Masane Amaha (天羽 雅音 Amaha Masane) age 23
The primary protagonist of the series. A very well endowed female, her assets are often used as a running gag. She is also somewhat tomboyish, not giving much care for her disposition or appearance (in fact, she was often referred to, particularly by Takayama, as a "mountain monkey" wink at one point. She is the bearer of the Witchblade. She seems to have become the Witchblade bearer during an event that destroyed most of Tokyo 6 years before the beginning of the series. Masane is also the caring mother of Rihoko Amaha. Although she is "Riko's" mother, Masane seems to be a little ditsy at times, making Rihoko seem like she is the responsible one. She has a very deep attachment to her daughter. However, the NSWF's Child Welfare Division wants to take Rihoko from Masane because Masane doesn't have any means of income for taking care of Rihoko and the possibility that Masane may not be the actual mother. It is then revealed at the end of episode 12 that Masane is not Rihoko's mother, but still wants to be her mother. As the bearer of the Witchblade, while fighting she gains superhuman capabilities such as enhanced regenerative abilities, speed, endurance and strength, but her normal personality is eclipsed by that of a berserker which derives an almost erotic pleasure from combat and bloodshed (though she gradually learns to control herself as the series progresses). While inactive, the Witchblade appears as a silver bracelet with a red jewel on her right wrist which she can never remove. While active, the blade produces a black and silver armor that covers her body and gives her an extendable blade on her right arm. In this state, her hair color changes to red and grows longer. After Masane unlocks the full power of the Witchblade the armor changes to red and purple, and gives her two blades on both arms. In this state her hair color becomes white and she seems to be able to use it in offensive moves, shown when she uses it to destroy a police car. Towards the end of the series, as the Witchblade's power begins to break down Masane's body, her hair color changes from red to white while in an "enhanced" state. Masane is doomed from the very beginning of the series: as the wielder of the Witchblade she cannot remove it without cutting her own arm, and while using the power of the monstrous artifact, her body starts to give in and crumble (to the point of her senses becoming dulled and, in the case of taste, disappearing completely). Knowing that after her death the Witchblade would seek her daughter, as Masane herself is nothing but a temporary host, she chooses death, and so dies in the end of the last episode, obliterating herself, the Witchblade and the huge army of I-weapons that came to destroy her. What remains of her is just a shell given to her by her daughter as a gift, which is given to Rihoko, carried by one of the many stardust-like particles created in the aftermath of Masane's sacrifice.
