Spy x Family takes place in a pastiche of Cold War Europe, where the nations of Westalis and Ostania are locked in an uneasy peace. Westalis's best spy, codenamed Twilight, is given a mission that can't be solved with gadgets or guns: he has to build a family. In a week. He adopts an orphan girl and marries a woman he barely knows, not realising that his daughter can read minds and his wife is a professional assassin.
The joke that powers the series is that every member of the household is hiding something from the others, and that none of them want the fake family to end. The cast splits into the Forgers themselves, the spies and secret police circling them, and the kids and parents of Eden Academy, where Anya's school life is Loid's mission.
- Creator
- Tatsuya Endo
- Manga
- Shonen Jump+, 2019–present
- Anime studios
- Wit Studio and CloverWorks
- Setting
- Berlint, capital of Ostania
- Film
- Spy x Family Code: White (2023)
The Forger family
The Forgers live in an apartment in Berlint, and their life together is the heart of the series. Almost every episode is about one of them stretching their cover, or their feelings, a little further.
Loid Forger
Twilight · Westalian spy
Loid is a master of disguise who can play anyone. In Berlint he works as a psychiatrist at a hospital. He grew up as a war orphan and became a spy so that no other child would have to live through what he did. He treats the Forger family as an operation, yet the series keeps showing that he's become a devoted, over-anxious father who plans for Anya's school quizzes as carefully as his missions.
- Voice
- Takuya Eguchi (JP), Alex Organ (EN)
Yor Forger
Thorn Princess · Assassin
Yor Briar is a polite, awkward city hall clerk by day, and by night a top assassin for an organisation called the Garden. She agrees to marry Loid because single women her age attract suspicion. She's unbeatable in a fight, terrible at cooking and quietly insecure about whether she's a good wife and mother, and she would never let anything happen to Anya.
- Voice
- Saori Hayami (JP), Natalie Hoover (EN)
Anya Forger
Adopted daughter · Telepath
Anya was a test subject in a secret research project that left her able to read minds. She escaped and drifted between orphanages until Loid adopted her. Reading his thoughts, she knows he's a spy, and finding out that Yor is an assassin delights her even more. She's not good at school and has a love of peanuts and spy cartoons. Her expressive face made her one of the most-memed anime characters of the 2020s.
- Voice
- Atsumi Tanezaki (JP), Megan Shipman (EN)
Bond Forger
Family dog · Precognition
Bond is a huge, fluffy white dog who was also a test subject, in a project that trained animals for military use. He can see glimpses of the future, which Anya picks up by reading his mind. The two of them work together to quietly avert disasters. He joins the family after an arc where he helps foil a bombing plot.
- Voice
- Kenichiro Matsuda (JP)
Spies, assassins and secret police
Around the Forgers is a network of spies, police and killers, most of whom would be horrified to learn who their neighbours are.
Yuri Briar
Yor's brother · State Security Service
Yuri tells Yor he works for the Foreign Ministry, but he's actually a young officer in Ostania's secret police, which hunts spies like Loid. He's devoted to his older sister, who raised him, to an unsettling degree, and is permanently suspicious of the man she married. He's both a real danger to Loid and one of the series' best running gags.
- Voice
- Kensho Ono (JP)
Franky Franklin
Informant
Franky is Twilight's go-to fixer in Berlint. He runs a tobacco shop as a front and supplies forged documents, gadgets and gossip. He's the closest thing Loid has to a friend, and is always unlucky in love.
- Voice
- Hiroyuki Yoshino (JP)
Sylvia Sherwood
Handler · WISE
Sylvia is the senior officer at WISE, Westalis's intelligence agency, who gives Twilight Operation Strix. She's brisk and unsentimental, but she lost her own family in the war, and she quietly takes an interest in how Twilight's fake family is doing.
- Voice
- Yuko Kaida (JP)
Fiona Frost
Nightfall · WISE agent
Fiona is Twilight's former junior, with a flat expression and very intense feelings for him that only show in her inner monologue. She is determined to prove she'd be a better wife than Yor, which leads to some of the series' best comedy, such as a tennis tournament.
The Shopkeeper
Yor's handler · The Garden
The softly spoken man who passes Yor her assignments. Little is known about the Garden itself, which makes him one of the series' more intriguing figures.
Matthew McMahon
Yor's boss · The Garden
A senior manager at Yor's city hall office who turns out to also work for the Garden. He backs her up on the cruise-ship mission, one of the series' biggest action arcs.
Eden Academy
Eden Academy is an elite school for the children of Ostania's upper class. Students earn gold "Stella" stars for good deeds and red "Tonitrus" bolts for bad behaviour, and anyone who earns eight Stellas becomes an Imperial Scholar, whose families are invited to events Donovan Desmond attends.
Damian Desmond
Anya's classmate · Desmond's younger son
Damian is a proud, bossy boy who opens his first day by insulting Anya, and gets punched in the face. He's starved of his father's attention and works hard to become an Imperial Scholar. He also has an obvious, deeply flustered crush on Anya that he refuses to admit. Anya is meant to befriend him for the mission, which goes badly almost every time.
- Voice
- Natsumi Fujiwara (JP)
Becky Blackbell
Anya's best friend
Becky is the spoiled, romantic daughter of a major arms manufacturer. She decides on the first day that Anya is her friend, and is soon dazzled by Loid. She's a loyal friend with a habit of dragging Anya along on shopping trips.
