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◎ Background/History: The wiki for Andy isn't very good, so I'll include a detailed episode list to help beef it up a little bit, as well as a mini ramble down here:
In ZKC, it isn't unusual to have those with strange powers flying about, although society is not so accepting of it. Tensions between "Espers" (those with powers) and "Normals" (those without) are extremely high, and has birthed several opposing terrorist organisations, as well as government ones, that lash out at each other and try to gain the upper hand in either eradicating Espers, weaponising them, or bringing about a world where they'll be accepted. In short, it's a big mess at times.
Andy himself came from one of these organisations: USEI, which was part of the American government (known as 'Comerica' in ZKC-verse). USEI tracked down or gathered information on criminal espers... or, so it seemed on the surface. In truth, USEI had shady dealings with Anti-Esper terrorist groups, and, in fact, actively worked to incite hostility towards espers by capturing espers, brainwashing them, and forcing them to conduct terrorist attacks. Andy, however, was largely ignorant of this until USEI backstabbed him (surprise!).
The reason why Andy was ignorant of their true purpose was mostly because he had only been with them for a short while: he had joined the US Army the moment he was of age, but left after only a few years due to the discrimination he faced as an esper himself - however, Andy's unique powers (nullifying ESP, therefore rendering espers as 'normals') also had him shunned by his fellow espers, and thus, he felt like he didn't fit in anywhere. After leaving the army, feeling lost and isolated, USEI approached him, taking advantage of his desire to find a purpose to have him agree to a mission only he, with his unique powers could do: infiltrate PANDRA.
PANDRA is a terrorist group run by espers, lead by the powerful international terrorist Hyoubu Kyousuke, and the purpose of his mission was to obtain a device in their possession called "Ihachigo", the brain of a dead dolphin that can predict the future. However, Andy falls into the biggest trap a spy can get into: getting attached.
He slowly begins to view PANDRA as his family, and is increasingly drawn to the enigmatic and confident Hyoubu. For the first time, Andy is somewhere where he is accepted for who he is, strange powers and all, and is agonised by the conflict he feels being caught between his duty, and his growing loyalty to Hyoubu. In the end, however, he chooses his mission, turning his back on Hyoubu... and basically Fucked Everything Up.
After arranging a trap to occupy Hyoubu and his strongest fighters away from their main base, a ship called The Catastrophe, Andy managed to find Ihachigo and deactivate the ship's cloaking ability, allowing USEI to storm the ship. Andy had asked for them to come peacefully, so that they could just grab Ihachigo and leave the remaining people unharmed - young esper children or non-combatants that Hyoubu had saved and sheltered from unsavoury or dangerous situations - but USEI ignored this. Long story short, the ship, The Catastrophe was sunk, and one of the children, a powerful esper called Yugiri, was kidnapped to be brainwashed as a weapon by USEI. Hyoubu as well was gravely injured, and Andy, having been shot not long after this for outliving his usefulness as a spy, immediately moved on to take responsibility for what he had done, determined to somehow redeem himself and to make things right. When the anime ends, Andy managed to save both Yugiri and Hyoubu (twice), and is forgiven by them and PANDRA, but leaves to parts unknown soon after, declaring that he needs to find where he really belongs.
He eventually turns up later in the main Zettai Karen Children manga a few years after Unlimited, offering assistance to both BABEL and PANDRA - especially in search for Hyoubu after he vanished into Imaginary Space - and sheltering Yuuri when she defected from Black Phantom, as well as Yugiri, who seems to have moved from PANDRA to live with him instead. At this point in the manga, Andy works for The Foundation, an organisation formed by Princess Sophie of Monarch, that specialises in stopping esper trafficking by working outside the law (possibly meaning that they go around things illegally or are exempted from certain laws to carry out their duties). As Andy himself said, this organisation is perfect for someone who is halfway like himself, and seems to be a powerful force within it. So far, Andy has only been in the background since his reappearance, but Word of God has said that he may possibly play a bigger role in later chapters, so I may canon update as information trickles in.
