Sui Ishida, the creator of theTokyo Ghoul series, is a mastermind of foreshadowing and hidden details. Theamount of characters and thus backstories and plotlines in the series is immense, but the detail does not suffer for it.
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Tokyo Ghoul is one of the most thought-provoking and intricately planned manga. Here are 10 characters with hidden details about them that make them that much more interesting.
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10 Arata Kirishima
The father of Touka and Ayato Kirishima, Arata, wanted only to live his life as a pacifist, trying his best to blend in with the humans. However, after themurder of his wife, his personality changed. In order to prevent any more loss and protect his remaining family, Arata cannibalized ghouls and humans to attain more power. Unfortunately, the CCG took notice and struck him down.
Hiskakuhou was harvested in a CCG lab and made into the Arata armor that Shinohara, Kuroiwa, Amon, Suzuya, and Abara have all donned at one point or another. During a fight against Ayato, Arata's son, Shinohara commented thatthe armor was "sluggish while fighting...possibly showing that the armor possesses a mind or will of its own."
9 Renji Yomo
An often forgottendetail in theTokyo Ghoul series is that Yomo is related to both Touka and Ayato. Hikari Kirishima, their mother, was his sister, makinghimtheir uncle. Arima was the investigator to eliminate Hikari,creating Yomo's hatred and desire for revenge against him. In the Cochlea Raid arc, Yomo protects both Ayato and Touka against attacks from Arima, sacrificing himself and putting his life on the line to ensure their safety.
Though neither Arima nor Yomo were defeated in this fight, Yomo stated that if the investigator who took his sister's life was still alive and before him, he would not hesitate to take him out.
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8 Uta
There's a lot of mystery surrounding Uta, even still after the series' completion. From his relationships with other characters to his motivations and true intentions, many questions remain unanswered. But, somedetails about him are a bit clearer than others, though still relatively unknown. For example, it is apparent that Uta has had various body modifications done on himself including tattoos and piercings. When questioned by Haise about whatseems to be his forever activated kakugan,Uta claims that he had ink injected into his eyes to give them that appearance.
He also has tattoos covering much of his body. One in particular on his neck reads "Νεχ ποσσυμ τεχυμ ωιωερε, νεχ σινε τε." which translates to "I can not live with you, nor without you." This quote is in reference to his ghoulish nature, in which he relies on the humans that hate his kind in order to survive. With all of the questions revolving around him, one thing is known for sure: Uta is the most enigmatic character in the series.
7 DonatoPorpora
Thiscaretaker of a Catholic orphanage and thefoster father of Amon Koutarou harbored a massive secret: he was a ghoul who murdered the children in his care. The orphaned Amon accidentally witnessed Donato feasting on one of his victims, one of Amon's young peers. Instead of killing him immediately, Donato spared Amon in a twisted form of fatherly love. When he was 12 years old, the CCG rescued Amon from the basement of the orphanage, takinghim intotheir care.
As a result of his upbringing, it was natural for Amon to hate Donato. However, on multiple occasions throughout the series, it was unclear what his true feelings were. At the end of Tokyo Ghoul after his near-fatal battle with Kaneki, Amon recalls memories of his childhood with Donato and questions why his mind drifted to him. It is later revealed during the final fight between Donato and Amon that, despite all of the sufferings the ghoul had caused, it isn't wrong for a son to love his father.
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6 Matasaka "Shachi"Kamishiro
Speaking of adopted fathers, it's often a forgotten detail that Shachi was once the adopted caretaker of Rize Kamishiro. He took herunder his wing and decided to mentor her, treating her like his own daughter. However, as Rize got older and developed her disruptive eating habits, their relationship became strained. Shachi disapproved of her behavior, which ultimately leads to a raid by the CCGand Shachi getting captured.
Even with all of the tension between them, Shachi always viewed Rize as his child and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect her in the end.
5 Furuta Nimura
Initially,Furuta came off as quiet and altogether unimpressive character, but that changed rather quickly. After the Rose Extermination arc, his personality began to show as much more erratic, chaotic, and manipulative. Throughout the series, he was essentially able to operate in the shadows, associating with multiple different organizations including the CCG, the Clowns, V, etc. without anyone truly knowing.
During a conversation with Sen Takatsuki, aka Eto Yoshimura, after she revealed herself to be a ghoul and surrendered to the CCG, Furuta is mocked because he is unable to call his biological father such. Originally born as Souta Washuu-Furuta, there are hidden details within his name: the ghoul investigator was the illegitimate son of Tsuneyoshi Washuu, former head of the CCG. This taunting enraged Furuta, proving how deeply insecure he was about his lineage and consequential fate.
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4 Juuzou Suzuya
By the end of the Tokyo Ghoul series,Juuzou is an incredibly powerful and capable leader, one of the CCGs finest assets. Though, his childhood was a completely different story. Kidnapped by the ghoul Big Madam, he was tortured in various different ways. He was forced to kill in the Ghoul Restaurant for Big Madam, whom he thought of, in a twisted sense, like his mother. She made him dress as a girl and was worried that he would "become ugly". To avoid that, she brutally castrated Juuzou against his will. By the time the CCG was able to rescue him, he was very deeply disturbed in every way possible, fundamentally unable to feel any emotions or pain.
