Character Name: Naki Series: Tokyo Ghoul Timeline: Chapter 104, after Naki, his bodyguards, and Tsukiyama flee the battle against the doves Canon Resource Links:
At some point before chapter 90, Naki was captured by the CCG, the Commission of Counter Ghoul, the organization responsible for hunting down ghouls and either killing or capturing them. Naki was given an S-rank prior to his capture and was kept in a secure location with another four S-ranked ghouls. Aogiri Tree busted Naki and the other four ghouls out and offered them protection against the "doves", the members of the CCG. Naki was a member of Aogiri Tree prior to being imprisoned, so he went back to work serving the higher ups in the organization without any complaint.
Naki's boss (and most important person) was Yakumo Oomori ("Yamori"), and Naki desperately wanted to see Yamori after his escape. Unfortunately for him, Yamori had been killed and eaten by the protagonist, Ken Kaneki. If a ghoul eats another ghoul, they gain the abilities of the ghoul they ate, so this was a calculated move on Kaneki's part, though it really didn't help that Yamori was torturing him for an extended period of time.
The first time Naki appears in person is to do Aogiri Tree's bidding in capturing and interrogating a nurse who worked for Dr. Kanou. Kaneki and his group wanted to get their hands on the nurse as well, since Dr. Kanou was the one responsible for Kaneki's organ transplant that led to him becoming a ghoul. Naki fought with Kaneki's group for a little while (though it was mostly Matasaka Kamishiro doing the fighting and Naki being a failure) before they fled with the nurse in tow. Naki is later seen complaining about how he didn't get to torture the nurse to get information out of her.
Later on Naki shows up during the raid on Dr. Kanou's laboratory. This isn't surprising since they presumably got the information about the laboratory's location from the nurse, but what is surprising is Naki's entrance, where he blocks a hit that would have severely hurt Tsukiyama. Considering the fact that Tsukiyama was his enemy in the last battle, Naki realizes that he screwed up his entrance. Tsukiyama and Naki immediately begin fighting, completely ignoring everyone else, but that doesn't last long since a group of doves show up. Tsukiyama insists that they form an alliance and the two of them fight the doves, along with Naki's bodyguards.
At one point during this battle Naki leaps in front of an attack that would have hit one of his bodyguards (who are unimportant characters who barely get any lines and only serve to protect Naki, apparently), claiming that physical pain is much better than emotional pain, and he doesn't want either of his bodyguards to deal with the death of his brother, since Naki understands the pain of losing someone close to him. After that the group decides that they'd better leave and the bodyguards carry Naki out. Before they depart, Tsukiyama admits that he might hold some respect for Naki after that battle and as usual, Naki mishears him.
This is the canon point I'm taking Naki from, though he doesn't make another appearance until the end of the manga, which provides nothing more in terms of characterization.
Personality:
Have you ever looked at a character and wondered "how do you even exist in this setting?" That's Naki in a nutshell. Naki is from Tokyo Ghoul, a story about a young man who becomes a ghoul through no fault of his own. Ghouls are human-like creatures who can only eat humans. Their eyes turn solid black with red pupils and they can summon a kagune from their bodies to fight. They're being hunted by the CCG and if they aren't killed immediately, they're captured and thrown in prison. Naki is a ghoul who seems too stupid to live in a world like this. Granted, he was captured and kept in a cell for an unspecified amount of time, but one would think that Naki would have been killed long ago.
The first thing to note about Naki is his intelligence. Naki doesn't seem particularly book-smart and actually prides himself on being able to pay for things as opposed to stealing them. Considering the fact that most ghouls don't go to school (or spend large amounts of time around humans, where they could be discovered), it's important to note that Naki actually prides himself on things like this because not all ghouls are capable of it. He's also very proud of his ability to run simple errands for Yamori, his boss. He genuinely enjoys his work as well, though that might have to do with the fact that he likes Yamori. So in terms of book-smarts, Naki is definitely lacking. He's not much better off in terms of street-smarts either; he not only managed to get himself captured by the CCG, he's just dense in general. It doesn't occur to him until midway through a battle that it might be a good idea to team up with another ghoul to help his chances for survival against the CCG, for example. He's not only dense about combat situations, he's very dense when it comes to dealing with other people. Naki tends to assume that having a positive conversation or experience with someone means that they're friends. Surprisingly, this has not come back to bite him in the ass so far, but there's a first time for everything.
