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Ken Kaneki

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Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese), Austin Tindle (English), Miguel Angel Leal (Latin American Spanish)

Played By: Masataka Kubota (Film), Yūki Ogoe (Stage Play 2015), Ryo Matsuda (Stage Play 2017)

"If, for argument’s sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role, it would certainly be... a tragedy."

Ken Kaneki is a first year college student, and after narrowly surviving a Ghoul Attack finds himself transformed into a Human-Ghoul hybrid. He struggles to find a balance between his two natures, and is taken in by the moderate organization Anteiku. In the climax of the original Tokyo Ghoul series, Anteiku is raided by the CCG, and Kaneki's fate is left unclear after facing the CCG's ace Kishou Arima in a duel.

After working under the CCG as Haise Sasaki, he eventually regains his past memories and becomes Ken Kaneki once more. Unable to deal with his feelings of guilt, Kaneki eventually betrays CCG to save his imprisoned friend, Hinami, and then goes to fight his mentor, Arima, in hopes of commiting Suicide by Cop. However, during a Near-Death Experience, Kaneki realizes he wants to live, and after unlocking the full potential of his kagune defeats Arima.

Arima reveals he had been hoping for this from the start, proceeding to slit his own throat and explain that he was the One-Eyed King and Eto's mole in CCG, but needed a successor due to being a half-human hybrid suffering from Rapid Aging. Per Arima's final wish, Kaneki takes responsibility for Arima's death and the title of One-Eyed King, to become a Hope Bringer to all those victimized by the Washuu clan.

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A — C

Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Kaneki in his deranged state usually does a Shaft head tilt.
Adrenaline Makeover: During the timeskip, he develops from a mousy young man prone to wearing pullover sweaters or dress shirts into a confident and aggressive leader prone to wearing all-black combat gear with strategic cutouts. He also buffs up considerably, and gets rid of his medical eye-patch in favor of one with a stylized centipede on it.
Alliterative Name: Ken Kaneki.
All-Loving Hero: Played with. He expresses the desire to protect everyone, and realizes as a half-Ghoul he's the only one capable of seeing both sides of the conflict between the two species. However, after his Despair Event Horizon, his desire to protect others takes a decidedly darker turn. Touka eventually calls him out on his behavior, suggesting rather than wanting to protect everyone he's actually just terrified of losing people and is acting selfishly.
Always Save the Girl: After being defeated at the hands of Furuta and his forces, Kaneki resolves himself to save Touka by any means necessary, regardless of any collateral damage he may cause in the process.
Ambiguously Bi: He's on more than one occasion thought of other men as "beautiful", while having outright romantic interests or Ship Tease with women.
And Then John Was a Zombie: How the series begins, as Kaneki goes from a normal young man attacked by a Ghoul to a Half-Human Hybrid.
Animalistic Abomination: Kaneki becomes this after consuming the Oggai and taking up the "nucleus" in Furuta's body. We see a mass of RC Cells so huge it towers above nearby buildings when it breaks through to the surface, with eyes growing across its centipede-like body.
Animal Motifs: Kaneki is often associated with centipedes. He even upgrades his eyepatch to one with a centipede pattern. His kagune eventually end up taking a centipede-like form after the events in Kanou's lab, after he goes temporarily goes crazy due to activating his kakuja for the first time, gained from cannibalizing ghouls. After becoming the One-Eyed King, he begins shaping his kagune like a centipede again. Though it wasn’t his sole motif when it appeared, as Kaneki’s other animal motif is revealed to be the mythical dragon.
Anti-Hero:
- He develops a more ruthless personality after enduring ten days of torture at the hands of Yamori, becoming willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the ones he cares about.
- After regaining his identity, he abandons all contact with the Quinx and Hinami, becomes known as a merciless killer among Ghouls. At the same time, he begins plotting behind CCG's back.
- He eventually becomes the second One-Eyed King, a leader of Ghouls who had been portrayed as the series' Big Bad up until that point.
The Anti-Nihilist: At the end of the series, Kaneki rejects Furuta's claim that there is no meaning in this world and that you may as well just live as The Caligula and destroy it all. Kaneki even rejects his former mantra "this world is wrong." Instead he tells Furuta that he believes everything that happened along away, all the allies and friends he made, the teachers and loved ones, meant something. And even if he had a chance to do it all again, he still would have gone on that date with Rize all the way back in chapter 1.
Kaneki: This world isn't wrong. It just is.
An Arm and a Leg: Arima cuts off his legs at the end of chapter 73, then all of his limbs in chapter 74.
Artificial Hybrid: He was originally human, but after an accident that almost killed him, he is given organs from a ghoul and becomes a human-ghoul hybrid in the process.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Eto and Arima groomed him to become the next One-Eyed King because of the power of his kagune and Kaneki's own ruthlessness in battle. He also had to defeat Naki before the White Suits would join him.
Awesome Moment of Crowning: After defeating Arima at the end of the Cochlea arc, Kaneki gains the allegiance of Arima's Squad 0 and is christened the new One-Eyed King by Eto.
Ax-Crazy: After being tortured for 10 days, Kaneki begins a slow spiral into greater and greater extremes of violence and madness. He reaches his pinnacle when he mutates into an incomplete Kakuja, babbling nonsensically about the various horrors he's endured and inflicted over the course of the series while trying to violently murder Shinohara, who outright declares him to be the craziest Ghoul he's ever faced.
Babies Ever After: Touka becomes pregnant with Kaneki's child towards the end of the series, and their daughter Ichika is alive, happy and well after the timeskip in the finale.
Badass Bookworm: Although Kaneki lacks the experience that other ghouls have, he is able to quickly process information and creates strategies. At some points, we also see him pull off moves because he studied them so hard from books. After he leaves Anteiku, he has shown to read martial art books to train.
Bag of Spilling: Averted. When he becomes Kaneki again, he's not only better at using his Ghoul powers than Haise, he's considerably more powerful than he was at the end of the first series.
Became Their Own Antithesis: He starts out as a kind, gentle young man and an Extreme Doormat who doesn't like to hurt others. The hardships he suffers as a result of becoming half-Ghoul, along with his ordeal at Yamori's hands, cause him to become a brutal, ruthless Anti-Hero with a Pay Evil unto Evil mentality.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Played with. His ordeal leaves him a much more dangerous character, and he starts things off by eating all of his tormentor's kagune, followed by systematically breaking half of another enemy's bones one by one.
The Berserker: While in his half-Kajuka state, he loses control of himself and viciously attacks everything in his path. He's barely able to restrain himself enough to only eat Shinohara's Quinque armor, and later is horrified by his actions.
Beware the Nice Ones: His kindness masks a frightening capacity for ruthlessness or brutality, especially after being tortured by Yamori.
Big Brother Instinct: His whole plan in Cochlea at first was to sacrifice himself to save Hinami.
A Birthday, Not a Break:
- His battle with Yamori and escape from Aogiri took place on December 20th, ironically and appropriately his 20th birthday.
- The battle in Cochlea begins on the eve of his 23rd birthday.
Blood Is the New Black: During his battle with Kanae on the rooftop, his skull ends up fractured and he bleeds profusely from the injuries. There's blood visibly dripping from him afterwards, which adds a symbolic element to his hair becoming fully black again when his memories return.
Bookworm: He really likes to read books, to the extent that his ideal date is a bookstore date and he was interested in Rize because she was reading the same book he was.
Break the Cutie: After the operation, Kaneki's life seems to be a series of traumatic events. Just becoming a Ghoul takes an enormous toll on him psychologically and emotionally, but after he's tortured by Yamori he begins a dark spiral.
Break Them by Talking: Happens to Ken in two ways at the same time.
- Yamori repeatedly tortures Ken by cutting off pieces of his body over and over while forcing him to recite numbers to preserve his sanity. At the same time he continuously lectures Ken for his peaceful nature and refusal to accept that as a ghoul he is a killer by default. This culminates in a Sadistic Choice between watching Yamori kill a little girl or her mother — but because Ken asks to be killed himself in exchange for their lives, Yamori kills them both instead, sending Ken into the second phase...
- After witnessing Yamori's brutality, Ken manages to do this to himself via a hallucination of Rize, who forces him to examine his childhood without any nostalgia filter and realize that his attempts at peaceful resolution are meaningless if they only get other people hurt or killed — so he might as well hurt or kill others himself to protect the ones he cares about. He loses a large part of his self restraint and becomes far more dangerous as a result.
But Now I Must Go: At the finale of the Aogiri Arc, Kaneki decides to leave Anteiku and forms his own tight-knit gang in order to pursue answers about Rize, Kanou and others involved in his becoming a ghoul.
Cannibalism Superpower: He began devouring ghouls after the Aogiri arc in order to strengthen his ghoul abilities, which allowed him to become a half-kakuja. Notably, he was able to overwhelm Shinohara, and would have eaten him had he not barely held himself back from doing so.
Cast from Lifespan: Using his kagune and healing himself accelerates Kaneki's cell division, which leads to a shorter lifespan, if he doesn't try to halt the aging by consuming RC cells.
Character Development:
- Kaneki started out weak-willed and timid till he turned into a Ghoul and was tortured by Yamori. The torture made him fully embrace his ghoul side and become darker while still having his kindness towards his friends and caring for them.
- After being turned into a half-ghoul, he started to see how ghouls lived and how they weren't as different as humans as they still struggled with everyday life and try to live peaceful lives, even if some of them actions were callous or vicious.
- His whole life was nothing but suffering and since he didn't how to connect with people, he only saw his life as a tragedy compared to everyone else, till he saw the rest of his friends suffering and started to think more about the people around him rather than just his own problems.
- Throughout the whole series, he was afraid of being alone again so he didn't want to lose his friends so he committed several selfish actions throughout the story so he wouldn't be alone again, eventually he saw another means to connect with people and save them so his fear of being alone wouldn't happen again.
Character Tic: After bring tortured by Yamori for over a week, he inherits his habit of cracking his fingers right before he gets into a fight. Interestingly, Yamori himself picked up the tic from the man who tortured him and turned him insane.
- Hide eventually reveals to Touka that Kaneki touches his chin whenever he's being evasive or attempting to lie, something he picked up from his mother.
Childhood Friends: With Hide. They knew each other since elementary school.
Clark Kent Outfit: Expected, considering the training that Kaneki has been doing since he became a ghoul. You don't see the results until after the Aogiri Arc. He still looks as scrawny as usual with clothes on.
Cold-Blooded Torture: He endured over a week of torture at the hands of Yamori, and since then he's broken half the bones in Ayato's body and threatened Madam A with torture.
Combat Tentacles: He's a Rinkaku type. In his case, his kagune manifests as four tentacles from his midsection, just like Rize. His kakuja Kagune emerge from the same area, but he has six of them and they're shaped and act like centipedes.
Cool Big Bro: To Hinami. He even teaches her how to read difficult Kanji.
Cool Mask: It has one eye exposed (his ghoul eye, as opposed to the eyepatch he normally wears to cover it) and a false mouth that gives him a Slasher Smile until he unzips it.
- When using his kakuja, another mask forms over his face. It features an eye-like structure on the middle of his face, between his normal eyes, and it has a jagged beak-like design going downward.
Cosmic Plaything: The universe seems to hate Kaneki, heaping tragedy after tragedy on him.
Creating Life: One of the abilities of his Dragon form. Once he awakens from his slumber, he begins spawning Dragon Orphans, kagune-like humanoids that proceed to devour anything in sight. Dragon also has egg shaped pods on it with unfinished Kaneki clones inside them.
Creepy Centipedes: He becomes associated with them during the Aogiri Arc, leading up to Yamori sticking one in his ear as torture. After the timeskip, he begins wearing an eyepatch with a centipede pattern and later, develops a half-Kakuja form that resembles one. CCG gives him the alias "Centipede" as a result.
Creepy Monotone: He's had a tendency to switch to this during his more ruthless moments, ever since being tortured. He pairs it with Dissonant Serenity for an extra dose of creepiness.
Cruel Mercy: After beating Yamori within an inch of his life and devouring his Kagune, Kaneki refuses to finish him off. He instead leaves the other Ghoul weak and vulnerable, with CCG Investigators battling their way through the building and sure to find him eventually. Sure enough, one does eventually find and finish Yamori off in a suitably brutal fashion.
Cruel to Be Kind: Treats the Tsukiyama, the Quinx, Hinami and just about everyone else like crap after regaining his memories, to hide his true plans and make his human allies feel less hurt by his eventual betrayal. Also lampshaded by Chie to Tsukiyama, who points out throwing Tsukiyama off a building was much less likely to kill him than Kaneki using his kagune or quinque.
Curb-Stomp Battle: So many. Early on, he shows his potential strength by leaving Nishio in a state that takes weeks to heal. Not long after, he suffers one from Tsukiyama. In the Aogiri Arc, he dishes one out to Yamori, in a case of The Dog Bites Back. Then he takes one from Shachi and finally, Arima takes him down with efficient brutality near the end of the series.
Cute Bookworm: He starts out as one, being incredibly shy and more comfortable with his books than most people.
Cynicism Catalyst: After he's captured and tortured for over a week, Kaneki abandons his pacifist ways and becomes a ruthless Anti-Hero.