◎ Personality: As Andy Hinomiya himself would put it (quite bluntly, at that), he's "incomplete", or "stuck halfway", and this is reflected in the duality of his personality of hot-headed protagonist, and the coolheaded spy. Neither of these sides are ‘false’, as they are both just radically different parts of the true Andy Hinomiya.
The first ‘side’ we’re introduced to in the anime is Andy’s ‘protagonist’ guise. He’s shown to be easy-going and strong hearted, unable to turn away from someone in need of help, even if he’ll let out a few grumbles here and there about it being troublesome. Andy will even indulge ridiculous requests, even if it leaves him stranded on an island with a bag full of melting ice cream, or mopping the deck of a cruise ship all while being taunted. It makes him rather easy to tease, as he ends up playing the straight man to the PANDRA members' shenanigans much to his exasperation.
This compliant attitude is extended towards Yugiri as well, although Andy doesn't do as much grumbling, and cares for her in an openly brotherly way, to the point where he reads her bedtime stories when Hyoubu isn't available. He is fiercely protective of her, willing to endanger his own life to save hers, and shows surprising gentleness when handling her. In fact, Andy takes great pains to tell Yugiri that her unstable powers are not her fault, most likely because Andy sympathises with Yugiri's experiences of being feared and rejected because of something beyond her control. This relationship with Yugiri exposes a soft side of the otherwise no-nonsense military man that most people see, showing that despite his gruff yet helpful persona, he is an empathetic man who can't abide by seeing others suffer.
This empathy of Andy's is another strong trait of his, and is why he settles into PANDRA very quickly. Despite proclaiming to hate espers - very frankly and bluntly - Andy quickly sees the people behind the term 'esper', and finds himself being absorbed into their weird yet close knit 'family'. It's a place where those who don't belong do belong, a place that Andy has always yearned for deeply, and while he always keeps his mission in mind (and, in fact, carries it out to the very end), he does find it difficult to do so after knowing and genuinely befriending the PANDRA members - to the point where, just a few hours before he enacts his betrayal, he is left so emotionally distraught over what he is about to do that his hands were shaking too much for him to clean his pistol, as he kept dropping and fumbling with its parts.
Which leads us onto the last protagonist-esque trait that Andy possesses: his hot-bloodedness. The reason why Andy is PANDRA’s – specifically Hyoubu’s – favourite chewtoy is because he’s so easily riled up and flustered. He’s got some bark to him, however, in that he’s quick to snap out semi-friendly banter to the teasing, and even builds up a good rapport with Hyoubu in this way, exchanging quips and barbs with him by the end of the anime. He’s stubborn to a fault as well, carrying something to the end, even if it isn’t the best decision, as mentioned above where he stuck with his mission despite how emotionally agonising it was. So, Andy’s ‘protagonist’ side can be summed up as: he's a stubborn yet soft-hearted man with the unfortunate job occupation of ‘chewtoy’.
Of course, Andy harbours some demons of his own. This manifests in the his more serious side that he's reluctant to show around anyone he feels he needs to (emotionally) stay at arm's length from. While he puts on a laid-back persona around the members of PANDRA, he’s shown to be quiet, intent and serious as well, as he can be very blunt with his words and frank about his thoughts and circumstances. He’s loyal to USEI and the mission given to him because they gave Andy acceptance and a purpose – things he never really had because of what he was: neither a normal nor an esper as other espers would define him. In fact, this ‘halfness’ is what largely drives Andy throughout life. He is constantly searching for a place to belong, for someone, or anything, to accept him as what he is, despite being ‘incomplete’, which leaves Andy rather vulnerable to manipulation. USEI took advantage of that vulnerability, and they succeeded, for a time, to have a very loyal lapdog at their beck and call. It probably helped as well that Andy was naturally harsh towards other espers, if only because they lash out at him the most, mocking him for not having powers despite being classed as an esper. Meanwhile, Andy is notably more accepting towards normals, probably because they can’t detect he’s any different from them due to the nature of his powers.