Naki has major issues with abandonment and being left alone. This is partially due to the (unspecified) amount of time he spent in prison, but this mostly has to do with the fact that he was expecting to get out of prison and serve Yamori again, only to find out that Yamori had been killed. Naki openly laments about the death of his boss to the point of seeming horribly hammy. It's not Naki seeking sympathy however, he's genuinely upset about losing someone close to him and being left alone. He's not completely alone however; he has twin bodyguards who are incredibly minor characters with barely any lines at all. Naki purposefully leaps in front of an attack meant for one of his bodyguards, saying that he wouldn't want the other bodyguard to be left alone without his brother. It's a self-centered reason (everything he says is about himself and his pain) but the fact that he was willing to take an attack meant for his bodyguard says something. It's interesting because Naki doesn't seem very close to his bodyguards. It also brings up some major concerns with his survival instincts, seeing as how the attack he jumped in to take was an attack from a dove, a member of the CCG trained to attack and capture or kill ghouls. Naki was already captured by the CCG once and kept imprisoned for at least a little while, but he willingly takes an attack for one of the people supposed to be protecting him from the group of individuals who captured him in the first place. Part of this is "Naki does not think things through" (which we will get to in a moment) but this is also Naki's survival instincts clearly lacking a bit. He relies very heavily on his ability to regenerate (a trait of all ghouls), so he fully believes he can take the attack, but he would leap in to protect his bodyguards from hits even harder than that without stopping to think about it.
Naki really doesn't think things through. He's certainly capable of thinking things through, but the fact of the matter is that he usually doesn't. For example, in the battle against the doves in the lab, Naki agrees to work with Tsukiyama and promptly rushes the doves. There are quite a few of them and while ghouls are naturally stronger than humans, Naki really shouldn't be taking on so many humans by himself. It never once occurs to him to back off, and he even goes as far as to take a bite out of one of the doves' legs once he starts weakening. He only decides to retreat after taking some serious injuries and having his kagune vanish thanks to an experimental gas one of the doves deploys, but if he thought he could win, Naki wouldn't have given up.
It's no surprise that Naki is very confident in his abilities (otherwise he wouldn't rush into battle without thinking twice about it), but Naki relies on them very heavily and in a setting like Route, that's going to be problematic. It doesn't help that he's not great at figuring when to keep his mouth shut, so while he's used to trying to keep the fact that he's a ghoul a secret, he's also kind of dumb and will probably let something slip. It doesn't help that Naki is a very trusting person and once he's decided to befriend someone, he will happily tell them whatever they want to know. He can easily be manipulated this way, but Naki is actually a surprisingly good friend. He's very loyal and will do almost anything for someone he genuinely cares about.
Speaking of people Naki cares about, let's talk about Yamori. Yamori was Naki's boss before Naki got captured by the CCG, and Yamori is the source of a good deal of Naki's abandonment issues. Yamori can also be blamed for a good deal of Naki's appearance and behavior - Naki purposefully wears suits that are reminiscent of what Yamori wears, he says he's very fond of torture (which Yamori was obviously a little too fond of), and it's very obvious that Naki's relationship with Yamori was more than just a boss and subordinate relationship. Exactly how Yamori treated Naki is never shown in canon, but obviously Naki really adored and looked up to Yamori, enough to emulate him even after his death. Naki enjoyed serving Yamori, and actually prides himself on being able to run simple errands for his boss and taking care of the most mundane tasks. As long as he was helping Yamori, he was content. Being captured obviously wasn't part of the plan and neither was Yamori dying, but Naki actually manages to pick himself up after Yamori's death and... well, "move forward" is a bit strong since it's obvious he's still mourning, but boy is Naki trying.
Yamori isn't the only friend Naki has though, and while it's an extreme example, Naki is willing to put his life on the line for people he cares about. The fact that Naki does care about people might be surprising, seeing as how he's an awful person otherwise and it might be more in line to think that Naki doesn't care about anyone but himself. As stated above, he's willing to put himself in danger to protect his bodyguards and the same can be said of any of his friends, even if he's only talked to a person a few times and scarcely knows them. That doesn't matter to Naki as long as those conversations were positive. He never really had very many friends because of his off-putting personality, so finding people he gets along with means that they're friends for good. Expect to deal with abandonment issues!
Just because he acts and stylizes himself to look like Yamori doesn't mean that this is all a facade, however. Naki genuinely is what he presents himself to be, and that's unfortunate for everyone involved. He genuinely does love torturing others (not being tortured, but apparently Yamori is the exception) and he's an awful person, but he embraces that and doesn't hold back. In fact, Naki doesn't know the meaning of the word "restraint", be it in battle or conversation. Good luck dealing with him, because no matter who you are, you're going to need it.
It's impossible to summarize Naki's personality without mentioning his biggest flaw. Naki is kind of deaf. He mishears things all the time, and most of the time he manages to mishear things in ways that don't even make sense. Almost everything comes back to sex, and more specifically, insults aimed at him. This could be pointing to some underlying issue, but no one really wants to get into that. Needless to say, Naki's deafness is played as comedic relief, but it's a very important thing to point out since he's prone to getting upset over things that no one is saying.
