Kimiko Kaneki (fem Kaneki)

As a child, Kaneki had all the same features she has now as an adult with black hair. As a normal university student, Kaneki was a somewhat short and scrawny young woman 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 her abdomen not far from her navel. In her free time, she wears casual clothes.

Her 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, she wore the standard Anteiku waiter uniform, consisting of black trousers, a black skirt and a gray waistcoat over a white dress shirt and a black necktie. Because she could not yet properly control her single kakugan that manifests in her left eye, she wore a medical eye patch to cover it.

Her 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 her neck and the fact that he is an artificial ghoul invoke a Frankenstein-like theme.

Kaneki was a shy and reserved person, with Hide being her only close friend. She usually spent most of her time reading books, mostly novels. She was extremely gentle and appeared to be optimistic most of the time. Influenced by her mother and a true testament of modesty, she willingly took blame and punishment from others so that she can be someone who does not hurt people, but rather absorb the torment. However, this lack of assertiveness normally got her bullied and taken advantage of. However, beneath her altruistic and gentle nature was an underlying fear of being alone that was aggravated by her mother's death. She despised the idea of solitude, hence she tried to protect those dear to her so she would not have to face her fear of being alone in the world.

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

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

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

Ghoul Physiology: After inheriting Rize Kamishiro's kakuhou, Kaneki has displayed a unique healing factor, as well as a rinkaku kagune consisting of tentacles and increased physical power. Due to the hybrid vigor, Kaneki's abilities are said to be more potent than those of a natural-born ghoul: Superhuman Strength; Superhuman Speed; Superhuman Endurance; Immense Pain Tolerance; Superhuman Regeneration; Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant; Keen Intellect. Kagune: Rinkaku Kagune: Kaneki's kagune is bright red, becoming a darker shade as it neared the tips. Kaneki initially displayed her kagune in her fight against Nishiki Nishio, possessing three tails which repeatedly impaled Nishiki before throwing him, saving her and Hide while having little control over them. One-eyed ghouls can only consume flesh of human or ghoul origin like normal ghouls and thus they are strictly a cannibalistic organism.