Kaneki Ken is the protagonist of author Ishida Sui's Tokyo Ghoul series. Starting his journey as a human, Kaneki's life is turned upside-down when meeting with a girl ghoul named Rize leads to him becoming a one-eyed ghoul. With no place to belong to and a constant thirst for his own kind, Kaneki's life is full of struggles until he meets people, both human and ghoul, who he can depend upon.
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Over the years, Kaneki assumed many personas. There are many things about him that fans missed because he took on so many personas, however, from his gentle nature to undergoing severe torture from Jason of the White Suits.
Updated on October 26th, 2021 by Claris Lam:Kaneki is a very interesting character, and we decided that five additional bits of trivia were necessary to add to the original list in order to more fully exploreTokyo Ghoul's protagonist.
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Kaneki Is A Skilled Swordsman
This fact might surprise a few fans, but Kaneki is actually quite skilled at swordsmanship. He can use the quinque to slice through a ghoul's kagune. He can also use it effectively with his own kagune, which can give him a huge advantage in battle when fighting his enemies. His swordsmanship was also good enough to keep up with Kishimura Washuu during the end of the dragon arc, and this impressed quite a few fans. Kaneki's quinque is called the Yukimura 1/3. This blade was previously used by Arima and Hirako before Kaneki took possession of it.
Kaneki Figured Out Martial Arts By Reading About It
Kaneki is a big bookworm,and can really absorb the things that he reads.This enabled him to figure out how to practice martial arts just by reading about it in a book. He was able to implement martial arts in later fights shortly afterward, much to the surprise of both his foes and viewers. Not only does it demonstrate how smart he is, but it also shows that he can easily apply something theoretical into practical terms after learning about it, in a short amount of time.
Kaneki Has A Monstrous Dragon Form
Kaneki is capable of transforming into a monstrous, dragon-like form. After he consumed the entire Oggai squad and the nucleus embedded in Furuta's body, Kaneki's body can expand into a huge mass of flesh, teeth, and eyes that can consume anything and everything possible in its path.
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He can also create tentacles that cut through concrete and even military tanks, much to the viewer's horror and the horror of any enemies that dare cross Kaneki. It is best hat anyone going up against Kaneki run far away before they get consumed by his dragon form.
The Placement Of Kaneki's Eyepatch Is Often Incorrect
Though Kaneki wears an obvious eyepatch at times throughout the series, the placement of where it is supposed to be is often incorrect. Ishida stated that he often gets the placement of Kaneki's eyepatch incorrect because Tooru Mutsuki, much like Kaneki, also wears an eyepatch. The two eyepatch-wearing characters led to confusion over who wears eyepatches over which eyes, so errors about eyepatch placement were inevitable.
Not only did it confuse fans, but it also confused the creator himself. Tooru is supposed to wear his eyepatch over the right eye, while Kaneki is supposed to wear it on the left eye.
Kaneki& Yamori Went Through Similar Torture Methods
Though Kaneki was tortured by Yamori, also known as Jason of the White suits, Yamori himself was also tortured in a similar manner to Kaneki. Before Yamori was called "Jason," he was taken to the 23rd ward's ghoul detention center, Cochlea, thanks to the information he had about the 13th ward and was left alive for the sake of getting information from him.
During his imprisonment, he was tortured by a sad*stic investigator and learned about ways to torture ghouls in the process. Though Yamori became a torturer for fun himself, Kaneki retained the desire to protect his friends despite his own torture at Yamori's hands.
Kaneki Has A Very Gentle Nature
Almost all Tokyo Ghoul fans know that Kaneki possesses a gentle soul and rarely ever harms another person unless forced to do so.However, few fans know the reason behind it.
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Kaneki has always been afraid of being alone. Additionally, the fact that he'll go back to having nobody in his life if he hurts people around him haunts him for a significant period of time. Even when Kaneki has a change of persona, he tries to protect everyone by himself, primarily because they mean a lot to him, but also because he never wants to face the trauma of being alone ever again.
Kaneki's Hair Color Changed Often
Over the course of the Tokyo Ghoul series, Kaneki's hair has changed its color often. Different people attribute its change of color to different things, and a lot of it has to do with temporary melanin production due to its unstable RC cell activity.
