trying to become someone he can be proud of, not just a disposable bad guy.

• D has no real knowledge of how normal humans live, leading to many funny situations.
• In the anime, there's a scene where he learns how to use utensils to eat steak.