Yamitaro Ankokuji

Inspector Yamitaro Ankokuji is a police detective that first appeared in the original Mazinger Z manga. He appears mostly during the first part of the manga, first appearing when the Mazinger Z went out of control.

Background
While little is known about the Inspector's past, he mentioned that his family has been involved in generations of the Yakuza. At some point rather than follow family traditions, he joined the police.

Appearance
Ankokuji is a large man dressed in a trench coat and fedora. He has messy black hair with long and thick sideburns and black eyes. He is a tall and rather intimidating figure that people like Shiro call him gangster-like.

Personality
Inspecteor Ankokuji is an officer of the law dedicated to keeping the peace, tracking down whatever leads he can find to deal with an emergency. Despite the outburst of the Mazinger Z, Ankokuji is not black and white allowing Koji Kabuto and the Photon Power Laboratory to fight against the Mechanical Beasts. He has shown a tendency to get quite annoyed when people are speaking in words with hidden meaning.

Abilities
As a police inspector, Ankokuji has keen observation and intuition; accurately surmising an attempted kidnapping/assassination of Koji. Ankokuji is very well versed with guns able to quickly use a single shot to kill an Iron Mask and can even dual wield pistols when dealing with multiple enemies. He has also been trained in boxing and karate.

History
Ankokuji was first seen when the Mazinger Z first went on a rampage. Noticing the high durability, the inspector went to the Photon Power Laboratory to get answers. Seeing the fight from a screen, he gets the gist of what occurred that lead to the current events. With the Mazinger now in control, Ankokuji witnessed it effortlessly stop the attacking Mechanical Beasts. After the incident, the inspector kept a close eye on the Kabuto brothers due to the media attention potentially attracting enemies. His fears were right and the Iron Helmets attacked; the inspector saved the boys when they were surrounded and he took Shiro to safety as Koji left to fight after the inspector brought him out of his dilemma after forcing to kill an Iron Mask. After this, he only appeared in a few short cameos, or when very serious events took place.

Etymology
Both Inspector Ankokuji's given and family name when translated mean 'Darkness Child'.