List of Megatokyo characters  In "Megatokyo", the popular webcomic by Fred Gallagher, Japanese names are written in Japanese order, with the family name before the given name. The first feature of "Megatokyo" (a filler art day, referred to as a "dead piro day") which revealed a character's full name had aforementioned character's name written in Western order (given name before the family name). The first time a full Japanese name was mentioned in the actual comic, it was written with Japanese order. Most of the characters in Megatokyo speak English, Japanese (indicated with angle brackets), and/or L33t (usually subtitled). Not every character speaks every language, so occasionally characters are unable to understand one another. Piro (ぴろ) is "Megatokyo"'s protagonist, an author surrogate of Fred Gallagher. Gallagher has stated that Piro is an idealized version of himself when he was in college. As a character, he is socially inept and frequently depressed or morose; in addition, he is a fairly skilled artist who refuses to believe in his own talent—an exaggerated parallel of Gallagher himself. From a design standpoint, he was originally conceived as a parody of the character Ruri Hoshino, from the "Martian Successor Nadesico" anime series. Piro's facing of trials and tribulations as he struggles with his unconfident nature is one of "Megatokyo's" major ongoing themes. Piro is stated to have learned to speak Japanese through watching and reading large amounts of anime and manga. Piro is drawn with shaggy-banged (fringed) blond hair, green eyes, and glasses throughout most of the comic. Piro has stated that without his glasses he cannot see especially well at any significant distance, although he did not wear them (as of Chapter 7-9) because Largo sat on and broken them, he coped with the situation quite well. This suggests that despite his near-sightedness, Piro can see reasonably well even without corrective lenses. Lately, Piro received both a new pair of glasses and a hair cut in Chapter 10, which makes him resemble the illustrated real life Fred more closely. Initial panels depict Piro and Largo originally fleeing to Japan to escape the consequences of Largo's vulgar behavior while intoxicated at the E3 trade convention. Since arriving in Japan, he has been homeless twice, once after first arriving in Japan, and once after being evicted from his friend Tsubasa's flat.