Ken Kaneki
Original Series: Ghouls | Humans
Tokyo Ghoul:re: Goat | Quinx | Humans | Ghouls
Tokyo Ghoul Jack | Spin-Offs
Characters appearing in the Tokyo Ghoul prequel series.
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Humans
Kishou Arima
"I moved place to place to hunt ghouls. It's been so long since I spoke with someone my own age. Living an ordinary life... was fun. Thank you."
- Voiced By: Daisuke Namikawa
The protagonist of Jack, a brilliant young transfer student. In truth, he is a Rank 3 Investigator working undercover and will eventually become the legendary "Grim Reaper".
- Action Duo: He forms one with Taishi, after agreeing to let him help in his mission.
- Badass Bookworm: He's an incredibly accomplished student, and turns out to be a skilled fighter as well.
- Because I'm Good At It: While almost all Investigators are motivated by personal loss, prejudice against ghouls, or a sense of justice.....Arima simply does it because he excels at it.
- Broken Ace: Beneath his cover as a perfect student, Arima is a troubled young man that struggles to connect with others and casually talks about how he could die at any moment.
- But Now I Must Go: At the end, he transfers out of school and prepares to leave, having completed his assignment.
- Gratuitous English: "Nice pitching". (After Taishi saves him from a ghoul by nailing it the eye with a thrown rock.)
- Hero of Another Story: Jack focuses on his high school days, and early work as an Investigator.
- Hyper-Awareness: He's able to pick up on even the most minor details, allowing him to shine as an Investigator.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Implied, with him wistfully noting that he has never gotten to experience a normal life. He later admits getting to attend high school like a normal person was "fun".
- Love Triangle: Minami appears to have feelings for him, while Taishi has feelings for her. He remains aloof to her for the most part, since he suspects her of being Lantern.
- New Transfer Student: He transfers into the school as part of his cover.
- Odd Friendship: He forms an unlikely friendship with Taishi, after his cover is blown.
- Ordinary High-School Student: This is his cover in Tokyo Ghoul: Jack so that he can investigate the school as he searches for the ghoul Lantern. Fura agrees to keep his identity a secret so that Arima can continue attending school and live normally for a while.
- Playing Card Motifs: Minami compares him to the Jack, which is typically portrayed as a knight.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Taishi's Red, with their hair colors even reflecting this.
- Senseless Violins: He carries his Quinque around in a guitar case.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: His glasses add to his air of intelligence.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Marude and other Investigators resent him for being so talented, and Taishi initially finds him annoying for being so perfect.
- Teen Genius: He's noted for his brilliant mind, introduced offering Taishi his textbook because he'd already memorized it.
- Two Guys and a Girl: He allows Minami to force her way into the group, but tries to maintain a distance from her. Her entry disrupts the balance between Arima and Taishi.
- Tyke Bomb: He's been hunting Ghouls for a while, and casually refers to it as his "hobby".
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Used to establish him as one in the main series. In Jack, Arima is noticeably a much warmer individual and hasn't developed into the emotionless Reaper he would become as an adult.
Taishi Fura
"I...want to protect the things that I love."
Voiced By: Ryōhei Kimura
The protagonist of the side story Tokyo Ghoul: Jack, along with Arima. He is a reckless and wild teenager, and becomes involved in hunting down the Ghoul "Lantern" after it kills his friends. As an adult, he is a First Class Investigator and married his sweetheart from high school.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: As a high schooler, he doesn't have any of Arima's fighting abilities or experience so his mode of attack is to take something blunt and bash some ghouls.
- Action Duo: He survives a ghoul encounter twice and ends up becoming Arima's ghoul hunting partner in high school.
- Action Survivor: He starts out as an average high school student until he sees his two childhood friends get attacked by a ghoul (one even dies). He gets rescued by Arima and ends up teaming up with him to hunt down ghouls. Despite having much less experience than Arima, he ends up getting better at ghoul hunting and later joins the CCG.
- Batter Up!: He fends Lantern off with a baseball bat, and later starts wielding one with nails embedded in it as a weapon. As a former baseball player, he hits hard enough to actually injure Ghouls with it.
- Book Dumb: He was not an especially motivated student and had a hard time studying. It was also noted that he skipped class a lot.
- Chekhov's Hobby: Taishi used to play baseball, and was considered a promising athlete. He uses these talents to nail an attacking Ghoul with a rock through the eye hole in his mask, while standing on the opposite end of an alleyway.