More than that, this abrupt change is symbolic for the author of the series. Kaneki's initial transformation from a black-haired person to one with white hair symbolizes his mental progression. It only takes place when Kaneki embraces his ghoul side and allows it to cannibalize on his human side, symbolically speaking, to break free of Jason's torture.
Kaneki& Haise Have A Link Between Each Other
After fighting against the White Reaper of the CCG for the first time, Kaneki is completely annihilated and is then turned into a CCG investigator by Arima. Bearing the name of Haise Sasaki, Kaneki leads the Quinx Squad and developed a close bond with its members.
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Although unknown at the time, there was always a link between Kaneki and Haise. For example, the name Kaneki means "gold tree," while Sasaki literally translates to "Helpful Wood," bridging the two personas while also providing clues about Haise's identity at the same time.
Kaneki Has Many Secrets
Kaneki does not often let those around him know what he's truly thinking since he is so reserved. However, it is actually pretty easy to figure out if he's hiding something or not. Whenever Kaneki is hiding something, he has a strange habit of subconsciously touching his chin with his left hand.
Even after he became Haise Sasaki, Kaneki's habit stuck to him. Throughout the series, this has been pointed out by a lot of people, especially those who know him very well, such as Hideyoshi Nagachika, and Touka Kirishima.
Kaneki's Father Died When He Was A Child
Contrary to the once-popular belief that Kaneki's father would eventually appear, Ishida Sui never drew his father in the entire series. According to Kaneki, his father died when he was just four years old. As expected of a gentle person like Kaneki, he probably loved him quite a lot, but his mother didn't let him feel his absence.
Nonetheless, Kaneki often wonders what kind of a person his father was, as his memory of him is hazy. Over the years, Kaneki has slowly started to forget his face but he does know his hobbies very well.
Kaneki Is An Avid Reader
Right from the very beginning of Tokyo Ghoul, Kaneki can be seen as an avid reader of books and novels. Even as he gets different personas, Kaneki's love for books always stays the same. Surprisingly, this habit of his comes from his memory of his father.
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According to Kaneki, while he doesn't remember a lot about his father, he vividly remembers that he used to read a lot. So, he started reading books, and as it turns out, the feeling was awfully soothing to him. It is presumed that the smell of his father's old books could've possibly made him feel like he was in his presence, and before he knew it, he fell in love with reading.
Kaneki& Arima Have A Close Relationship
Kaneki and Arima didn't start at the best of terms. In fact, the first time they met, Arima "killed" Kaneki Ken. However, his relationship with Haise was very different. To Haise, Arima was his father figure. Even though he didn't remember much about his past, he knew that Arima and Akira were there for him.
Even when Haise got his memories back, he still had a soft spot for Arima, who he still considered a father figure. Ishida Sui had planned well for the two to be close, and surprisingly, they even share the same birthday!
Kaneki Likes Many Things
Although Tokyo Ghoul is all about Kaneki's story, little light is thrown on what he likes and dislikes. This could be because Kaneki, as a convoluted character, was still trying to understand himself throughout the series. From what little we know about his preferences, it's clear that Kaneki likes reading, as mentioned above.
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Apart from his love of books, he also seems to enjoy language, as seen when he teaches Hinami. Kaneki also enjoys the company of intellectual women, which is likely why he was drawn to Rize at the Anteiku Coffee shop, and he also enjoys eating hamburgers.
Kaneki Was Severely Tortured By Jason
In the first part of Tokyo Ghoul, Kaneki undergoes severe torture at the hands of Jason of the White Suits. The unbearable pain caused him to accept his ghoul side since that was the only way he could've been saved. After managing to break free, it is implied that Kaneki Ken eats Jason, especially in the anime.
However, Kaneki's intention was just to eat his Kagune. Since Kaneki didn't have much to do with Jason, he was left to die right there as Kaneki made his way out.
Kaneki Mindset About Himself& The World Changed Over Time
As a character, Kaneki Ken's mental progression is one of the best qualities of both himself and the manga. At the beginning of the story, Kaneki realizes that the world is full of atrocities caused by both humans and ghouls. Initially, he blames the world for turning him into a Ghoul.
However, towards the end, Kaneki's train of thought evolves to a point where he realizes that everyone is the protagonist of their own journey. Everyone steals and protects for their own benefit. The world isn't what's wrong; it just is. At the end of the day, if he had a choice, he would still choose to strive like he always has been, no matter what.
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