D — J

Dark and Troubled Past: After his parents died, Kaneki went to live with his aunt. She became jealous that he excelled academically while her own son did not. She started giving him less food and eventually stopped feeding him, merely giving him some money so he could buy his own food. At the start of the series, Kaneki is a college student living alone and seems to have no contact with his aunt.
Death Glare: He's gotten quite good at it, to the extent that Nico compares him to Yamori.
Death Seeker: After regaining his memories, he reflects on Hide's sacrifice while in Cochlea in order to rescue Hinami. Kaneki then expresses a wish to die while protecting and encouraging someone to live, believing Hide to have done just that. He later shows up to rescue Touka, Ayato and Yomo from Arima, and was intent on fighting his former mentor to the death. Hide's appearance helped him to overcome this to an extent during his fight with Arima, but others have noticed that he still has this desire. Touka ultimately becomes the one thing he truly finds Worth Living For.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: Kaneki remembers his mother with extreme devotion and holds on to the principle she taught him, that kind people can tolerate any pain or any wrong done to them and still be happy, even as his aunt abusively neglected him out of spite. Although he resolves the Extreme Doormat issues this caused him, we learn in the sequel that his memories of his mother up to this point are rosier than the reality, as he has been suppressing memories of his mother beating him.
Declaration of Protection: He declares he will protect everyone at Anteiku, but his methods are...questionable at times.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Extreme Doormat. As a child, his mother taught him the idea that it was better to be hurt than to hurt others. Kaneki would grow up with this mindset, becoming a kind and selfless person who puts others before himself whenever he can. However, the story goes to show how flawed someone doing so would be, as Kaneki mentions his mother worked herself to death helping her greedy sister. Later on, Kaneki gets captured by Yamori and brutally tortured by him for several days, ending with Yamori bringing out a Ghoul mother and daughter, and making Kaneki decide who lives and dies. Kaneki is unable to bring himself to decide, because without a third option or way to Take Me Instead, he cannot force himself to chose who lives and dies, prompting Yamori to kill both instead. This causes Kaneki to snap, realizing how stupid being an Extreme Doormat is, and decides to throw it away. RE takes it further by revealing that Kaneki's own mother was a hypocrite who would physically abuse Kaneki when she got angry, demonstrating how ultimately making yourself someone to be trampled on is a self-destroying view.
Determinator: He first shows signs of being one when fighting Nishio, and becomes even more of one after his ordeal.
Diagnosis from Dr. Badass: Kaneki gives Ayato a play-by-play education in anatomy while methodically breaking half of Ayato's bones.
Disease Bleach:
- His hair is bleached white after being tortured extensively by Yamori.
- Having all his limbs cut off by Arima multiple times causes his hair to turn stark white.
Dissonant Serenity: While other Ghouls tend to become more loud and aggressive when they snap, Kaneki has a tendency to be eerily calm while doing things like forcing Yamori to count down by sevens or systematically breaking half the bones in Ayato's body while naming them.
The Ditherer: A recurring flaw of Kaneki's is his indecisiveness, often stemming from a fear of consequence and the burden of bearing any that may arise from his choice. This problem is greatly exemplified after taking on the role and responsibilities of king, leaving Kaneki to either stall or take half measures with important decisions, sometimes at the disapproval of his own friends.
The Dog Bites Back: Yamori tortures him for ten days. When he finally breaks free and turns on Yamori, he tears off and eats several chunks from the other Ghoul's face, then uses the regained strength to beat Yamori within an inch of his life.
Earn Your Happy Ending: After years of torment and suffering, Kaneki finally achieves the peaceful life he always wanted. He's Happily Married to Touka, and divides his time between raising his daughter and helping to foster peace between Humans and Ghouls in a rebuilt Tokyo, all while no longer needing to feel alone in the world anymore.
Easily Forgiven: Tsukiyama quickly forgives Kaneki for whatever has happened between these two in the past.
Emergency Transformation: The story kicks off with him being turned into a Half-Human Hybrid as a result of a life-saving organ transplant.
Enemy Within: Rize serves as this to him early in the series, as a representation of his Ghoul side and darker urges.
Even the Guys Want Him: Including Tsukiyama and Hide, to name a couple.
Evil Costume Switch: After regaining his memories and abandoning the Quinx, he begins dressing in a black version of Arima's outfit. He also switches costumes again after betraying CCG and becoming the One-Eyed King to a black turtleneck, trench coat, and pants.
Evil Tastes Good: He describes the temptation to give in to his Horror Hunger as "falling into hedonism," and has to struggle with how good human flesh tastes compared to the more humane options available to him.
Extreme Doormat: "Better to be hurt than to hurt others". After being told this by his mother, he clings to it as a motto in life and decides it's better to be a victim than to lash out at others. He abandons and completely rejects this notion once a hallucination of Rize makes him realize his mother's inability to stand up to her sister not only killed her but left him alone.
Eyepatch of Power: He wears one to conceal his Ghoul eye, originally just a plain medical eyepatch. He later begins wearing one with a centipede motif.
Eye Scream:
- The victim of this more than once. Yamori injects him with an RC suppressant by jabbing a needle into the tear duct, and near the end of the series Arima stabs out both of his eyes.
- Furuta attempts to gouge out Kaneki's eyes with his thumbs in chapter 70.
Fallen Hero: Zigzagged. While Kaneki did resolve to start killing his enemies and started by killing off the Oggai, what actually caused him to rampage through Tokyo and kill any innocents in his path was his transformation into Dragon, a form in which Kaneki doesn't seem to be control of himself in; Tsukiyama even laments that this is something Kaneki would never do.
Famed In-Story: The series is described by Word of God as "the birth of the legend". By chapter 56 of :re, the Big Bad of the first series, Eto / the One-Eyed Owl, acknowledges Kaneki as her equal. By chapter 86 of :re, he's more powerful than even Arima, and takes the title of the One-Eyed King to become a symbol of hope to all Ghouls. Then he becomes the fabled Dragon that V has longed for.
Fatal Flaw: Protecting others. Initially, he attempts to do it by conciliation and submission as his mother taught him. Post-Aogiri, he is no longer a doormat but goes to the opposite extreme to protect the people he loves by isolating himself from them and constantly pushing himself to eliminate threats.
Fingore: Yamori decides to rip off all twenty of his digits over and over, because each time he does so, they regenerate. As a result, he ends up with bruised nail crevices and incredibly mottled skin shown in excruciating detail.
Flower Motifs: Numerous flowers appear in his visions, or in artwork.
- Sweet Olive, as "Kaneki" and "Kinmokusei" are different readings for the same Kanji.
- White Carnations, in association with his mother.
- Red Spider Lily, in association with Rize.
Foil: To Eto and Arima, to the point they name him their replacement as the One-Eyed King in chapter 85 and 86.
- Arima and Kaneki were both born on December 20th. Both defeated the One-Eyed Owl and were promoted out-of-season for the feat. Kaneki even adopts a black version of Arima's outfit and gets the nickname "The Black Reaper." Both are Death Seekers who want to sacrifice themselves and leave something meaningful behind. Further, Arima and Kaneki both turn out to be Half Human Hybrids conspiring with Ghouls behind CCG's back, and Kaneki eventually takes Arima's role as the One-Eyed King.
- Eto actually takes delight in pointing out their similarities. Both were children that grew up feeling abandoned and abused, struggling against a sense of isolation resulting from their Half-Human Hybrid status. But while Kaneki has been consistently surrounded by support and has a kind heart, Eto was consumed by her bitterness and wants to destroy everything. Kanekis mother was abusive and implied to have never shown affection for him, while Yoshimura loved Eto but had to leave her to his friend Noro to protect her from V. Because of this, Yoshimura hoped that Kaneki might be able to relate to and save Eto from herself.
Foreshadowing: Kaneki has a vision with himself in Chapter 140. While it appears to be a Dying Dream, it turns out that it can be seen as a visual metaphor for his memories starting to fade away and becoming an amnesiac.
A Glass of Chianti: The vampire variant, as a sign of his changed personality after the timeskip. While discussing business with Itori, he's seen drinking from a martini glass, but it isn't alcohol he's drinking.
Gaining the Will to Kill: Initially believing that it was better to be hurt than to hurt others, Kaneki eventually discards the ideology entirely, becoming more complacent with killing ghouls and humans alike.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: He gains these during particularly brutal moments.
Good Thing You Can Heal: Kaneki's Healing Factor is abnormally strong even for a Ghoul, allowing him to regenerate lost appendages repeatedly with little effort. Due to inheriting Rize's kakuhou - which has abnormal generation even for a Rinkaku type - he can regenerate entire limbs in seconds. It comes with a price, though, if he doesn't consume enough RC cells to compensate.
Half-Breed Angst: Kaneki experiences a great amount of distress at being turned into a half-human, half-ghoul hybrid and forced to eat human meat to survive. The cutthroat nature of ghoul society, which he struggles to find his place in, doesn't help.
Half-Human Hybrid: He's a human turned into a half-ghoul hybrid through a transplant courtesy of Dr. Kanou.
Happily Married: With Touka; in the epilogue they are raising a family in a more peaceful world.
Hates Being Alone: Kaneki realizes in his hallucination after being defeated by Arima, that his desire to protect everyone he cared about was out of fear of being alone.
Healing Factor: His healing factor goes from above average to exceptional once he starts eating regularly, allowing him to heal broken bones within seconds. This is demonstrated when his leg is twisted around several times, and he simply whips it back around and snaps it back into place. In the end, his healing ability is so potent that he can get stabbed lengthwise through the base of his skull twice, and still not die.
Heel–Face Turn: Begins planning to betray the C.C.G. as soon as he becomes Kaneki again to save Hinami and becomes the leader of the forces fighting against The Conspiracy after taking the mantle of the One-Eyed King.
Heroic Safe Mode: After he's knocked out by Amon in their fight in chapter 133, his Kakujya awakens and the fight continues.
Heroic Willpower: He brought out his kagune for the first time to save Hide from Nishiki.
Hero with Bad Publicity: He becomes Public Enemy #1 after the events in Cochlea, being declared a traitor responsible for destroying Cochlea and killing Arima.
He's Back!: He regains his memories in Chapter 54 of :re, and proceeds to curb stomp Kanae, Eto and Arima in the subsequent arcs.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Hide, his Only Friend since childhood. He begins to slowly push Hide away after becoming a Ghoul, fearful of what would happen if Hide were to find out. Even so, Hide never stops looking for him and eventually when they are finally reunited, Hide reveals he knew almost the entire time Kaneki had become a Ghoul and didn't care.
Hidden Heart of Gold: After regaining his memories, he refuses to visit Hinami, causing her to cross the Despair Event Horizon. He breaks her out in chapter 68 of :re however, after remembering his own time in Cochlea.
Hope Bringer: By defeating Arima and claiming the title of the One-Eyed King, Eto and Arima hoped he would become "a hope like the halo the sun emits."
Hunter of His Own Kind: After escaping Aogiri Tree, Kaneki primarily feeds on other Ghouls rather than humans. He does it explicitly to become more powerful, rather than out of any altruistic intentions.
I'm a Humanitarian: After regaining his memories and driving off Eto in chapter 56 of :re, he decides to cannibalize Eto's discarded Kakuja and lower half, to up his lost RC cell count.
Inelegant Blubbering: Is reduced to this at the end of the first episode, tears and snot running down his face even as he refuses to take human flesh from Touka, screaming that he's still human, not a Ghoul and therefore not a "monster". Touka, who is less than sympathetic, eventually loses her patience and literally shoves a piece of human meat down his throat.
Innocent Gray Eyes: Initially, his gray eyes show his innocent nature. However, as the story progresses it comes to symbolize his strength of will and dangerously unstable nature.
Irony:
- He fights Arima with the end goal of committing suicide. Arima talks him out of it... and then uses Kaneki for that very same purpose.
- He was chosen for his ruthlessness in battle, yet after becoming the second One-Eyed King, adopted pacifistic Thou Shall Not Kill attitude. Even more irony in that his body wouldn't allow him to adopt such lifestyle without weakening him in long run and for all his wish to protect the ghoul-kind, he has to consume them in order to extend his lifespan.
- Dating back to the original series, Kaneki's initial ghoul is to act as the buffer between humans and ghouls. Through Furuta's machinations turning Kaneki into the vessel for the Dragon, ghouls and humans were forced to unite to fend off a now common threat. Kaneki thankfully survives this ordeal, but the final chapter shows that the Dragon ended up producing offspring that the humans and ghouls continue to unite together to fend off, with Kaneki now serving as a liaison between the two factions.
It Tastes Like Feet:
- In the early series, Kaneki tries to eat ordinary food but his new physiology renders it revolting to his taste, a disgust which he describes with rather colorful reviews.
- After biting a chunk of meat out of Yamori's face to revitalize himself, he declares that it tastes like "the intestines of a fish on the verge of spoiling."

