Sentenced to Be a Hero: All Penal Hero Unit 9004 Members
- animefocusnetwork
- Feb 23
- 6 min read
Published on February 23, 2026
Sentenced to Be a Hero has one of the greatest twists in anime, and I'm not just hyping it up because of its over the top animation! I'm talking about the vision. In a flooded pool of the fantasy anime genre, every story needs something to stand out. Sentenced to Be a Hero nails it with its original concept.
While other series treat heroes as the saviours destined to take down the demon lord, this one flips everything! In this series the "hero" is the criminal. And speaking of demon lords, forget about the single source of evil in other anime worlds, corruption flows from multiple demon lords in this one, each spawning Demon Blight and chaos across the land. So that means there is more than just one demon lord to contend with.
What is the Penal Hero unit 9004 in Sentenced to Be a Hero?
There are many units in the story, but the one this story focuses on is called The Penal Hero Unit 9004. This is a numbered military squad made up of convicted criminals. Instead of a criminal being imprisoned, they are instead sentenced to be a hero to fight the waves of enemies that come from the corruption of the demon lords, this corruption is called the demon blight.
The 9004 unit is the specific squad the protagonist belongs to. However, this squad is mostly made up of people who have morals and their crime wasn't as bad as a stone hard killer would commit. These criminals have a moral reason for their crimes (most, we still dont know everything about the berserker Tatsuya) and some of them, Xylo in particular, were only sentenced because of the corrupt system in place.
A unit is typically made up of about 5 members with a designated leader. In this groups' case, that's Venetim Leopool. However, while he holds the official title of commander, he is just basically a figurehead, which means largely handling administrative or intermediary duties without engaging in frontline combat. Xylo Forbartz actually serves as the main field leader who actually commands the unit during missions.
All Penal Hero Unit 9004 Members
There are roughly 8 members in this unit, if you don't count the goddess. So the way this unit works is pretty much between official title and actual control. Venetim Leopool, who is the con artist commander of this unit, handles all the external negotiations, for example, with the government, military, or temple.
Xylo Forbartz, who is the former Holy Knight captain, acts as the field leader, meaning he gives orders during combat and directs the strategy on the front lines. The other members follow Xylo's commands, meaning unofficially he is the true leader of this unit.
So in this list, we will start from the top command (official positions) and work our way down.
NOTE: Neely is a member of the 9004 unit, but not officially because she is Jace's dragon.
Venetim Leopool (official commander)
Venetim Leopool is the official commander for Penal Hero Unit 9004. His main role is handling all external affairs from the higher-ups, such as the governments, military or even the temple. He also negotiates on missions, then reports the progress.
He also manages politics from a safe distance. His expertise in telling lies convincingly makes him this units perfect figurehead for persuading outsiders.
Xylo Forbartz (Field leader)
Xylo Forbartz is the series' main protagonist and serves as the unofficial field leader of Penal Hero Unit 9004. His military background as the former Holy Knights captain is a major reason why he naturally assumes this role on the field.
So beyond sharpening his combat skills, that experience helps him to make important decisions while on the battlefield and between all the chaos. His sharp intellect, command of explosive magic seals, and deep sense of moral justice further contributes to his leadership.
His intelligence and explosive magic seals make him the perfect leader and his moral justice also contributes greatly to this as we see in episode 2 and 3, when they enter the mines to save a lot of civilians.
Norgalle Senridge (combat engineer)
Norgalle Sendridge acts as the combat engineer for the unit. He specializes in tuning and inscribing the sacred seals on weapons, barricades and even gadgets. Basically, he turns all the weak and useless items into powerful weapons that the party can use. For example: he can make enhanced flamethrowers or even explosives and barriers if needed.
What's most special about this particular engineer, he can craft stuff on the fly and more importantly because of his king delusion (he thinks he's the true king) he can rally the troops in battle.
Dotta Luzulas (Support / Specialist Thief & Acquisition Expert)
Dotta serves primarily as the scout and the infiltrator in the 9004 unit. He excels at stealth operations ,which means silently scouting ahead in the battlefield and detecting threats with his exceptional vision.
He climbs walls effortlessly and excels in sabotages and acquiring supplies from enemy bases. However, he is frightened of close up combat which is why this makes him all the more better for scouting operations ,especially all his other skills that I mentioned.
Tatsuya (Melee Specialist / Berserker)
Tatsuya's role in the party is serving as the berserker or frontliner. Although he is the oldest unit member, no one actually knows why he was sentenced, so it's hard to put him in a definitive role without a background. But, because he has died so many times and his soul is almost stripped away completely, he now has almost no mind and can attack enemies mindlessly.
This makes him the perfect front liner. He wields strength that is unmatched to those of his other party members.
Tsav (Artillerist / Heavy Fire Support)
Tsav is the primary sniper and long range expert in the unit. He was trained in stealth before becoming a hero and developed almost superhuman eyesight that lets him spot his targets from extreme distances with deadly accuracy.
Tsav provides an overwatch for the party and eliminates high value targets from very far away. On top of this, he can also partially serve as a scout, but that role remains with Dotta.
Jayce Partiract (aerial combat support)
Jayce serves as the dragoon or dragon rider in the Penal Hero Unit 9004. He specializes in aerial combat and is an elite dragon knight who was raised among dragons, he even believed he was one as a child. His main dragon companion's name is Neely. So although she is not officially part of the unit, everyone else acknowledges her as one of their own.
Jayce excels at lance-based strikes, precise aerial maneuvers, and unleashing devastating dragonfire breaths from above to dominate the battlefield. This makes him a core part of the team, and the unit is that much stronger because of him.
Editors Thoughts
At first i was skeptical about watching this series since I'd never heard of it or knew anything about it before it started airing, such as the manga plot or even how popular it was. I figured the animation would at the very least be high quality because afterall it shares the same director and character designer as Mushoku Tensei. Still, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this series is nothing like anything else I've ever seen before. Not because it's necessarily better than others, but because it offers a unique or original take on the dark fantasy genre. For example heroes in this world are criminals and goddesses are weapons instead of some divine being.
The unit is one of the most captivating part of the series for me. Each member feels different, and they complement one another perfectly in battle. For example, every person brings their own unique specialty to the team.
Putting this list together was a real joy, and while researching I learned even more about them and what they can do. Honestly, I'm excited to see the future of this series. If the story and pacing keep going the way they have so far, it can truly stand among the greats. — Dean
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