Ken Kaneki

Ken Kaneki was a student who studied Japanese literature at Kamii University, living a relatively normal life. However, this quickly changed after Rize Kamishiro's kakuhou was transplanted into him and transformed him into a one-eyed ghoul. Kaneki is the first known artificial one-eyed ghoul. His unique half ghoul state is what later inspires the idea of the Quinx. After joining Anteiku as a part-time waiter, he learns how to live as a ghoul and eventually becomes known as Eyepatch (眼帯, Gantai). After being captured by Aogiri Tree, he underwent a drastic personality change and, after escaping, formed a group with the goal of protecting those precious to him and exterminating individuals threatening his place of belonging. His kagune form's distinct appearance earned him the alias Centipede (ムカデ, Mukade).

As a child, Kaneki had all the same features he has now as an adult with black hair. As a normal university student, Kaneki was a somewhat short and scrawny young man with little to no athletic background and preferred to read books. After the steel beam incident, Kaneki bears a scar from the transplant operation on the right side of his abdomen not far from his navel. In his free time, he wore casual clothes.

His casual outfit consists of a turquoise hoodie, light black pants, running shoes with a yellow toe, and blue outlines reaching the middle of the black base of the soles.

At work, he wore the standard Anteiku waiter uniform, consisting of black trousers and a gray waistcoat over a white dress shirt and a black necktie (brown cravat in the anime). Because he could not yet properly control his single kakugan that manifests in his left eye, he wore a medical eye patch to cover it.

His ghoul mask resembles a leather gimp mask with an eye patch. It bears a lipless mouth with large, gnashing teeth, much like a restrained asylum monster. The bolts sticking out of his neck and the fact that he is an artificial ghoul invoke a Frankenstein-like theme.

After being tortured by Yamori, his appearance changed drastically. His hair became completely white, his nails were blackened, and he developed a more muscular physique. He began to favor monochrome clothing and wore a form-fitting black bodysuit with cutouts when going into battle. His attitude changed as well. He became more cold and left his innocence behind as he fully embraced his inner ghoul.

Kaneki was a shy and reserved person, with Hide being his only close friend. He usually spent most of his time reading books, mostly novels. He was extremely gentle and appeared to be optimistic most of the time. Influenced by his mother and a true testament of modesty, he willingly took blame and punishment from others so that he could be someone who does not hurt people but rather absorb the torment. However, this lack of assertiveness normally got him bullied and taken advantage of.

However, beneath his altruistic and gentle nature was an underlying fear of being alone that was aggravated by his mother's death. He despised the idea of solitude. Hence, he tried to protect those dear to him so he would not have to face his fear of being alone in the world.

This was perhaps his greatest weakness. Since Kaneki was always trying to protect others, he was essentially trying to protect himself from ever being alone again. Therefore, to escape that scenario, he would shoulder the task of protecting others onto himself without relying on anyone else. This was also why Kaneki rejected the notion of "living," because watching others die reminded him of those lonely days without anyone beside him.

After he was turned into a half-ghoul, he clung to his human side. To keep living in the human world, he began to work at Anteiku and established relationships with the ghouls there. He started to develop an interest in becoming stronger and began reading martial art books so he could protect those closest to him. However, he was still troubled with the fact that he was a half-ghoul and wanted to search for a place where he could belong. As much as he treasured his life, if people close to him were threatened, he would not hesitate to put his life on the line.

After being held captive and undergoing intense torture at the hands of Yamori, Kaneki's personality changed drastically. He trashed his previous ideology of "being hurt rather than hurting others," pledging to crush those who dared threaten his place of belonging. He adopted the habit of cracking his knuckles from his torturer, Yamori. In his subconscious, Kaneki ate "Rize," the image of his ghoul self. This displayed that he accepted the "ghoul" within him; instead of being influenced by it, he appeared to have become the one to surpass it. Kaneki became ruthless, cruel, and brutal in order to protect his friends, yet he managed to maintain complete composure. He no longer feared his ghoul side and was more violent during battles, such as when he cannibalized Yamori's kagune in order to strengthen himself, and mercilessly broke 103 of Ayato's bones. By embracing his ghoul nature wholeheartedly, Kaneki gave up on being "human."

Kaneki was still capable of showing his gentle nature in front of people he cared about, but instantly turned merciless against his enemies. He yearned for strength and power, therefore becoming more power-hungry and superficially arrogant. His new creed—that as "the strong" he had the right to "devour the weak"—was originally an ideology held by Yamori. Banjou assumed that Kaneki developed some form of mental instability during his torture in the 11th ward, and that this would gradually wear him down.

Whenever he was near starvation and losing control of his kagune (or half-kakuja), he behaved in a way that emulated another's, such as Rize or Yamori. He would speak in a crazed disorganized manner, further implying his mental instability during these periods.

After raiding Kanou's lab and attacking Banjou, Kaneki entered a period of soul-searching. He wished to reclaim his lost "human" side and became uncertain about the path he had taken to become stronger. He started to question and seek answers from individuals such as Uta, Yomo, and Yoshimura in order to understand the incidents that have happened around him since he turned into a ghoul.

Kaneki's mental state undergoes extreme changes over the course of the series. Before his torture, Kaneki would at times refer to his actions as "we" or "us," albeit mostly while in a stressed state. Kaneki personifies his feelings to an extent that they take the form of people existing within his mind. When meeting these mental constructs, Kaneki enters a limbo-like state where he converses with them. Kaneki initially only entered this state when he was under extreme duress or near-death and later included during calm settings for conversation.

During his torture at the hands of Yamori, this construct takes the form of Rize Kamishiro. She taunts him for his weakness and shows memories from his past with his mother, forcing out his anger towards her for not being able to refuse her sister. Through these memories, she gradually convinces Kaneki to abandon his previous ideology of being the one who gets hurt instead of others. By accepting "Rize," Kaneki embraces a more brutal view of the world and accepts his ghoul powers.

Appearance: As a normal university student, Kaneki was a somewhat short and scrawny young man with little to no athletic background and preferred to read books. After the steel beam incident, Kaneki bears a scar from the transplant operation on the right side of his abdomen not far from his navel. In his free time, he wore casual clothes. His casual outfit consists of a turquoise hoodie, light black pants, running shoes with a yellow toe, and blue outlines reaching the middle of the black base of the soles. His ghoul mask resembles a leather gimp mask with an eye patch. It bears a lipless mouth with large, gnashing teeth, much like a restrained asylum monster. The bolts sticking out of his neck and the fact that he is an artificial ghoul invoke a Frankenstein-like theme.