K — R

Kaiju: After consuming the Oggai, he becomes the "Dragon" of Furuta's plan and rampages through Tokyo. In classic Kaiju fashion, he is essentially a physical manifestation of the arrogance and fear of the humans that embraced Furuta's reign of terror.
Karmic Transformation: Kaneki expresses fairly typical sentiments about Ghouls being monsters, and finds himself transformed into a Half-Human Hybrid. His insistence that he was still human and not a "monster" like normal Ghouls quickly earns him a beating by Touka.
Kick the Dog: After resigning as the Quinx Squad's mentor, he seems to wash his hands entirely of them and does not even attend Shirazu's funeral. This of course just serves to further drive home his dark personality shift since the raid on the Tsukiyama Conglomerate. He also stops bothering to visit Hinami in Cochlea, completely breaking her spirit in the process. Even Urie thought that was cold.
Kick the Morality Pet: When he first manifests his Kakuja form, he ends up stabbing his arm through Banjou's gut and beating the others up pretty badly. This event makes him take a step back, horrified to realize just how far gone he really has become in his quest to uncover those involved in making him a ghoul.
Klingon Promotion: In accordance to the 13th Ward´s rules, he becomes the true leader of the White Suits after defeating Naki in a fight.
Last-Name Basis: Almost everyone refers to him by his last name, even his closest friends like Hide.
Laughing Mad: When Yamori puts a live centipede in his ear, Kaneki notes that he can hear someone laughing. After a moment, he realizes that he's the one laughing, having finally gone completely over the edge.
Locked into Strangeness: The moment he decides to stop restraining Rize's kagune, his hair suddenly turns white. Though his black hair grew back in when he was Haise, the stress of regenerating most of his body multiple times in the Cochlea arc is enough to make his hair pure white for another few years.
Major Injury Underreaction: After being tortured, his pain tolerance has reached such a level that he reacts to most injuries with mild annoyance (at most) as opposed to the usual screaming or crippling shock. He even points out how in comparison to what Yamori put him through, things like a broken leg are nothing.
Mama's Boy: Kaneki adored his mother, and gained his gentle nature from her. However, he also harbors deep-seated resentment towards her for working herself to death and leaving him alone.
Mask of Sanity: Kaneki masks his enormous psychological issues behind a meek, shy personality. It isn't until he's forced to confront his own damaged mind that it begins to become clear just how unstable he really is. He's prone to hallucinating conversations with people alive or dead, suffers Trauma-Induced Amnesia, and is deeply suicidal at various points. His insanity is at its worst during his tenure as the "Black Reaper", masking his fracturing psyche beneath an intimidating and cold mask.
Masochist's Meal: After hearing on TV that all human food tastes bad to Ghouls and can make them sick, he desperately cleans out his entire fridge in an attempt to find something edible... only to find himself continually running to the bathroom to puke. He's very relieved to find that he can still drink coffee.
The Mentally Disturbed: His sanity was greatly damaged by Yamori torturing him, as his increasingly brutal actions while cannibalizing other Ghouls takes a massive toll on his mind.
Mistaken for Romance: When going to a book signing with Hinami, he corrects the assumption that she is his girlfriend.
Monster Progenitor: He created the Dragon Orphans during his rampage through Tokyo.
Monstrous Cannibalism: As a sign of his growing ruthlessness, Kaneki actively engages in cannibalism in order to become more powerful. Tsukiyama notes the heavy toll doing so takes on his sanity over time.
Mood-Swinger: After the Aogiri Arc, Banjou expresses concern with how easily Kaneki swings between his normal, gentle self and a far more ruthless personality. That he can go from laughing nervously at teasing to calmly thinking about chopping someone's arms off to gain information shows just how fractured his mind has started to become.
Mook Horror Show: During the Anteiku Raid, he fights his way through numerous groups of CCG mooks. At one point, he disarms one and looms over him as a black figure with one glowing eye and a Slasher Smile. The mook promptly begins weeping in terror and loses control of his bladder.
Morality Adjustment: After his torture and resulting acceptance of his nature as a Ghoul, Kaneki begins a slide into Anti-Hero territory, becoming more brutal and ruthless in his efforts to achieve his goals.
Morality Chain: He keeps Tsukiyama in line, partially through threat and partially through Tsukiyama's desire to remain at his side. This desire leads Tsukiyama to not only give up his "gourmet" habits and betray the Restaurant, but causes him to hold back against Banjou and his followers.
My God, What Have I Done?: Several times during the early stages of the series when he nearly does things that would have gone beyond the blurred line that defines ghouls and humans. At one point, he impales Yomo with his arm while in the throes of his hunger, and later on after developing his Kakuja he wounds Banjou and during the attack on Anteiku, he slices off Amon's arm.
Naïve Newcomer: To the world of Ghouls, with Yoshimura actively inviting him to learn about their world and come to understand them with his human eyes.
Nephewism: After his mother died, Kaneki was put under the care of his aunt, who basically treated him like trash. Said aunt was a gold digger who leeched off his mother's income and helped work her to death.
Nice Guy: He starts out as a very kind young man, which earns him many friends among Ghouls. He somewhat remains this way even after becoming more ruthless.
Nice Guys Finish Last: He comes to this conclusion while hallucinating a conversation with Rize about his mother's fate.
Oblivious to Love: It takes Kaneki an awfully long time to understand, before Touka basically has to directly confess her feelings to him.
Official Couple: He becomes a couple with Touka after he recovers his memories in :re. In the epilogue, they're married.
Older Than He Looks: Downplayed Trope in which Kaneki has an incredibly youthful appearance despite being in his early 20s. Played more straight later in the story where after breaking free from the dragon, Kaneki resurfaces looking quite a bit younger. It turns out he's consumed so many RC cells that he has now expanded his life span.
One-Man Army: In the final arc, his mere presence during the battle is sufficient to begin turning the tide and leaves the commanding officers trying to figure out how to counter him.
One-Winged Angel: Devouring the Oggai made his body go out of control and transformed into a Kaiju-like monster known as the Dragon.
Orifice Invasion: Is a victim of this during his torture at Yamori's hands, having a live centipede stuffed into his left ear. After breaking free and beating Yamori into submission, he pauses just long enough to pull the centipede out.
Orphan's Ordeal: His father died while he was still very young, and his mother later worked herself to death attempting to provide for her own family and her sister's family. His aunt took him in, but ultimately began to emotionally abuse him.
Pay Evil unto Evil: After his ordeal at Yamori's hands, he adopts this policy, starting when he beats Yamori into submission and eats his kagune.
Kaneki: Remember, you're the one who tried to eat me first. So you'll get what's coming to you... when I eat you instead.
Perma-Shave: He spends nearly two weeks in captivity, and is absolutely filthy by the end of it but never develops so much as a bit of peach fuzz from it.
Pinball Protagonist: Initially, he was moved around by events without taking action. This is deconstructed by showing the realistic results of such "neutrality". Kaneki grew up with a mother who was a doormat and tried to do good even though it meant it would be at her own expense. Kaneki took after her because he thought that her example was right. Not exactly. He's just remembering her as he wants to, until a hallucination of Rize reminds him of all the unpleasant things happening behind the scenes. His mother didn't stand up to people who were clearly taking advantage of her, and because of that, her income was constantly being wasted on a deadbeat relative and she worked herself to death trying to make ends meet. Kaneki grew up just as meek and feeble as her, unwilling to really get his hands dirty if it was for his or someone else's good. That's when Rize made him realize that he's actually not on the side of good — he's actually wedged in the middle and grown complacent with it. It takes an extensive amount of torture and the deaths of a couple to finally make him realize that if he keeps playing both sides, everyone's going to lose... which causes him to ditch the lily white mentality and dye it crimson red.
Please, Don't Leave Me: He says this to a hallucination of his mother, finally admitting to the resentment he felt over her working herself to death and leaving him an orphan.
Power Degeneration: Being an artificial Half-Human Hybrid, Nishiki tells Kaneki that the more he uses his ghoul abilities, the weaker he becomes and the faster he is going to die, if he doesn't resort to cannibalism. His Healing Factor is already becoming worse. However, after being extracted from Dragon, he mentions that his health has improved.
Prematurely Grey-Haired: Kaneki's hair turns white after ten days of extensive physical and psychological torture. The torture wasn't entirely responsible for the color change — it was Kaneki's conscious decision to stop suppressing Rize's kagune that caused his hair to whiten, probably as a side effect of letting the Ghoul aspects fully manifest and integrate inside him. It serves to also mark his shift to a more ruthless mentality. One eerie thing to note about the color white in Japanese culture is that it is associated with harbingers of death.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Good night, Haise."
Pretty Boy: Quite the pretty young man, which is even pointed out by others.
Psychotic Smirk: Sports one throughout his fight with Yamori.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Has dark hair and a very pale complexion. Eventually, his hair becomes white.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives a great one to Dr. Kanou, upon learning the truth about the doctor's experiments.
Red Baron: "Eyepatch" or "One-eyed Ghoul" Later, "Centipede" as well, though the CCG except for Amon thinks it's a separate ghoul entirely.
- Even after 3-4 years of inactivity, in :re his dreaded reputation among ghouls is still present, as when Haise went to investigate alone while wearing Kaneki's 'Eyepatch' mask. The ghouls he tried approach immediately fled on sight of the masked Haise.
- After Chapter 58 of :re, he's known as "The Black Reaper." It's a reference to Arima, who is known as CCG's Reaper.
- After taking the role of de-facto leader of the Ghoul community, he gains the name "One-Eyed King" and "Nameless King."
- Amon continues to use his former CCG designation, an 'honor' only bestowed to particularly dangerous ghouls, "Eyepatch."
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Hide's Red. Also the Blue to Touka's Red.
Red Right Hand: A subtle one. After his torture and slide into Anti-Hero status, Kaneki's nails have turned black.
Red Spider Lilies of Mourning: When he is tortured, the sequences in his mind show a meadow of white carnations slowly turning into a field of red spider lilies, symbolizing the death of his previous Nice Guy personality and his change into a very ruthless Anti-Hero.
Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: In one of his first acts as the new Director of the CCG, Furuta executes a fake Kaneki and has reports of the execution made public. While his followers rage over the false reports, Kaneki wonders how he can use this to his advantage.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He sets off on one at the conclusion of the Aogiri Arc, having decided to destroy Aogiri Tree and anyone else he deems one of the "bad beans". It lasts roughly six months, before he's forced to realize how far off the rails his quest for revenge has taken him.

