Ataru Moroboshi (諸星あたる, Moroboshi Ataru) is the main protagonist of the series. A 17-year-old lazy student at Tomobiki High School, Class 2-4, Ataru suffers from an incredible amount of bad luck, having been born on Friday the 13th, during a major earthquake, and Butsumetsu, the unluckiest day of the Buddhist calendar.[1] Thanks to this lack of good fortune, his triumph in the game of tag that saved Earth from an Oni invasion turned into a defeat for him. His victory statement, intended to confirm his girlfriend Shinobu's promise to marry him if he won, was misinterpreted by Lum to be a marriage proposal. Much to his chagrin, she accepted.[2]
Lum's arrival strains Ataru's relationship with Shinobu. But Ataru has always been very lecherous. His main goal in life is to live in the center of a harem composed of exotic and beautiful women, including Lum and most of her alien friends. Usually, he just walks up to a woman he has never met before and asks for her name, phone number, and address. If Lum, who views him as her husband, should witness these usually futile flirting efforts, she regularly zaps him with massive quantities of electricity, but they do nothing to slow him down.[2]
Ataru may come across as academically unaccomplished and unwilling to make an effort, but he is actually quite intelligent, able to manipulate situations to his advantage. Though he often tries to escape from Lum and openly flirts with other women, he begins to truly love Lum, while steadfastily refusing to admit it.[1] He is voiced by Toshio Furukawa in Japanese, Michael Sinterniklaas in the Those Obnoxious Aliens English dub, Matt Lucas in the BBC Choice dub, Steve Rassin and Vinnie Penna in movies.