- Voice
- Emiri Kato (JP)
Henry Henderson
Housemaster
An old-fashioned teacher obsessed with "elegance," who sits on the Forgers' admissions interview and is quietly impressed by them. He's strict, but he stands up for Anya more than once.
- Voice
- Hochu Otsuka (JP)
Emile Elman and Ewen Egeburg
Damian's sidekicks
Damian's two loyal hangers-on, who back him up in every argument with Anya and slowly become her reluctant friends too.
Bill Watkins
Classmate
A huge, serious boy and the star of a school dodgeball match, where Loid trains Anya in a very spy-like manner.
Martha
Becky's head maid
Becky's elderly, unflappable attendant, who turns out to be much tougher than she looks, and who has a past of her own in the war.
The Desmonds and other characters
Donovan Desmond
Leader of the National Unity Party
The target of Operation Strix. A reclusive hardliner who rarely appears in public, Desmond is cold and distant from his sons. When he finally meets Loid, it's clear he's a sharper and stranger man than his reputation suggests.
Demetrius Desmond
Damian's older brother
An Imperial Scholar at Eden, whose success casts a long shadow over Damian.
Melinda Desmond
Damian's mother
Melinda befriends Yor in the manga and seems to have complicated feelings about her family. She's a promising new lead for Loid's mission.
Camilla
Yor's co-worker
A sharp-tongued colleague who mocks Yor at first, then invites her to a party where Yor has to bring a "husband." She softens into something like a friend.
Who knows what
The series gets a lot of comedy and tension out of dramatic irony. This is where things stand for the main characters:
| Character | Secret | Who knows it |
|---|---|---|
| Loid | Westalian spy Twilight | Anya, Franky, WISE (Sylvia, Fiona) |
| Yor | Garden assassin Thorn Princess | Anya, the Garden |
| Anya | Telepath | Nobody |
| Bond | Sees the future | Anya |
| Yuri | Secret police officer | Anya; Loid suspects |
Voice cast
The Japanese cast includes several stars of other big shows: Saori Hayami also plays Shinobu in Demon Slayer, and Hiroyuki Yoshino is Bokuto in Haikyuu!!. Our voice actors guide covers more crossovers.
| Character | Japanese | English |
|---|---|---|
| Loid Forger | Takuya Eguchi | Alex Organ |
| Yor Forger | Saori Hayami | Natalie Hoover |
| Anya Forger | Atsumi Tanezaki | Megan Shipman |
| Bond Forger | Kenichiro Matsuda | — |
| Yuri Briar | Kensho Ono | — |
| Franky Franklin | Hiroyuki Yoshino | — |
| Sylvia Sherwood | Yuko Kaida | — |
| Damian Desmond | Natsumi Fujiwara | — |
| Becky Blackbell | Emiri Kato | — |
| Henry Henderson | Hochu Otsuka | — |
What it's about, and where to start
Spy x Family is a comedy, but its premise is quietly serious: three people who were made into weapons by war, by an organisation and by a laboratory, choosing to be gentle with each other. The fake family is a cover for everyone, and slowly it stops being one. That makes the Forgers a textbook found family, and Yor is one of the more interesting takes on the deadly-but-domestic heroine covered in our female protagonists guide.
Start with season one of the anime, which adapts the manga in order. The film Code: White is an original side story that can be watched any time after the first season. If you like the mix of action and heart, try Haikyuu!! for warmth or Chainsaw Man for something much darker from the same Shonen Jump+ platform.
Spy x Family names A–Z
A–B
- Anya Forger — Forger family
- Becky Blackbell — Eden Academy
- Bill Watkins — Eden Academy
- Bond Forger — Forger family
C–E
- Camilla — City hall
- Damian Desmond — Eden Academy
- Demetrius Desmond — Eden Academy
- Donovan Desmond — Politician
- Emile Elman — Eden Academy
- Ewen Egeburg — Eden Academy
F–H
- Fiona Frost — WISE
- Franky Franklin — Informant
- Henry Henderson — Eden Academy
L–M
- Loid Forger — Forger family / WISE
- Martha — Blackbell household
- Matthew McMahon — The Garden
- Melinda Desmond — Desmond family
S–Y
- Shopkeeper — The Garden
- Sylvia Sherwood — WISE
- Yor Forger — Forger family / The Garden
- Yuri Briar — State Security Service
Frequently asked questions
Who are the main characters in Spy x Family?
The Forger family: Loid (the spy Twilight), Yor (the assassin Thorn Princess), their adopted daughter Anya (a telepath) and their dog Bond (who can see the future). Major supporting characters include Yor's brother Yuri, the informant Franky, the spy Fiona Frost, and Anya's classmates Damian Desmond and Becky Blackbell.
Does Loid know Yor is an assassin?
No. Loid believes Yor is a slightly odd city hall clerk, and Yor believes Loid is a psychiatrist. Neither knows the other's secret. Only Anya, who reads minds, knows everyone's true identity, and she keeps it to herself so the family stays together.
How old is Anya Forger?
Anya claims to be six so that she can enrol at Eden Academy, but she's believed to be younger, around four or five. Her real age and origins are still a mystery in the story.
What is Operation Strix?
Loid's mission. He has to get close to Donovan Desmond, a reclusive politician who could reignite war between Ostania and Westalis. The only way to meet him is through Eden Academy, where Desmond's son studies, so Loid needs a child and a wife to pass the school's interview.
Is Spy x Family finished?
No. The manga has been running on Shonen Jump+ since 2019 and is still ongoing. The anime has three TV seasons and the 2023 film Code: White.