S — Y

Sanity Slippage: Begins when he is tortured, and it just gets worse from there on out. Until finally, he breaks and goes into a deranged fit of laughter. At that moment, Yamori gleefully mentions that he "popped".
Scars Are Forever: He has a surgical scar on his lower abdomen, from the surgery that transformed him into a Ghoul.
The Scottish Trope: After his defection, referring to him by name seems to have become a taboo within the CCG. Instead, he's referred to using the alias "Special Criminal H.S.".
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Hide's Manly Man.
Sex Starts, Story Stops: Chapter 125 of :re is devoted entirely to him sleeping with Touka.
Sexy Backless Outfit: After the timeskip, he begins wearing a form-fitting black battle suit. It's backless to allow for his kagune, though exposes much more than necessary — possibly because Tsukiyama designed it for him.
Ship Tease: He has multiple moments hinting at mutual attraction between him and Touka, who warms up to him as time goes by. Their time apart only seems to strengthen the mutual attraction, with Touka dreaming of what she would say to him and him wanting to keep her safe.
Shirtless Scene: Three instances throughout the series, showing the audience how he physically develops over the story. The first is after the death of Ryouko Fueguchi and he looks every bit as soft as Rize and Nishiki said he was. The second occurred at the ghoul restaurant, showing a little more firmness and definition, the early result of his training with Yomo and Touka. The third scene takes place after the Aogiri battle and a timeskip of several months; his body has become extremely muscular and lean.
Shotgun Wedding: In chapter 131, once Touka tells Kaneki that she is probably pregnant, he asks her how a ghoul wedding works, and she tells him that they need to leave proof on their bodies behind. The chapter ends with both of them biting into the other to leave a mark. In the following chapter, they hold their official ghoul wedding ceremony.
Shower of Angst: He takes one after the death of Ryouko Fueguchi, having come to understand the harsh reality of life for Ghouls.
Shrinking Violet: Male version. Before the start of the series, he only had one friend due to how shy he was. He later grew out of it.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: When he encounters Furuta deep underground, the other man begins to tease at a Motive Rant. Kaneki responds by knocking his gas mask off with his kagune, stating that he doesn't care.
Smells Sexy: Zigzagged. While Nishiki complains that he "reeks like a female Ghoul", Tsukiyama and his compatriots at the Ghoul Restaurant find his scent utterly entrancing, partly because of that and also because he still smells somewhat human. This results in plenty of Perverted Sniffing from Tsukiyama.
Split Personality: A variant. In Chapter 144, it's shown that the "original" Kaneki would subconsciously construct a personality to deal with any form of extreme stressful events.
Stages of Monster Grief: A major element of his Character Development, as he struggles to accept his new life as a Ghoul.
Stunned Silence: When Touka asks him whether he is a virgin.
Superpowered Evil Side: Early on, when he loses control his Ghoul side functions as this — he gains considerable strength, but also begins to behave more like Rize. This is particularly noticable in the anime, where he personifies and holds conversations with his instincts as a hallucination of Rize urging him to give in to his changed nature. He eventually embraces this side of himself, and becomes more powerful for it. His Half-Kakuja form later serves as this again, since the boost in power is accompanied by increased savagery and madness.
Suicide by Cop: Initially plans to rescue Hinami and provoke Arima into killing him.
Superior Successor: By chapter 85, he fights Arima to a stalemate, forcing the latter to admit defeat and reveal he wanted Kaneki to take his place as the One-Eyed King.
Super Prototype: He was only ever intended to be a test of the procedure, in preparation for testing it on Kuro and Shiro. Instead, he surpasses all expectations and Dr. Kanou refers to him as his ultimate creation.
Tarot Motifs:
- Most notably, XII. The Hanged Man, with the number "12" appearing in the artwork during several perspective-flipping moments. While he is also associated with VIII. Strength from early on, later, he gains further associations with VII. The Chariot and finally IX. The Hermit.
- After becoming the "Black Reaper": XIII. Death
- After realizing he wants to live and unlocking his full potential as a Ghoul: XXI. The World
Tears of Blood: As of chapter 131, Kaneki has been oozing "black tears" from his eyes for a month now, which are a sign that he is rapidly dying.
Terror Hero: As the series goes on, Kaneki is willing to use fear to defeat his opponents.
Thanatos Gambit: His entire scheme after regaining his memories involves building up his reputation, betraying the CCG to save Hinami from execution, and then dying in an epic duel with Arima.
Their First Time: Kaneki and Touka share their first time in chapter 125.
Took a Level in Badass: He becomes stronger and more willing to fight throughout the series, but the most noticeable jump in awesome comes after being tortured for ten days by the Aogiri. He becomes one of the most dangerous and powerful Ghouls in the setting after that. And becomes far more dangerous after gaining a kakuja kagune from eating other ghouls.
- This becomes deconstructed as his ability to kick ass is proportional to his willingness to kick ass. As soon as he discards the pacifism he inherited from his mother, he becomes more effective in combat despite his physical abilities remaining the same.
- After regaining his memories and identity as Ken Kaneki, he takes on Eto / The One-Eyed Owl by himself, slices her in half and then devours her Kakuja.
- In the Cochlea arc, after unlocking his true potential, he's completely unfazed by anything Arima, the most powerful combatant in the series up to that point, can do.
Took a Level in Jerkass:
- After his ordeal with Yamori, he becomes a much darker and more violent character.
- Invoked. After regaining his memories, he throws Tsukiyama off a high-rise building, coldly tells Urie that his own weakness is what caused Shirazu's death, skips out on Shirazu's funeral, abandons the Quinx, refuses to associate with his former squad or visit Hinami in Cochlea for six months, and threatens Eto's manager with imprisonment without trial. All to appear as a "model" CCG employee and make sure the Quinx suffer no consequences when he does betray the CCG.
Tragic Hero: In the opening chapter, Kaneki states that if he were the protagonist of a story, it would be a tragedy.
- Touka screams at him to stop acting like one, while delivering a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to him.
Tragic Keepsake: The horse tiepin he originally gave to Arima for Christmas, which Hirako returns to him after Arima's death.
Trauma Conga Line: Seriously, Kaneki has horrible luck. First his less-than-stellar childhood, his pseudo girlfriend turns out to be a ghoul and he gets so critically wounded that he needs a transplant from her dead body, finds out he's a half-ghoul and has a hard time transitioning...the list could go on and on. It gets even worse for him during the Aogiri arc, where he was systematically tortured for ten days and had a mental breakdown due to it. Can someone give this poor guy a hug?
Troll: In the omakes and extras, Kaneki has fun with Nishiki's tendency to compare everything to horse crap.
Tulpa: Kaneki creates multiple ones to help him deal with situations. From a young Kaneki as Haise, the Hide one for his friend he believes is deceased, and the numerous Kaneki ones based on different times of his life after he loses to Juuzou.
Uncertain Doom: His CCG file states that he was "Erased", leaving some ambiguity over whether or not he survived his battle with Arima. The sequel reveals him to be alive, but amnesiac as Sasaki Haise.
Underestimating Badassery: He severely underestimates Furuta as an enemy. To the point he thinks having him in charge is more convenient. In the end Kaneki's lack of resolve and arrogance allowed Furuta to turn Kaneki into his greatest weapon.
The Unfavorite: His aunt despised him, resenting the way he made her own son look bad in comparison and projecting her hatred of his mother onto him. Over time, she stopped feeding him (leaving meagre change for him to buy snacks with) and did spiteful things like throwing out all his father's books to hurt him.
Unwitting Pawn: Kaneki's actions since becoming he One Eyed King have all played into Furutas hands. Right down to gaining the resolve to kill and starts eating the Oggai and CCG members after Suzuya defeats him, becoming a "Dragon."
Voice of the Legion: When his kakuja is active, he babbles in a manner reflecting his splintering personality and his voice becomes more resonant and guttural.
Walking Spoiler: Good luck talking about Kaneki's story in :re without revealing what happened to Haise, Eto and Arima, or who V and the One-Eyed King really are.
Warrior Poet: Quotes a poem from a book he gave to Arima to say goodbye to his mentor after Arima falls in battle.
Wham Line:
- In chapter 86: "I am... the One-Eyed King."
- In chapter 144: "I will not pull back. I will push forward.... like a centipede."
White Hair, Black Heart: Played with. After being tortured, he emerges with white hair and a greater willingness to commit brutal deeds.
Wicked Stepmother: His aunt seems to follow the Evil Stepmother handbook in her treatment of Kaneki, being petty and cruel to him for the crime of existing.
Willfully Weak: Kaneki’s only major handicaps are his commitment to not killing humans and his unwillingness to cannibalize others. This led to his powers degenerating, which along with his no killing rule put him at a major disadvantage in his fight against Juuzuo. Once he discards these moral restraints, he becomes an unstoppable monster that easily slaughters the helpless CCG.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: As Kaneki grows stronger, his sanity slowly disintegrates. This started after being tortured by Yamori and then continued as a side effect due to eating Ghouls. When he manifests his Kakuja for the first time, he becomes a rambling lunatic and Shinohara describes him as the most insane Ghoul he has ever met.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Virtually everything Kaneki's been subject to has turned him into a raving madman whose only desire is to kill any who oppose him.
World's Strongest Man: Near the end of the series, he becomes the one of if not the most powerful Ghoul in the series surpassing the likes of Eto, Furuta, and even Arima. And it’s all thanks to Rize granting him his powers and learning how to control them.
Worth Living For: Falling in love and protecting Touka slowly makes him realize that he does want to live after all.
Worthy Opponent: He has great respect for Amon, even asking his name the second time they meet face to face. Afterwards, he mentally pleads for Amon to not die after seriously wounding him.
Would Hurt a Child: After being defeated and crippled in battle by Juuzou and Hanbee, and then having Rikai Souzu and Shio Ihei's severed heads dropped in front of him, he resolves to show his enemies no mercy whatsoever; and starts off by biting through Hajime's face and slaughtering him and the rest of the teenage Oggai.
Kaneki, to himself: That's a person. And a child, at that. I don't care. I won't forgive them.
Wrecked Weapon: He usually avoids killing humans, which is generally okay because his offensive power is more than enough to obliterate most of his opponents' weapons just as quickly. He'll also occasionally eat a ghoul's kakuhou rather than killing them.
You Kill It, You Bought It: After defeating Arima, he takes the role of The One-Eyed King, becoming the new lynchpin of the revolution against the Washuu that Arima and Eto once led.
Your Days Are Numbered: The more Kaneki uses his Kagune and Healing Factor, the faster he ages. He could mitigate the ensuing cell division and ageing process by taking in RC cells via cannibalism, but since he refuses to do so, he shows more and more symptoms of his body breaking down. This changes once he becomes Dragon. With the amount of RC cells he's consumed it's estimated he could live for another 200 years. And that's assuming he doesn't consume any more people.

