Elfen Lied takes place in Japan, focusing on a new strain of the human race - Diclonius, entirely similar to ordinary human beings, yet different at the genetic level and notable due to physical abnormalities, particularly a pair of short horn-like protrusions. One such Diclonius, Lucy, is the anti-heroine of the series: initially held in a facility built for experimentation, located off the coast of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, she manages to escape and wreak havoc, but is injured in the process, an event which causes her to develop a secondary, child-like personality known as Nyu.She is found by two local residents, Kohta, who studies at the local university, and his cousin Yuka. They agree to take her in, becoming involved with the numerous, often brutal, attempts to recapture Lucy by a Special Assault Team and a number of other Diclonius, who shift from oblivious to murderous frequently. Other characters include Bando, a SAT trooper who was mauled by Lucy and infected with a virus, and Kurama, a carrier of the virus.While the animated series ends with a fight between Lucy and Mariko, Kurama's daughter, after which Lucy disappears, the manga continues by showing the mad plans of Kakuzawa, leader of the Diclonius' research, and his ultimate failure. The world itself is endangered.The story is rarely completely action-packed, and while there are instances of brutal fights, they often end abruptly in massacres. Humanity is portrayed as extremely immoral, experimenting on the Diclonius constantly. The humans and Diclonius are prejudiced towards each other. It is unclear which of the two factions is truly evil; while humans are demonized through their cruelty over the Diclonius, the latter are depicted as bloody murderers from youth. * Lucy (ルーシー , Rūshī?) is a Diclonius girl around eighteen years old. Lucy has developed strong emotions of hatred and vengeance towards regular humans mainly because of how she was treated by the majority of them as a child, making fun of her horns and giving her insulting nicknames such as freak. As a child, she bonded with a dog which was killed right in front of her by classmates, which triggered her first killing. She seems to lack empathy, kills without much concern, and acts somewhat sadistically, often torturing victims before killing (such as Bandou and Nana, though she failed in killing them both); however, towards the end of the series, she begins to show remorse for her actions, especially towards Kohta, whose father and sister were killed by her. She is aware of her "Nyu" state as revealed in the manga by her worries just before she reverts. "Lucy" is not actually her real name; the last chapter of the manga reveals that her name is actually Kaede. Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English) * Nyu (にゅう, Nyū?) is a split personality of Lucy that developed after a .50 BMG round ricocheted off the metallic helmet encasing her head.[5] Nyu has a childlike personality and infantile knowledge of the world, forgetting even that she is a Diclonius and how to use or manifest her vectors, leaving her as what is equivalent to a human with horns. She initially lacks spoken language skills; however, she eventually learns a handful of words and phrases until (in the manga) she can finally speak properly despite the fact she still uses the nonsensical phrase nyu as her catchphrase. Nyu is innocent and incapable of violent acts, a foil to the normally cold and sadistic Lucy; she is the manifestation of her "good side". Whenever Nyu hits her head or when she is confronted with violence, she reverts to her sadistic side, Lucy, though is unaware of her actions while in her "Lucy" state. Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English) * Kohta (コウタ, Kōta?) is around nineteen years old and enters the story when his cousin's family allows him to move in to their closed-down inn in exchange for maintenance while he goes to a local university. Kohta has repressed traumatic memories of his father's and sister's deaths during his childhood. Because of him repressing his memories, Kohta does not remember Lucy from when he met her earlier as a child, nor does he remember the child Yuka (which causes problems for him and Yuka in the manga due to Yuka's feelings for him; she is hurt at being forgotten). Due in part to his loss, he has a soft spot for girls in trouble and is extremely generous and protective to the girls around him. He is more forgiving in the anime, but when he gets his memories back in the manga, he is unforgiving towards Lucy for killing his father and sister. Even so, he also remembers the happy memories that he shared with Lucy, and loves her despite the horrible things she's done. Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Adam Conlon (English) * Yuka (ユカ?) is Kohta's cousin. She is around nineteen years old and attends the same university as Kohta. She last saw Kohta when they were ten, parting ways with him on the same night in which Lucy killed Kohta's family, completely oblivious to the events following their last meeting. She moves in with him at the inn after having not seen him in many years. She has had a crush on Kohta since childhood, and is uncomfortable with Nyu's attachment to him. Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Nancy Novotny (English)