- Delinquent Hair: Tokyo Ghoul: Jack shows his hair as being orange colored but in Tokyo Ghoul we see that his hair is black. It seems he probably had dyed hair as a teen, which goes with his somewhat delinquent personality.
- Fatal Family Photo: Discussed. In the present time, Taishi berates his subordinate and tells him not to talk about someone's family before a mission.
- Fiery Redhead: He bleaches his hair a bright orange, matching his passionate nature.
- Foregone Conclusion: Since he'd already appeared in the main series working with Amon, it's a given that he'll survive the story and go on to become a Ghoul Investigator.
- Former Teen Rebel: In Jack, he is a hot-blooded delinquent. As an adult, however, he's a straight-laced Investigator.
- Happily Married: In the present time, he seems to be happily married to Aki and has a family with her.
- Hero of Another Story: He's a background character in the main series, but the protagonist alongside Arima in the side story, Jack.
- Hotblooded: It's what got him into trouble with teachers all the time.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Taishi was a talented baseball player, but quit and ended up as a lazy delinquent instead. After the deaths of his friends, he finds himself wondering what their lives might have been like if he'd never stopped playing ball.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When introduced in Tokyo Ghoul: Jack, he seems like a lazy student with a bad attitude. He also immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Arima. However, he honestly cares a lot about his childhood friends and can be a good guy when he wants to be.
- Leeroy Jenkins: His hotblooded nature means that he doesn't always think things through.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Minami is a ghoul. Arima knows this from the start. Taishi is oblivious.
- Love Triangle: Taishi develops feelings for Minami, who appears to have feelings for the oblivious Arima.
- Manly Tears: He weeps while berating Lantern, pointing out that his friends might have been troublemakers....but they were still precious to him.
- Odd Friendship: With Arima of all people. They were classmates in high school and ended up bonding over ghoul hunting despite having clashing personalities.
- Only Friend: Arima's only actual friend. It's implied that even twenty years later, Taishi is still the only true friend Arima's ever made.
- Ordinary High-School Student: He was this at first in Tokyo Ghoul: Jack, albeit kind of a slacker and not that great of a student. His normal life gets disrupted once his childhood friends get attacked by a ghoul and he meets Arima.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Arima's Blue, with their hair colors even reflecting this.
- Secret-Keeper: He offers to keep Arima's secret, so he can continue to experience a normal high school life.
- Sympathy for the Devil: He expresses sympathy for Lantern — and all Ghouls, really — because they can never be human, no matter what they do or how hard they struggle.
- Tragic Bromance: With Ryou, his childhood friend. Ryou's death saving him from a Ghoul leads to him eventually becoming an Investigator.
- Two Guys and a Girl: After Minami forces her way into their team, Taishi begins feeling jealous of Arima.
Uruka Minami
"If possible, I want to help you somehow..."
Voiced By: Saori Hayami
Class Representative and classmate to Taishi and Arima. She becomes involved in their investigations after they rescue her from a Ghoul.
- Amateur Sleuth: She eagerly throws herself into helping Arima and Taishi, and proves exceptional at information gathering.
- Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Aki's Betty.
- Big Bad: She’s Lantern.
- Class Representative: She is their class rep, even though she's a transfer student. Also a rare villainous version.
- Damsel in Distress: She is rescued by Arima and Taishi, after Katou targets her. Except she intentionally put herself into danger to gain their trust.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Yes, this unassuming high school girl is Lantern.
- Hero Worship: She describes Arima as being "like a knight", and expresses interest in him.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Her long, beautiful hair results in her being targeted by a ghoul. He notes that she never allowed him to do more than trim the ends a little, keeping it long.
- Love Triangle: Taishi notes that he started coming to school regularly after she transferred in, and clearly has an interest in her. On the other hand, she seems to only have eyes for Arima. The triangle is resolved by her death as Lantern.
- The Mole: She inserts herself into the Lantern investigation despite being Lantern herself.
- New Transfer Student: Taishi recalls when she suddenly transferred to their school.
- Oblivious to Love: She's completely unaware of Taishi's crush on her, and in turn Arima seems clueless about her interest in him.
- Ojou: She's admired by her peers, and became Class Representative a short time after transferring into their school.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She is extremely beautiful, and her black hair is the reason Katou targeted her.
- The Reveal: She is not only a Ghoul, but actually Lantern's true identity.