Tropes in √A

In the anime's second season, which partly follows an alternate route, Kaneki goes through many of the same events he did in the manga, but ends up experiencing some that are quite different too.

Adaptational Wimp: In the manga, Kaneki is able to unite a small group of ghouls under him (Hinami, Banjou and the gas mask siblings, and Tsukiyama) and proves to be a fairly competent leader and strategist, instead of merely joining Aogiri. In addition, he is able to briefly overwhelm Shachi and recover from being smashed through the floor, is able to run away after Amon and Juuzou destroy his kakuja (which he generally has control over), and Amon needs to use the Arata quinque to even stand a chance of winning (and even then, he still loses a limb for his troubles). However, in √A, Shachi easily defeats him and Kaneki does not immediately recover, Amon is able to destroy his kakuja unaided and the One Eyed Owl has to rescue him, he's seen struggling to control his kakuja, and Amon is able to fight him on equal terms without the Arata armor.
Badass Longcoat: He wears a trenchcoat during the attack on Cochlea, but sheds it once he encounters Shachi.
Body Horror: The result of his evolution into a Kakuja, with randomly twitching tentacles and Abnormal Limb Rotation Range as well as raised veins.
Bridal Carry: The main image for the series is Kaneki holding a sheet-covered body this way. The finale reveals it to be Hide, whose body he carries back to the CCG base camp.
The Coats Are Off: Throws aside his trenchcoat in preparation to fight seriously.
Despair Event Horizon: Hide's death, with him burning Anteiku down and going off to attempt Suicide by Cop.
Evil Costume Switch: His battle-suit becomes this, adopted after he joins Aogiri.
Face–Heel Turn: At the end of the first episode, he joins Aogiri instead of forming his own gang. However, he soon returns to Anteiku after a while.
Mr. Fanservice: He appears nude in the opening, as well as a nightmare sequence.
Pet the Dog: He teaches Naki how to write Yamori's name, proving that he's still kind beneath his cold exterior.
Red Baron: He's officially called "Eyepatch" by CCG in this continuity, as opposed to it merely being Amon's nickname for him.
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: In the end, his decision to join Aogiri to seek the power to protect Anteiku and Hide leads to nothing but tragedy. He sacrifices his sanity, Anteiku is destroyed, and Hide dies as a result of joining CCG to search for him.
Suicide by Cop: Implied to be his intention after Hide's death, with him carrying the body into the main field base of CCG and straight up to Arima.
Tears of Blood: He weeps a single, bloody tear in the opening. He weeps a bloody tear from his kakugan during the finale, when Hide dies in his arms.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Though working for Aogiri, Kaneki is subtle in disarming or disabling rather than killing humans. During an attack, he discovers an Investigator hiding in an office, but leaves without attacking or drawing attention to him. However, this mercy doesn't seem to apply to Ghouls...
Together in Death: Possibly.
Let's go home...
Uncertain Doom: He's last seen facing Arima, with no indication afterwards what happened to him, although given Arima and Eto's One Eyed King plan depending on Ken's survival, things likely went in a similar way as they did in canon, only with Hide dead.
Used to Be More Social: He's become very quiet and withdrawn, offering only a few words to his comrades.

Haise Sasaki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/193c4068a059fb490cfcb9fc1542bff4.jpg

"If the past Me came back, the things I've built in the last two years would all be lost. That's really scary."

At some point after losing his memories, Kaneki takes on the alias of Haise Sasaki and becomes a Ghoul Investigator, eventually partnering with Akira Mado. Under this alias, he serves as a mentor of the Quinx Squad, but is frequently treated as an outsider by his coworkers due to his kind personality. Haise is haunted by visions of his past self, and fears what may become of him should his memories return.

After the Tsukiyama Family Extermination operation, he is promoted to an Associate Special Class Investigator, leaves the Quinx Squad and becomes the secretary of Arima's S3 Squad.

