Bungo Stray Dogs characters based on popular Western authors (Image via BONES)

8 Bungo Stray Dogs characters based on popular Western authors

Modified Jun 02, 2023 19:41 GMT

With Bungo Stray Dogs having announced its season 5 release date, fans have much of catching up to do. While the previous season ended a few months ago, fans have missed the characters and want them to return soon. That being said, the anime has a lot of characters, making the story quite complex.

However, something that is quite unique about Bungo Stray Dogs characters is that they are all named after real-life deceased or alive writers and poets. This allows the series to pay homage to their writing styles and help bring more attention to their works. However, as seen in the series, the anime not just pays homage to Japanese authors but also to Western authors.

Edgar Allen Poe and 7 other Bungo Stray Dogs characters based on popular Western authors

1) Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

Francis Fitzgerald as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is named after the deceased American novelist, most popularly known for his novel The Great Gatsby. Surprisingly, Fitzgerald's ability "The Great Fitzgerald" is also based on the book as his strength changes depending on the expense of his money.

The anime character is inspired by the novelist to the point that both the fictional character and the real-life counterpart are married to a woman named Zelda.

2) Ivan Goncharov

Ivan Goncharov as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Ivan Goncharov is named after the deceased Russian novelist of the same name who wrote The Precipice. As fans would know, his ability is named after the book. He can use "Precipice" to gain control over geological constructs.

The reasoning behind Ivan Goncharov's ability hasn't been explained. However, it can be presumed that his ability to control geological constructs was a way to pay homage to the author's rock manor.

3) Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Gogol as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Decay of the Angels member Nikolai Gogol is named after the deceased Russian novelist of the same name. The author had a famous book known as The Overcoat. Similar to other characters, that is the name of the character's ability.

Gogol's ability allows him to use his coat to manipulate spaces. This ability is derived from the famous saying about the author "We all came out from under Gogol's Overcoat."

4) Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

The Rats in the House of the Dead member Alexander Pushkin is named after the deceased Russian poet and playwright of the same name. The character's ability is called "A Feast in Time of Plague," which is derived from a play the playwright had written.

As for the ability itself, it infects two people with a special virus. The two given people are bound to die unless one of them gets killed, which will end the other's illness.

5) Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Edgar Allen Poe is named after the deceased American mystery writer who is most popularly known for his short stories, The Black Cat, and The Murders in the Rue Morgue. The character's ability is also derived from them as it is named "The Black Cat in the Rue Morgue."

The writer Edgar Allen Poe was known for writing stories in first-person narrative, which is what inspired the character's ability to transport his target to the setting of the novel that they are currently reading.

6) Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Former The Guild member Lucy Maud Montgomery is named after the deceased Canadian author who is known for her magnum opus, Anne of Green Gables. The character's ability is known as Anne of Abyssal Red.

When the author was young, she was lonely and had imaginary friends living in a fairy room. The author's past greatly inspired the character's ability as Anne of Abyssal Red allows Lucy to create an alternate reality known as "Anne's Room," allowing her to imprison people.

7) Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, previously associated with The Guild, is named after the deceased American writer of the same, most popularly known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Cthulhu Mythos deities are the fictional deities created by Lovecraft that regularly appear in his works.

Part of these deities are The Great Old Ones, which include Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, and Yig. "The Great Old Ones" is also the character's ability name as he could use it to turn into a tentacled eldritch monster, similar to Atsushi Nakajima's ability.

8) Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky as seen in Bungo Stray Dogs (Image via BONES)

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the leader of Rats in the House of the Dead and the Decay of the Angels member, is named after the deceased Russian novelist whose novel Crime and Punishment is hailed as a classic.

While Fyodor's ability is called "Crime and Punishment," it is yet to be entirely explained in Bungo Stray Dogs. However, it has been observed that it causes instant death on touch.

Edited by
Priya Majumdar