Tomoe (Kamisama Hajimemashita)

Tomoe is the main male protagonist from the Kamisama Hajimemashita anime and manga.

Tomoe is a fox yokai, presently serving as the familiar of Nanami Momozono.

Tomoe has been abandoned by his former master, Mikage, and left to care for the land god's crumbling shrine alone for the last twenty years.

When a powerless young girl named Nanami turns up on the shrine's doorstep bearing the wayward god's mark, Tomoe is furious. He refuses to become her familiar and vanishes, deciding instead to give himself over to a life of sloth, drink and debauchery. However, in the world "over yonder" things rarely go to plan, and through desperation and cleverness. Tomoe slowly starts to fall in love with Nanami and he always wants her to hold his hand and walk everywhere with him and talk to each other.

Appearance
Tomoe's over-the-top good looks earn him a bevy of admirers wherever he goes. He usually merely tolerates the attention, rejecting any deeper connection.

Yokai age very slowly. Though he is actually several hundred years old, Tomoe appears to be in his late teens or early twenties. His hair is silver-white, normally worn short but in ages past he allowed it to grow quite long. His ears are large and fox-like, and he is able to manipulate them in a similar fashion. His eyes are angled similarly to a fox's, with violet fox-like pupils that darken with strong emotion. He also appears to wear eyeliner but that's most likely not true. He has a very fluffy, full, white tail.

Wild fox Tomoe dressed with considerable flare in a dramatic, flame-patterned kimono, his hair long and loose and with a long samurai sword at his side. As a shinshi he is more conservative, wearing primarily a white yukata with a somber-colored haori in black or dark blue. It is clear he feels most comfortable in traditional clothing and goes barefoot as much as possible. He is ever practical however, and bows to necessity by dressing in the standard boy's uniform when he must accompany Nanami to school.

After the ten-year time skip, Tomoe appeared with shorter hair compared to his original appearance. His fox ears are also gone due to the fact that he was no longer a yokai, a fox spirit.

Personality
Tomoe tends to be cunning and sly as well as seemingly unaware of his own attractiveness but knows when to use his charms and handsome appearance when necessary to do so. He has a tendency to mock others due to him not being able to trust others that easily, such as at the beginning of the series where he said that there was no way a human girl like Nanami could be a god. He was very cold and condescending towards Nanami at first, but eventually warmed up to her and fell in love with her over time. Tomoe is extremely powerful and is capable of using kitsunebi, or fox-fire as well as using enchanted leaves to transform or control others.

He has a short temper, often shouting or telling Nanami off for being late home or for being clumsy, and is also quite straightforward and blunt, telling Nanami that she is annoying when she asked him about it one day. However, he has a strong sense of loyalty and pride, as well as very protective towards those he cares about.

Abilities
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Tomoe's unbound abilities elevate him very nearly to a god himself, and a short-tempered one at that. His powers, charm and good looks make him highly desirable as a shinshi among the many envious gods of he and Nanami's acquaintance, and a source of terror to other yokai.

In his early days as a wild fox, Tomoe was known for his ability to control vast oceans of foxfire, a supernatural inferno capable of quickly reducing his enemies to piles of ash. He can also use his foxfire to fly through the air, locate persons or objects or simply light the way home. He is a formidable swordsman and can change his appearance and that of others with the aid of enchanted leaves. He has exceptional hearing, strength, dexterity and a dependable "sixth sense". His fingers and toes are tipped with razor sharp claws, and he is not above using them should the need arise. Perhaps most deadly of all, however, he is highly intelligent, sly, courageous, clever and resourceful.

Nor can it be denied that Tomoe can be a hard worker when he sets his mind to it. Though he certainly enjoys his leisure time, he takes very seriously his duties as a shinshi of Mikage shrine, and is meticulous in ensuring that everything is kept clean and in good repair on a daily basis. He also protects and cares for Nanami, handling all the cooking, cleaning and laundry while she is at school or practicing her divine powers. Though he himself does not need to eat, he threw himself into the perfection of his culinary skills with very positive results. This too has become a weapon in the clever fox's arsenal, as he will passive-aggressively insert shitaki mushrooms into Nanami's food when she has irritated him in some way, or threaten to cook an enemy or turn them into sashimi.

Kitsunebi (Fox-fire)
Tomoe is able to control enchanted blue flames called kitsunebi, allowing to to burn anything around him at will. In the anime it is shown that the kitsunebi have short-life spans, dissipating once their job is done, as well as being able to talk and have their own personalities.

Tomoe used this ability many times, such as when he was trying to burn up Yonomori shrine and when he he is fighting.

Transform
He uses enchanted leaves to transform himself or someone into something else. He transformed Kurama into an ostrich while he turned Himemiko’s servant into a fish, threatening his enemies to cook them. He was also able to transform in Nanami and substitute for her when she was sick and couldn't go to school. Another time this technique was used was when he was mortally wounded by the God of War 500 years ago in the past, transforming himself into a child in an attempt to deceive people into thinking he was a human not a yokai.

Trivia

 * In the manga, Tomoe is seen wearing fancy kimonos with butterfly patterns, but in the anime, he is seen wearing regular kimonos (some of which are adorned with flower patterns).
 * Tomoe is actually over 628 years old.
 * In the manga, Tomoe's eyes are portrayed as being yellowish or even green in color, but in the anime and some of the covers of the manga, his eyes are a purple color.
 * According to Akura-Ou, Tomoe has a fox like habit of hiding his precious things. This could explain why Tomoe is always trying to hide Nanami away from others, males included.
 * Tomoe is a rare female Japanese name that means "friend and blessing". It's also a Japanese abstract shape (a swirl) that resembles a comma or the usual form of magatama. The symbol is quite similar to the Yin-Yang symbol for balance and it is made up of interlocked flames resembling tadpoles.
 * In the manga, Tomoe refers to Nanami as his "Master" but in the anime version, he refers to her as either his "Lady" or "Mistress".
 * Tomoe seems to have a fascination with hair. In the manga we see him kiss Yukiji's hair while holding her. He buys Nanami a hairpin even though she rarely puts her hair up, and then finds a reason to use it later (showing that he is good at hair styling). He plays with young-Nanami's hair in the 12 Zodiac arc. In the anime, Episode 6, Tomoe plays with her bangs after checking her temperature. In the manga, we also see him getting his hair cut (after he is changed back to normal from his chibi self). In chapter 92 Tomoe holds Nanami while patting her head, touching her hair.
 * Tomoe's favorite food is sasamochi (bamboo leaf covered rice cake). He came to like it because originally Nanami fed it to him when he was injured in the past arc although he has no recollection of it in present.
 * In the manga, he had 3 types of hairstyles, one similar to Kirihito's current hairstyle, a bob cut and his long hair, however in the anime, Tomoe was only seen having the latter two.
 * Tomoe never fell in love with Yukiji. The woman he fell in love with was Nanami - who was disguised as Yukiji. Tomoe described the things he loved about Yukiji to Kuromaro, all of which were about Nanami or things she had done while in his presence.
 * Tomoe has only ever shed tears twice in the manga, but never in the anime.
 * Due to his hair length, catlike ears, and tail, most of the fans often compare Tomoe to InuYasha, the half demon from the anime InuYasha.
 * He has shown a fondness for roller coasters.