Tropes involving Sasaki

Affectionate Nickname: Saiko refers to him as "Maman", French for "Mama". Shirazu calls him "Sassan".
Amnesiac Dissonance: Haise eventually realizes that Kaneki may have been an enemy of the CCG and feels conflicted between his present as an Investigator and the attachments of his past.
Amnesiac Hero: Haise Sasaki is an amnesiac Kaneki, missing the first 20 years of his life. While he's pushed aside thoughts of his past and generally feared it, after the Auction he becomes curious about Kaneki and begins attempts to learn more about his past.
Amnesiacs are Innocent: He's far more out-going, playful, and criticized for being too naive especially when compared to the jaded, oft-brutal young man he'd become prior to losing his memories.
An Arm and a Leg: Provides a Cliffhanger for ch. 50, with Kanae chopping his right arm off below the elbow.
Attractive Bent-Gender: While Disguised in Drag, there's no denying that Sasaki looks like an incredibly beautiful woman.
Badass Boast: Parodied. When conflict leads to the team splitting up to investigate Torso, he declares his intention to show them all.
Sasaki: Just watch, you brats! And you too, First Class Shimoguchi! The Serious Sasaki... the SASARIOUS will... pull an all-nighter tonight to gather data!
Mutsuki: [Thinking] He's losing it...
Badass in a Nice Suit: As an Investigator, he goes into the field dressed in a nice suit and tie, facing down Ghouls dressed like an office worker.
Badass Longcoat: He typically wears a trench coat in the field, but removes it when he gets really serious.
Bag of Spilling: Zigzagged back and forth. As a result of his lost memories and being dosed with RC suppressants, Sasaki is back to struggling to control his powers and Ghoul nature. However, when he loses control and his old self begins to emerge, his powers are shown to be just as strong and even more fine-tuned than in the past.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: Haise and Kaneki are fighting for dominance of the mind and body, but Haise is fighting a losing battle. The more he learns about Kaneki, the more frequently Kaneki emerges from Haise's mind. He tries to remain willfully ignorant of Kaneki, but his job as a ghoul investigator puts him in contact with some of the most important people in Kaneki's life.
Beware the Nice Ones: When he actually fights seriously, his unstable nature and former self begin to emerge. It's enough to terrify his subordinates.
Big Damn Heroes: He has a tendency to arrive just in time to rescue his subordinates, usually slicing up the attacking Ghoul in the process.
Bilingual Bonus: Lampshaded by Kanae, who scoffs at the absurdity of having such a name. "Haise" is pronounced the same as the German verb "heißen" when used for yourself ("Ich heiße..." or "My name is...") which in this setting is as good as writing in stone that the name is an alias.
Black Sheep: He's looked down on by his peers in the CCG, to the point of being humiliated in front of a subordinate.
Body Horror: It seems devouring Eto's Kakuja has had an averse affect on his body. His Kagune appears to have mutated, while his right hand regrew with scales on it.]
Brick Joke: In the opening chapter, he concluded his Hurricane of Puns by asking Akira for a hug — which she immediately denies him. After the Awards Ceremony, he asks for another one as a joke... and is shocked when she does as asked.
Bridal Carry: Crossed with Continuity Nod, when he rescues Mutsuki. The framing of the panel, as he carries his wounded subordinate in his arms, recalls his rescue of Touka during the Aogiri Arc in the original series.
Broken Ace: Akira refers to him as "The Ace of the Mado group". He hides it well from most people, but he's about a broken as a person can be while still relatively functional.
By-the-Book Cop: When his subordinates ignore protocol, he attempts to quote Article 13 at them, but they blow him off.
Came Back Strong: Dr. Shiba reveals that half-Ghouls become stronger as their bodies recover from serious injury, as a result of the RC cells spreading throughout their bodies. A body scan shows that Sasaki's body is littered with RC pathways, from all the times he's been injured and regenerated.
Character Tic: Several, mostly picked up from others:
- He tends to touch the side of his face when he is thinking or is nervous.
- His prior mannerisms he learned from those around him up also remain despite his memory loss, like touching his chin when lying, like his mom, or mimicking Touka's pre-battle stretches.
- When he's in a tough fight or very stressed out, he'll start cracking his fingers like Yamori (and his torturer Tokage) did, which is a big warning sign that either he is not doing okay or who's causing this reaction isn't going to be soon enough.
The Coats Are Off: When he breaks out his full strength, he throws aside his trench coat.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Though it all happens off-screen, Takizawa goes through the process of "poking various holes" in him to terrorize the CCG with his broadcasted screams.
Combat Tentacles: He has become exceptionally skilled at using his Rinkaku, and imitates some of the tricks Arima uses with IXA's tentacle form.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Ironic, given he's technically the same person as Kaneki, but Sasaki is considerably different both in personality and character conflict.
Consulting a Convicted Killer: He consults Donato, getting valuable insight in the investigation of Torso.
Continuity Nod: He first met Akira in a graveyard, while she was visiting a grave and discussing her new partner. This is the same way that Akira and Amon once met.
Cool Teacher: He tries to be one to the Quinx. On the other hand, he's an extremely popular Guest Lecturer at the Junior Academies.
Criminal Amnesiac: His amnesia has resulted in him becoming a Ghoul Investigator, with the skill and body count sufficient to have earned him an Award that requires killing 100 Ghouls in a year.
Dangerous Forbidden Technique: He seems quite hesitant to use his Ghoul abilities, and perhaps with good reason.
Declaration of Protection: After seeing his Enemy Within transformed into a helpless child, Haise declares that he will protect him.
Devoted to You: Two years later, Tsukiyama and Roma remain obsessed with him while Touka has started a new cafe and continues to wait for him to come home.
Disease Bleach: Averted. Sasaki's white hair slowly turns black over the course of the series. By chapter 53, it's entirely black again.
Disguised in Drag: During the Nutcracker case, he organizes a plan to have the entire team dress as women. He pulls it off very well.
Driven to Suicide: In Chapter 53, "Kaneki" explains to him that he wanted to die at V14. That he still wants to die, asking Sasaki to die in a suitably beautiful/cool fashion so that everyone will love him. Sasaki is fairly horrified by this revelation.
Dual Wielding: During a training session, he demonstrates how to spin a pair of knives in different directions.
Enemy Within: Haise is self-aware that his identity was created by the CCG. However, Kaneki is slowly retaking control and the more Kaneki recovers, the weaker Haise becomes. Haise fears a full recovery will kill his identity completely.
Eye Scream:
- After Takizawa gets through with him, his upper face is a bloody mess. It's probably better that there's so much blood that it isn't clear what exactly was done to him.
- After being captured and imprisoned in Cochlea, the amnesiac Ghoul #240 is seen wearing bandages over his eyes. This is because he repeatedly clawed his own eyes out, to the extent the wounds kept getting infected.
Facepalm: He does this in Chapter 11, when Shirazu manages to draw attention to them during a stake-out.
A Father to His Men: Arima describes him as the "father" of the Quinx, and he certainly cares for them like one.
Fair Cop: He's a sharp-dressed Investigator with youthful good looks. In his introductory scene, a female member of the office staff seems to be trying to flirt with him.
Fire-Forged Friends: Juuzou's partner explains that Sasaki and Juuzou became good friends as a result of having to work together on several cases.
First-Name Basis: Akira, Arima, Suzuya and Kuramoto all refer to him by his given name.
Freak Out:
- When he sees Orochi's face and is called by his real name. This causes him to have a complete meltdown, screaming and sobbing hysterically until he's brought down by an RC suppressant bullet.
