Simon (Gurren Lagann) - Character Description

Character Description

As a boy, Simon is physically underdeveloped for his age (early teens), standing at around 5-feet tall. He wears a long sleeved blue and red jacket and brown shorts, topped with a pair of yellow and red goggles and brown work shoes. He has indigo hair and wide eyes with small pupils, and his iris color was eventually revealed to be an almost the same color as his hair. Simon also ties on shin guards and sports a cloth waistband, and the Core Drill hangs from a fastened leather string around his neck. Originally, Simon wore a dusty brown cloak, which eased his passage through the narrow tunnels of the underground, but this cloak was blown off by the wind during the initial escape from Giha Village.

Though valued as one of the most skilled diggers in Giha Village, Simon is ignored by the adults and snubbed by the girls, who consider him disgusting because of his peculiar habits and odd smell. Lacking parental figures to help him mature, along with his fear of earthquakes, Simon is plagued by low self-esteem and has many cowardly tendencies. Even after his friendship with Kamina, he continues to act cowardly and doubts his own abilities. However, Kamina's inspirational speeches gives Simon just enough confidence to endure his fears and to accomplish something. Young Simon is also susceptible to bouts of intense determination, such as when he charged at the Gunzar (later, the Gurren) and the Enki.

In Part II, Simon is thrown into a maddening, pervasive depression, driving him to be overly aggressive in combat toward his enemies. Although the entire Team Dai-Gurren is mired in low morale, Simon is particularly affected as he feels he is personally responsible for the tragedy that befell the entire team. His psychotic outbursts and pessimistic comments further isolate him among the Team, even as some members reach out to him. Simon's meeting with the mysterious Nia helps him come to a revelation about his own nature, leading to him putting aside all fears and doubts in favour of courage and confidence. He also manages to come up with his own original inspirational speeches, though some team members feel he needs some work.

As an adult in Part III, Simon acts no differently from his child self in Part II, though he is considerably lazier. He grows significantly, and stands taller than Kamina at a bit more than 6-feet. At this time, Simon wears stylish white oxford shoes and long pants, with a white collared shirt and an embroidered blue, red, and gold jacket, topped off with a red sash. Simon is quite shy with love, having gathered the courage to propose marriage to Nia seven years after Part II. He is also revealed to be excessively optimistic and naïve, allowing Rossiu to character assassinate him and refusing to cease attempts to reconcile with Nia.

In Part IV, Simon has a change of wardrobe, wearing grey low-rise jeans, a black neck brace and plastic black haramaki, and donning a long, indigo trenchcoat with red accents, sporting the Team Dai-Gurren logo on the back. Part IV marks a significant and abrupt change in character for Simon; he no longer has a driving desire to better the world, but is satisfied to let human life lead its own course. Especially evident during the final battle, Simon's physique and hairstyle now more resemble Kamina's than his own. With his life having peaked in the final battle for the universe, Simon hands off all of his personal responsibilities to his friends, and leads a lonely but seemingly content low-profile life well into the epilogue.