Naki can basically be summed up with a combination of "Naki why" and "you tried". He's kind of stupid and can be easily manipulated, but he's loyal and willing to do anything for the people he considers friends. He's got a lot of issues that he likes to cry about as well, but Naki's biggest concern isn't about dealing with said issues or figuring out a way home. He's more concerned about what he's going to do for his next meal. Naki is pretty simple like that when all is said and done.
no subject
Name: Naki
Series: Tokyo Ghoul
Timeline: Chapter 104, after Naki, his bodyguards, and Tsukiyama flee the battle against the doves
Canon Resource Links:
Tokyo Ghoul @ Wikipedia | Naki @ Tokyo Ghoul Wiki
Unfortunately the wiki doesn't give much information on Naki's role in canon.
At some point before chapter 90, Naki was captured by the CCG, the Commission of Counter Ghoul, the organization responsible for hunting down ghouls and either killing or capturing them. Naki was given an S-rank prior to his capture and was kept in a secure location with another four S-ranked ghouls. Aogiri Tree busted Naki and the other four ghouls out and offered them protection against the "doves", the members of the CCG. Naki was a member of Aogiri Tree prior to being imprisoned, so he went back to work serving the higher ups in the organization without any complaint.
Naki's boss (and most important person) was Yakumo Oomori ("Yamori"), and Naki desperately wanted to see Yamori after his escape. Unfortunately for him, Yamori had been killed and eaten by the protagonist, Ken Kaneki. If a ghoul eats another ghoul, they gain the abilities of the ghoul they ate, so this was a calculated move on Kaneki's part, though it really didn't help that Yamori was torturing him for an extended period of time.
The first time Naki appears in person is to do Aogiri Tree's bidding in capturing and interrogating a nurse who worked for Dr. Kanou. Kaneki and his group wanted to get their hands on the nurse as well, since Dr. Kanou was the one responsible for Kaneki's organ transplant that led to him becoming a ghoul. Naki fought with Kaneki's group for a little while (though it was mostly Matasaka Kamishiro doing the fighting and Naki being a failure) before they fled with the nurse in tow. Naki is later seen complaining about how he didn't get to torture the nurse to get information out of her.
Later on Naki shows up during the raid on Dr. Kanou's laboratory. This isn't surprising since they presumably got the information about the laboratory's location from the nurse, but what is surprising is Naki's entrance, where he blocks a hit that would have severely hurt Tsukiyama. Considering the fact that Tsukiyama was his enemy in the last battle, Naki realizes that he screwed up his entrance. Tsukiyama and Naki immediately begin fighting, completely ignoring everyone else, but that doesn't last long since a group of doves show up. Tsukiyama insists that they form an alliance and the two of them fight the doves, along with Naki's bodyguards.
At one point during this battle Naki leaps in front of an attack that would have hit one of his bodyguards (who are unimportant characters who barely get any lines and only serve to protect Naki, apparently), claiming that physical pain is much better than emotional pain, and he doesn't want either of his bodyguards to deal with the death of his brother, since Naki understands the pain of losing someone close to him. After that the group decides that they'd better leave and the bodyguards carry Naki out. Before they depart, Tsukiyama admits that he might hold some respect for Naki after that battle and as usual, Naki mishears him.
This is the canon point I'm taking Naki from, though he doesn't make another appearance until the end of the manga, which provides nothing more in terms of characterization.
Personality:
Have you ever looked at a character and wondered "how do you even exist in this setting?" That's Naki in a nutshell. Naki is from Tokyo Ghoul, a story about a young man who becomes a ghoul through no fault of his own. Ghouls are human-like creatures who can only eat humans. Their eyes turn solid black with red pupils and they can summon a kagune from their bodies to fight. They're being hunted by the CCG and if they aren't killed immediately, they're captured and thrown in prison. Naki is a ghoul who seems too stupid to live in a world like this. Granted, he was captured and kept in a cell for an unspecified amount of time, but one would think that Naki would have been killed long ago.
The first thing to note about Naki is his intelligence. Naki doesn't seem particularly book-smart and actually prides himself on being able to pay for things as opposed to stealing them. Considering the fact that most ghouls don't go to school (or spend large amounts of time around humans, where they could be discovered), it's important to note that Naki actually prides himself on things like this because not all ghouls are capable of it. He's also very proud of his ability to run simple errands for Yamori, his boss. He genuinely enjoys his work as well, though that might have to do with the fact that he likes Yamori. So in terms of book-smarts, Naki is definitely lacking. He's not much better off in terms of street-smarts either; he not only managed to get himself captured by the CCG, he's just dense in general. It doesn't occur to him until midway through a battle that it might be a good idea to team up with another ghoul to help his chances for survival against the CCG, for example. He's not only dense about combat situations, he's very dense when it comes to dealing with other people. Naki tends to assume that having a positive conversation or experience with someone means that they're friends. Surprisingly, this has not come back to bite him in the ass so far, but there's a first time for everything.