- Has another one in Chapter 52, when he hallucinates Arima threatening to kill him "again". He immediately goes berserk.
Friendship Moment: Juuzou greets him by rushing forward with arms extended, only to start frisking him. It turns out he stuffs candy into his pockets for Juuzou, and this is how they always greet each other.
Goofy Print Underwear: Boxer briefs with the word "Energy" printed on them. Stolen by Urie and given to Chie as a present for her "model".
Glowing Eyes of Doom: In the Wham Shot of chapter 6, with his face obscured in shadows while his Kakugan glows ominously.
Hazy-Feel Turn: He's switched sides as a result of his amnesia, but whether that makes him a hero turned Evil or a villain turned Good is entirely dependent on whether it's being viewed from the side of humans or Ghouls.
Hated by All: Akira mentions that he's "an existence" that other Investigators look down on, tolerated less than the Quinx.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He definitely feels overwhelmed by his assignment, and difficulty keeping his team in line, something he readily admits to.
He Who Fights Monsters: As in the past, his efforts to fight against Aogiri has resulted in him crossing lines and making callous decisions.
Hurricane of Puns: He's extremely fond of word play and silly puns.
I Am Not Left-Handed: He normally relies on his Quinque to fight, but Akira makes it clear to his subordinates that they've never actually seen him go all-out. Facing Orochi, he decides to do exactly that — abandoning his weapon in favor of using his kagune.
Identity Amnesia: He is well-aware that he used to be someone different, and admits to being terrified that the happy life he has built and his identity as Haise will vanish should he remember his old self.
I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why: When he tastes the coffee made by Touka, he begins crying without knowing the reason.
Innocent Gray Eyes: Gray eyes hinting at both his role as a mentor to the other hybrids, and his innocent nature.
I Hate Past Me: He admits that he knows his Enemy Within is his former self, but states he wants nothing to do with his past. After meeting Hinami, however, he admits that Kaneki must have been a wonderful person to have people that loved him so much. It's only after this that he finally makes peace with himself, transforming his Enemy Within from the fearsome Centipede into a white-haired child he decides to protect.
Innocence Lost: Kaneki says goodbye to the relatively happy and peaceful time he had as the amnesiac Haise, when he finally regains his memories.
Irony: Kaneki used to admire Eto, even had a crush on her, but when she goes full Yandere on him, he's not thrilled in the least.
Living Emotional Crutch: Merely learning about Sasaki breaks Tsukiyama out of his depression and motivates him to begin taking action again.
Loss of Identity: His greatest fear concerning his memories is that, if he regains them, his current self will cease to exist.
Locked into Strangeness: Downplayed. Despite his hair turning completely white after days of torture in the original Tokyo Ghoul, more and more of his original black hair grows in as :re progresses. Further, when he regains his memories in chapter 53, the dried blood from a head injury turns his remaining white hairs black once more.
Lost in Translation: Several pieces of textual foreshadowing in the first series were misunderstood by Western audiences and translators, resulting in confusion over Sasaki's identity until the very clear reveal in chapter 7. Readers of the original Japanese, however, were in the know and, unintentionally or not, spread the reveal long before Western audiences were in on it.
The Lost Lenore: Tsukiyama continues to mourn him almost three years later.
Love at First Sight: It technically doesn't count as "first sight", as Sasaki is an amnesiac Kaneki and Kaneki's memories are still dormant inside Sasaki, but the moment Sasaki met Touka inside the coffee shop :re, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she was. He would later often come back to the coffee shop to read books, but also to see Touka. Mutsuki notices Sasaki's attraction to Touka as well, and through this realizes that he is in love with his mentor.
Master Swordsman: Takeomi describes his swordsmanship as elegant "like water" and expresses the hope that he can learn from him at some point. Notably, he's skilled enough to essentially dual-wield his Quinque and Kagune at the same time.
Meaningful Rename: "Haise Sasaki" has numerous meaningful readings.
- "Haise" means "Ash" and can also be pronounced as "Grey", the color of his eyes. It's also a homophone for the characters in "the world is wrong", a repeated phrase in the last chapter of the original Tokyo Ghoul, where Haise first appeared.
- Later, Kanae confuses the name "Haise" for the German word "heißen", meaning "to be named", a nod to the fact that the name is a false one.
- The name is based on Haise's two favorite kanji. The kanji for the "hai" in "Haise", 琲, is found in the kanji writing for "kohi/coffee", 珈琲. The kanji for "se", 世, is part of 世界, which stands for "world".
- His family name can be translated as "assistant", a nod to his subordinate relationships with Arima and Akira.
The Mentally Disturbed: He suffers hallucinatory waking nightmares, conversing with his Enemy Within in a mental space full of symbolic imagery.
Mentor Archetype: He is officially the mentor of the Quinx, supervising and leading them. He tries to be a good teacher to them, but comes up somewhat short.
Morality Pet: Arima treats him like one, though it isn't clear how genuine this kindness is. In Chapter 52, Sasaki has a hallucination of Arima referring to him as a weapon, and threatening to kill him. For Sasaki to have this hallucination at all might indicate that he's more frightened of Arima than anything.
Mr. Fanservice: The 2016 calendar features him in more than one revealing outfit and/or fanservice-y pose. Then came Ch. 72, when he tossed off his jacket to reveal a form-fitting black bodysuit. The fandom approved.
Must Have Caffeine: He mentions his hobby, since becoming a Rank 2 Investigator, is to visit different coffee shops.
Mythology Gag: The reappearance of the number 12, referencing The Hanged Man.
Nice Guy: He's very kind, which is probably one reason he struggles to control his subordinates.
Nightmare Sequence: He has sleeping and waking nightmares where he encounters a twisted version of his past self in Yamori's torture room.
Odd Friendship: With Donato Porpora, of all people. He values his opinions, and discusses both cases and personal matters with the imprisoned Ghoul.
Open Secret: His identity as an amnesiac Kaneki is pretty well known throughout the Ghoul community. Touka and the others in the re: café knew it all along, but have kept themselves from confronting Sasaki about it.
Not Quite Dead: Apparently, it takes more than repeatedly running him through and stabbing him through the skull twice to kill Kaneki.
- Chapter 144 reveals Haise still lives on inside Ken's mind alongside his other personalities.
Papa Wolf: Suffice to say, he doesn't take kindly to his Squad being harmed.
Parental Substitute: He states that because of his amnesia, Arima and Akira are his "parents". In turn, he's called the "father" of the Quinx Squad.
Please Spare Him, My Liege!: He pleads with Arima to spare Hinami, before recovering enough to make up the excuse that he captured her and wants "Ownership Rights".
Power Copying: He's quite good at copying the fighting techniques of others, along with their mannerisms. Not only has he adopted the Character Tics of his mother, Yamori, and Hide but he imitates Touka's pre-asskicking stretches, Tsukiyama's sword kagune, and is observed by a senior Investigator to almost perfectly imitate Arima's moves.
The Profiler: Sasaki demonstrated expertise in discerning the characteristics of Ghoul criminals.
Pungeon Master: He's rather fond of word play and puns, though others don't always appreciate his humor.
Rank Up: In Chapter 32, he's promoted to First Class and the aftermath of Chapter 57 sees him further promoted to Associate Special Class.
Real Men Wear Pink: Sasaki is impressively domestic, cooking and caring for his subordinates, and turns out to be extremely skilled with makeup and fashion. He makes no efforts to hide these "feminine" talents, and is a highly-skilled fighter.
Recruiting the Criminal: Rather than imprison him in Kokuria for the crime of his mere existence, Sasaki has been recruited as a Ghoul Investigator and allowed to live as a human employee even though he is technically a Ghoul himself.