Though, after many years of "normal life" as an investigator with the CCG, Juuzou was able to overcome the torture he endured.He eveneliminated Big Madam, not as a result of his history with her,but simply as doing his job.
3 Tooru Mutsuki
Mutsukiwas not raised by a ghoul, but his childhood was no easier than Juuzou's. Mutsuki, a transgender male who was assigned female at birth, was frequently subjected to punishment from his abusive father. It was even implied that his father sexually abused him. In a horrific massacre of his family thatwas deemed a ghoul attack, hewas put into the custody of the CCG, though he remained emotionally unstable as a result of the abuse.
A while after Mutsukibecomes a member of the Quinx squad, he is captured by the ghoul Torso and held captive. The ghoul was obsessed with him, stating that they would get married, but he physically beatMutsukifor being uncooperative. Torso remindedMutsuki of his abusive father, which eventually sparkedmemories of murdering his entire family at the age of 12.
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2 Ken Kaneki
Of course, the main character is going to have numerous hidden details about him! First and foremost, one of the most impressively foreshadowed hidden details was Kaneki's abusive mother. During the Rose Extermination arc, Haise's fight with Kanae was not looking good for him -- his dire injuries sent him into the recesses of his mind, where he found the white-haired child Kaneki. Haise, angered at being taunted by the child in his mind, attacks. As a result,the memories of his childhood abuse come flooding back, and he recalls that he wantedArima to kill himat V14.
Even deeper, there is a bit of a conspiracy about what exactly happened when he was tortured by Yamori. Thoughneveroutrightconfirmedin the series and heavily disputed, some fans believethere aresmall hints that Yamori sexuallyassaulted Kaneki during the 10-day torture due to the ambiguity of what Yamori had done to his last victim, Kaneki's clothes change, his RC scans showing physical trauma, etc.
1 Kishou Arima
The undefeated investigator of the CCG, Arima always seemed to be the bad guy, the opposition to ghouls and the killer of Ken Kaneki -- sort of. It was only revealed in his dying moments that this wasn't the case. In fact, it was the exact opposite: Arima had been one of the good guys all along. A product of the Sunlit Garden, he was a ghoul-human hybrid with obvious immense strength, but health drawbacks as well. Though he was an infamous CCG investigator that had ended the lives of countless ghouls, Arima was secretly working with Eto to ensure Kaneki became the One-Eyed King all along.
Even though he came off as cold and uncaring, he truly did care for Kaneki and was happy that he was able to leave something good behind.
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FAQs
Who is Shuu Tsukiyama love interest? ›
Chie is Shuu's only known human friend and she became his partner as time went on and she's even a member of the Tsukiyama Family. In Tokyo Ghoul:re, she tries to help him recover from his mass depression. Kazuichi Banjou: Shuu and Banjou had a very tense relationship when they were members of Kaneki's Group.
Why is Kaneki's nails black? ›His nails turn black because his nails died and the blood, below his nail, were trapped there and dried.
Why does Touka cover her eye? ›Touka suffers from ornithophobia. This may have stemmed from caring for a bird when she was a child only to be pecked near her right eye that she then covers with a hair bang.
Does Hide know that Kaneki is a ghoul? ›Hide appeared in front of Kaneki who had fled into the sewers after he had been badly wounded in his fight against Amon. Hide revealed that he knew about Kaneki being a ghoul, and asked him to come home. As Kaneki began losing control, Hide told him that he wanted to help him.
Who killed Tsukiyama? ›Kaneki confirms this before stabbing Tsukiyama in the chest with his kagune, making him regurgitate blood.
Who defeated Tsukiyama? ›Tsukiyama is defeated by Touka with Kaneki and Nishio's help, but the recent developments in the 20th ward draw the attention of the police, who sends two of their investigators, Kureo Mado and Kotaro Amon to hunt down all ghouls in the area.
What race is Kaneki? ›Ken Kaneki is the main protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul:re. Formerly a human who was studying Japanese Literature at Kamii University and was living a normal life, everything was soon changed after he had Rize's kakuhou transplanted into him and became a One-Eyed Ghoul.
What is Kaneki's weakness? ›He despised the idea of solitude; hence he tried to protect those who are dear to him so he would not have to face his fear of being alone in the whole world. This was perhaps Kaneki's greatest weakness.
Who is the one eyed king? ›It is known that Arima Kishou was the One Eyed King. He had taken the title because even though he was a half-human (physically human but with the abilities/senses of a ghoul, excluding the kagune). He was stronger than any ghoul, even Eto.
Is Kanae in love with Tsukiyama? ›As Kanae, he was taken in by the Tsukiyama family, an act seen by other servants as charity. During this time, he began to serve Shuu Tsukiyama and would become extremely loyal to him and eventually developed romantic feelings for him.
Who is Kuroiwa married to? ›
However, this was a lie to provoke Touka, and Yoriko later celebrated her marriage to Takeomi safe and sound.
How old is Tsukiyama? ›He was 98 years old. Tsukiyama, whose fair and civil demeanor won him trust and respect in Hawaii's legal and political circles, is widely credited for his trailblazing work in establishing legal arbitration in the state.
Are Kanae and Shu related? ›Every time I remember that Kanae is actually Tsukiyama Shuu's cousin, and thus Mirumo's nephew, I wonder if we are supposed to be seeing parallels in the way the Tsukiyama family treated Kanae and the way the Asaoka family treated Kaneki.