The coolheaded, serious side of him is seen during his infiltration of PANDRA, specifically whenever he is alone, away from their prying eyes, or is pressed into a corner where the slightest misstep could have suspicion brought on him. Like this, he's very good at deflecting suspicion and scrutiny by thinking of plausible lies or explanations on his feet, and maintaining a nervous, albeit composed attitude – which is decidedly at odds with the hot-blooded attitude he himself displays. This relates to his theme of duality, in that while he seems like the type of person to charge forwards in dire situations, Andy is actually more inclined to take a step back and consider all of his options first before committing to a plan of action.
That’s why, despite possessing traits that would make him a horrible spy – Andy’s actually pretty good at his job. While Hyoubu hadn’t been fooled at the beginning (if only because he's very good at sniffing out dishonesty), Andy managed to fool the entirety of PANDRA, who had accepted him after a period of hazing. In fact, Andy infiltrated PANDRA so effectively that he fell into the trap that many spies fall into – he began to become ‘the mask’, genuinely caring for the well-being of the members of PANDRA and viewing them as his family.
By the end of the anime, the two sides of Andy, the hot-blooded protagonist and the serious USEI Agent, started to blur together to form his true personality; an open-hearted man determined to do the right thing. Andy owns up to the mistakes he made whilst acting as USEI’s spy, seeking Hyoubu’s forgiveness directly and frankly while also trying to fix said mistakes without asking for anything in return. Not many people have the strength of heart to do such a thing, yet it’s something that Andy does without hesitation. At the end of the anime, he states once more that he's stuck halfway – between his two sides – yet it is for the better, this time, as it leaves Andy feeling a lot more content with who and what he is, and instead of viewing his "half-ness" as a liability, he sees it as a sign that there is only something he himself can do.
He leaves at the end of the anime with a new conviction in himself. This leads us to Foundation!Andy, who appears a few years later in the Zettai Karen Children manga, when Black Phantom began to become a lot more active. In the scenes that Andy appears in, he has changed a bit from the man he used to be in Unlimited. He's far more relaxed and comfortable with himself, and has seemed to have obtained a confidence that he didn't possess in Unlimited. It's very clear that Andy has found a place he felt he belonged to, and while it wasn't PANDRA and its weird, yet close family, he's still very happy. He has changed from someone attention-starved and self-loathing, to someone who is confident and happy with their place in the world. It took a lot of pain and struggling and years to get there but, he got there.
◎ Powers/Abilities: In ZKC, Andy's main ability is as a Power Nullifier. Just by being in close proximity to him (about 3-4 metres) causes powers to either be extremely weak, or to not work at all, with the nasty side effect of causing nausea or headaches to those afflicted. His ability also has other functions, such as making him immune to mental attacks like hypnotism and mind reading, and makes it difficult to teleport him (although it is possible, it just requires a lot more energy). He can also negate powers that are aimed at him, such as telekinesis, pyrokinesis, or conjured electricity/wind, although throwing physical objects at him with telekinesis would work perfectly fine.
Also, he can also temporarily take away someone's powers by touching them, although this causes his left eye to glow red. If he touches someone, depending on how powerful they are, and how long he has physical contact for, he can ensure that they can't access their powers for a certain amount of time. Aside from this, Andy doesn't have any offensive powers, and instead uses his Power Nullifying to bring others down to his level. He's a master martial artist and weapons specialist, with insanely high speed and physical strength, so engaging him with your powers deactivated is pretty dangerous.
AS A NOTE HOWEVER: since the end of Unlimited, it's stated that Andy's powers have been greatly diminished ever since placing a permanent cap on Hyoubu's powers. While they're not gone, they're not as strong as they used to be, although Word of God has said that they will return at some point. Until it's revealed in the manga whether or not they have come back, I'll be keeping them nerfed for now.
◎ Weapons & Other Special Inventory:
> His level 7 limiter. Its use is to contain high level ESP that ordinary limiters cannot.