- The Smart Guy: While Arima is a Teen Genius, she provides the brains of the operation by researching local rumors and compiling notebooks of potential targets and hunting grounds.
- Two Guys and a Girl: She forces her way into the team to obstruct the investigation, and creates something of a love triangle in the process.
- Walking Spoiler: Basically impossible to discuss without revealing that she’s Lantern.
Aki Sasada
"I....might have paid for my sins."
Voiced By: Rumi Ōkubo
A high school delinquent, and friend of Taishi. She is seriously injured by Lantern, but survives the attack. Eventually, she becomes Taishi's wife.
- The Atoner: She feels that Lantern's attack is punishment for being a delinquent, and decides to reform.
- Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Minami's Veronica.
- Book Dumb: Taishi describes her as being a poor student, and often struggling to understand complex ideas.
- Damsel in Distress: Rescued by Arima and Taishi, when Lantern attacks her.
- Eye Scream: She loses her right eye to Lantern.
- First Girl Wins: She was Taishi's childhood friend, and eventually marries him.
- Happily Married: By the time of the main series, she has become Taishi's wife.
- Hime Cut: To contrast her delinquency streak her hair seems to be done in this traditional and proper hairstyle, possibly to foreshadow how she settles down in the future.
- Japanese Delinquents: She is a troublemaker, and enjoys riding around on motorcycles with her friends.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though she's a troublemaker, Taishi states she's an extremely kind girl that always listens intently whenever people speak to her and tries hard to understand their feelings.
- Love Interest: To Taishi, who she eventually marries.
- Second Love: Taishi becomes this to her, after her boyfriend is killed by Lantern.
- Sole Survivor: The only member of Taishi's group to survive being attacked by Lantern.
- Survivor's Guilt: She struggles with feelings of guilt, after losing her friends to Lantern.
Ryou
Voiced By: Tatsuhisa Suzuki
A juvenile delinquent and leader of a biker gang. He is a long-time friend of Taishi, and the boyfriend of Aki. His death at the hands of Lantern sets Taishi on a path towards revenge.
- Badass Biker: He regularly got chased around by the police, and got into fights.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrificed himself to protect Taishi from Lantern.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Run through by Lantern's kagune.
- Japanese Delinquents: A member of a teenaged gang, always getting into trouble and skipping school.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Taishi describes him as being much kinder than his tough exterior would seem.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His death leads to Taishi helping Arima hunt down Lantern.
- Sacrificial Lion: He dies protecting his best friend and girlfriend from Lantern.
- Taking the Bullet: He died after pushing Taishi to safety.
- Tragic Bromance: He dies protecting his childhood friend, Taishi, who ends up becoming an Investigator as a result.
Itsuki Marude
Voiced By:
A senior Investigator, assigned to the 13th Ward. He is loosely supervising Arima's operation, but has a deep resentment towards the prodigy.
- The Cameo: He makes a brief appearance as Arima's superior.
- Jerkass: He berates Arima, before telling him to go off and die. Even more beat since Arima's sixteen at the time.
- The Resenter: He really doesn't like Arima, as typical of most of the older Investigators that see the talented youth as a threat.
Ghouls
Lantern
"They didn't know how blessed they were, messing around like idiots with that "I'm never satisfied" attitude. I hate those types the most. They were better off dead."
Voiced By: Saori Hayami
The primary antagonist, a mysterious Ghoul wearing a Jack-o-Lantern helmet.
- Alas, Poor Villain: After being fatally wounded by Arima, she admits just how desperately she wanted to be a normal girl.
- Alto Villainess: Zigzagged. When speaking normally, her voice is high and sweet as expected of a teenage girl. But when she's fighting, her voice drops significantly.
- Ambiguous Gender: The voice is too distorted to tell, but seems male and is called male until it turns out to be Minami.
- Arch-Enemy: To Taishi, after killing his friends and wounding Aki.
- Badass Longcoat: Part of Lantern's disguise while hunting is a large trenchcoat, which helps disguise her age and gender.
- Big Bad: The primary target being hunted by Arima, and sought by Taishi for revenge.
- Blood Bath: She reveals that she bathed in human blood to cover up her scent, so other Ghouls would think she was human.
- The Chessmaster: Manipulates everyone around her to learn more about Arima, testing his strength and maneuvering herself to be close to him.
- Cool Mask: There's something creepy about a murderous Ghoul wearing a Jack-o-Lantern as a mask.