Reflective Eyes: In Chapter 9, there is a closeup of his eye reflecting Touka as he notices her.
Reforged into a Minion: After being captured by CCG, the amnesic Kaneki was remade as Ghoul Investigator Haise Sasaki. He even ends up fighting a former friend, Nishiki, who expresses pity over seeing what has become of Kaneki.
Repressed Memories: The end of Part 1 implies that, along with the probably significant mental (and no doubt physical) damage that came with being stabbed in the brain by Arima, Haise chose to purposefully repress his memories after realizing just how much despair and misery his chosen path left him. Certain triggers will cause some of those memories to bubble back up to the surface.
The Reveal: In Chapter 7, he is confirmed to be an amnesic Ken Kaneki.
Sequel Hook: A disjointed "ha i se ..." appeared in final CCG scene in the last chapter of the original Tokyo Ghoul, hinting at his role as CCG's new secret weapon in the sequel.
Shapeshifter Weapon: Though he avoids using his kagune, he's become capable of controlling the exact shape of his tentacles — creating three-fingered claws, or sharp blades instead of simple Combat Tentacles.
Sharing a Body: Haise and Kaneki share a body but neither is happy about it. They are generally fighting for control but situations like Hinami being in danger allow them to temporarily cooperate.
Sharp-Dressed Man: When working, he dresses impeccably in monochrome pieces — black dress shirts, pinstripe slacks, light-colored ties, and a white Badass Longcoat to finish off his look. Off duty, his choice of clothing is distinctly less fashionable.
Shoot the Dangerous Minion: Akira shoots him with an RC suppressant to bring him down when he uses his kagune, as per CCG policy. Should these methods ever fail, the standing order is to kill him.
Shout-Out:
- He wears a tee shirt (and matching underwear) featuring a stylized image of one of the members of the JPop boy-band EXILE TRIBE.
- He briefly discusses one of Kafka's short stories with Arima in Ch. 8. ^Summary
Shrouded in Myth: When he first became an Investigator, there were already rumors about him being "different" from other Investigators. Akira knew of him even before meeting him for the first time. However, since then he's pretty much become the guy his coworkers look down on.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: In Chapter 53, Sasaki has finally had enough of being tormented by his Enemy Within and strangles "Kaneki" while telling him to shut up.
Skilled, but Naive: He's a highly-skilled Investigator, but criticized by his peers as extremely naive. Akira even warns him that this will be his downfall.
Slasher Smile: He gives one in chapter 7, when his old personality starts coming through.
Smart People Wear Glasses: He wears glasses while reading, and has numerous bookcases in his room.
Split Personality: He seems to have completely separated himself into different selves, denying his former self and Ghoul nature by internalizing it as his Enemy Within. When the line between the two begins to blur, his personality becomes more ruthless and frightens his subordinates.
Stealth Pun: He's been awarded the Kinmokusei Medal, named for the Fragrant Olive. This flower is associated with Kaneki because they are alternate readings for the same Kanji.
Stepford Smiler: When asked whether he's curious about his past, Sasaki cheerfully informs Arima that he's "very happy" with his current life. That he touches his chin while smiling reveals he's not nearly as happy as he'd like the world to believe. In general, he masks his massive emotional and psychological issues behind a cheerful smile, terrible puns, and a gentle attitude. It's later implied further that he's absolutely terrified of Arima.
Suicide by Cop: He realizes he intended to be killed by Arima at V14, but "screwed it up".
Superior Successor: CCG has assigned him with the task of creating an Investigator that can surpass Arima. Akira points out that he himself has to surpass Arima first, if he wants to do this.
Superpowered Evil Side: The twisted echo of his old self serves as one to him, emerging during his battle with Orochi. Along with a significant increase in power, he also becomes far more ruthless and begins displaying the mannerisms he picked up from Yamori. Since these are the traits that Kaneki displays when he is in control, Haise wrongly thinks this is all there is to Kaneki's identity. The truth is more complicated.
Supreme Chef: When told she may be fired, one of the first things Saiko worries about losing is the meals he cooks. It seems he's a pretty good cook, for not being able to taste his own food.
Sword over Head: In Ch. 50, he pins down Tsukiyama and prepares to run him through with Yukimura... but finds himself struggling with the choice.
Talking to Themself: Sasaki and the twisted version of his past self that lives in his subconscious don't exactly get along.
Tarot Motifs: As per the original series, numbers from the Major Arcana are concealed within the artwork as hints about his character.
- VIII. Strength
- XII. The Hanged Man
Team Chef: The primary cook in their household, to the extent that Saiko and Shirazu fret when he isn't around to cook for them.
Team Mom: He tries to be the Team Dad, but this is what he actually is, taking care of his team both professionally and at home. Saiko even refers to him as "Mama", and he admits to being lenient with her.
Terror Hero: He's developed into one after the Time Skip, with two members of Aogiri getting the sense that they'll be devoured if they continue to fight him. This is represented by a visual of a snake devouring a lizard.
That Man Is Dead: He kindly tells Hinami that he isn't the person she knew, that even though his body was Kaneki, he is Haise Sasaki. Watching him, however, Hinami firmly states that Haise and Kaneki are definitely the same person. Eventually, after regaining his will to live during his duel with Arima, Kaneki discards his identity as Haise Sasaki. The arc itself ends with him reaffirming himself as Ken Kaneki, now the new One-Eyed King.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: In-universe example. He admits to not liking Sen Takatsuki's work much, citing the sheer amount of tragedy and despair that occurs. Ironically, Kaneki was an avid fan of Takatsuki's work.
Took a Level in Badass: In Chapter 41, he's shown wielding Yukimura and his Kagune effortlessly. While the battle occurs primarily off-screen, he leaves several dead Mooks and sends the named Aogiri members fleeing in terror.
Trademark Favorite Food: His love of coffee remains, and he mentions that his hobby is visiting new cafés in his spare time to try new blends.
Un-person: As hinted in the original series' finale, Kaneki's existence has been completely erased from official records. Sasaki is unable to find a single mention of his former self in the records... At least, until he finds a single misplaced report draft written by Amon about his encounter with a Ghoul in an eyepatch mask.
Unwanted Harem: He seems to have a knack for attracting admirers of the Villainous Crush variety — Tsukiyama, Nico, Roma, and Eto and Mutsuki are all fascinated with him to one degree or another.
Walking Spoiler: Good luck talking about him in any context that doesn't give away the ending of the original series.
Wham Shot: In Chapter 6, when he cracks his knuckle in preparation to fight Orochi.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Averted. He's repeatedly criticized for showing mercy to Ghouls, and accused of having sympathy for them.
You Are Number 6: During his time in Cochlea, prior to becoming Haise Sasaki, he was simply known as "#240".

"I am... The One-Eyed King."

Characters / Tokyo Ghoul: Ken Kaneki

Ken Kaneki

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese), Austin Tindle (English), Miguel Angel Leal (Latin American Spanish)

Played By: Masataka Kubota (Film), Yūki Ogoe (Stage Play 2015), Ryo Matsuda (Stage Play 2017)

Haise Sasaki

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Characters / Tokyo Ghoul: Ken Kaneki

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Ken Kaneki

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese), Austin Tindle (English), Miguel Angel Leal (Latin American Spanish)

Played By: Masataka Kubota (Film), Yūki Ogoe (Stage Play 2015), Ryo Matsuda (Stage Play 2017)

Haise Sasaki

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