- Cry Laughing: In her final moments, she laughs weakly while crying and complains about how she studied so hard from the upcoming exams.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: On the receiving side of one, once Arima takes things seriously.
- Dance Battler: In the OVA, it incorporating dance-like movements into their fighting.
- Dark Action Girl: Evil as they come, but a strong fighter regardless.
- Decoy Damsel: She tricks another Ghoul into attacking her, all to get close to Arima and Taishi.
- Doomed by Canon: Arima is stated to be the "Undefeated Ghoul Investigator" in the main series, so it's pretty clear that Lantern won't be making it out alive....
- Driven by Envy: She kills primarily to satisfy her jealousy, viewing criminals and troublemakers as undeserving of their good fortune.
- Evil Is Petty: Killed Fura's friends because they were too noisy at school, and annoyed her.
- Final Speech: Gives a Motive Rant and mocks Taishi for also being "a murderer", before bemoaning all the hard work she put into studying for the upcoming exams.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Intensely jealous of humans, to the extent that she felt justified in killing humans that she felt didn't properly "appreciate" their good fortune.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Ultimately, she just wanted to be a normal girl attending high school like everyone else.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Taishi accidentally impales her with Yukimura, when she lunges at him.
- Motive Rant: Gives one to Arima and Taishi.
- Red Baron: Dubbed "Lantern" by the media, thanks to the Halloween-themed outfit.
- Retcon: The original manga artwork suggested Lantern to be a Koukaku, but updated to be a Bikaku in later material.
- Sadistic Choice: Attempted to distract Arima by having Yamori go after Taishi on the lower level, which only partially worked. While it clearly distracted Arima somewhat, he manages to work around it and Take a Third Option by stabbing Yukimura through the floor to wound Yamori.
- Samus Is a Girl: Lantern is actually attractive high school girl Minami.
- Secret Identity: Uruka Minami.
- Smug Snake: While Lantern's confidence might have been justified against anyone else, in this case the opponent is Arima. All the scheming and strength in the world is little more than over-confidence when facing the soon-to-be-legendary Investigator.
- Tail Slap: A bikaku with a lizard-like tail.
- Voice of the Legion: In the OVA, Lantern's voice is distorted and mid-range, making it impossible to pinpoint gender.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: She claims that she was helping society, by killing people that disrupted the peace and order of human society.
Sumihara Katou
Voiced By:
A 22-year old Ghoul that owns a hair salon. He is obsessed with his clients' hair, and enjoys targeting beautiful women.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He comes across as very kind and supportive, but in truth he is not only a sadist but utterly creepy.
- Chatty Hairdresser: In his human persona, he chats amiably with his clients and seems very kind.
- Crazy Consumption: He eats the clippings of his clients, and clearly enjoys it a little too much.
- Expy: Basically a Japanese Freaky Fred.
- Fetish: He has a rather creepy thing for his clients' hair, secretly eating the clippings while fantasizing about the owners.
- Fragile Speedster: He is an Ukaku-type, with a focus on speed over endurance.
- Sadist: He fantasizes about tearing out of the hair of his clients, follicle by follicle and then scalping them.
- Stalker with a Crush: To Minami, who he has been planning to eat for several months.
- Unwitting Pawn: Minami tricks him into attacking her, so that she can get close to Arima and Taishi.
- Winged Humanoid: His kagune resembles a pair of wings.
Yakumo "Yamori" Oomori
Voiced By: Rintarō Nishi (Japanese)
A Ghoul living in the 13th Ward, with a tense relationship with Lantern. He is eager to fight Arima and his partner, and will eventually become the sadistic Aogiri member known as "Jason".
- Adaptation Dye-Job: While a blond in the main series, he's got black hair during Jack. It's unclear which is his natural color.
- The Dragon: He ends up acting as Lantern's partner, taking orders from Lantern to ambush Arima and Taishi.
- Dragon Ascendant: After Lantern’s defeat, he will become the “boss” himself, and even gain his own fanatical subordinate, Naki. Downplayed as he still works for Aogiri Tree.
- Mythology Gag: When he corners Taishi, he tells him to "CHOOSE" whether his lower or upper half will be eaten first, in reference to the Sadistic Choice he will present Kaneki with in the main series.
- Saved by Canon: Since he dies 12 years later, the audience already knows he won't be killed during his encounter with Arima and Taishi.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After he's wounded by Arima, he abandons Lantern and flees.