Naki has major issues with abandonment and being left alone. This is partially due to the (unspecified) amount of time he spent in prison, but this mostly has to do with the fact that he was expecting to get out of prison and serve Yamori again, only to find out that Yamori had been killed. Naki openly laments about the death of his boss to the point of seeming horribly hammy. It's not Naki seeking sympathy however, he's genuinely upset about losing someone close to him and being left alone. He's not completely alone however; he has twin bodyguards who are incredibly minor characters with barely any lines at all. Naki purposefully leaps in front of an attack meant for one of his bodyguards, saying that he wouldn't want the other bodyguard to be left alone without his brother. It's a self-centered reason (everything he says is about himself and his pain) but the fact that he was willing to take an attack meant for his bodyguard says something. It's interesting because Naki doesn't seem very close to his bodyguards. It also brings up some major concerns with his survival instincts, seeing as how the attack he jumped in to take was an attack from a dove, a member of the CCG trained to attack and capture or kill ghouls. Naki was already captured by the CCG once and kept imprisoned for at least a little while, but he willingly takes an attack for one of the people supposed to be protecting him from the group of individuals who captured him in the first place. Part of this is "Naki does not think things through" (which we will get to in a moment) but this is also Naki's survival instincts clearly lacking a bit. He relies very heavily on his ability to regenerate (a trait of all ghouls), so he fully believes he can take the attack, but he would leap in to protect his bodyguards from hits even harder than that without stopping to think about it.
Naki really doesn't think things through. He's certainly capable of thinking things through, but the fact of the matter is that he usually doesn't. For example, in the battle against the doves in the lab, Naki agrees to work with Tsukiyama and promptly rushes the doves. There are quite a few of them and while ghouls are naturally stronger than humans, Naki really shouldn't be taking on so many humans by himself. It never once occurs to him to back off, and he even goes as far as to take a bite out of one of the doves' legs once he starts weakening. He only decides to retreat after taking some serious injuries and having his kagune vanish thanks to an experimental gas one of the doves deploys, but if he thought he could win, Naki wouldn't have given up.
It's no surprise that Naki is very confident in his abilities (otherwise he wouldn't rush into battle without thinking twice about it), but Naki relies on them very heavily and in a setting like Route, that's going to be problematic. It doesn't help that he's not great at figuring when to keep his mouth shut, so while he's used to trying to keep the fact that he's a ghoul a secret, he's also kind of dumb and will probably let something slip. It doesn't help that Naki is a very trusting person and once he's decided to befriend someone, he will happily tell them whatever they want to know. He can easily be manipulated this way, but Naki is actually a surprisingly good friend. He's very loyal and will do almost anything for someone he genuinely cares about.
Speaking of people Naki cares about, let's talk about Yamori. Yamori was Naki's boss before Naki got captured by the CCG, and Yamori is the source of a good deal of Naki's abandonment issues. Yamori can also be blamed for a good deal of Naki's appearance and behavior - Naki purposefully wears suits that are reminiscent of what Yamori wears, he says he's very fond of torture (which Yamori was obviously a little too fond of), and it's very obvious that Naki's relationship with Yamori was more than just a boss and subordinate relationship. Exactly how Yamori treated Naki is never shown in canon, but obviously Naki really adored and looked up to Yamori, enough to emulate him even after his death. Naki enjoyed serving Yamori, and actually prides himself on being able to run simple errands for his boss and taking care of the most mundane tasks. As long as he was helping Yamori, he was content. Being captured obviously wasn't part of the plan and neither was Yamori dying, but Naki actually manages to pick himself up after Yamori's death and... well, "move forward" is a bit strong since it's obvious he's still mourning, but boy is Naki trying.
Yamori isn't the only friend Naki has though, and while it's an extreme example, Naki is willing to put his life on the line for people he cares about. The fact that Naki does care about people might be surprising, seeing as how he's an awful person otherwise and it might be more in line to think that Naki doesn't care about anyone but himself. As stated above, he's willing to put himself in danger to protect his bodyguards and the same can be said of any of his friends, even if he's only talked to a person a few times and scarcely knows them. That doesn't matter to Naki as long as those conversations were positive. He never really had very many friends because of his off-putting personality, so finding people he gets along with means that they're friends for good. Expect to deal with abandonment issues!
Just because he acts and stylizes himself to look like Yamori doesn't mean that this is all a facade, however. Naki genuinely is what he presents himself to be, and that's unfortunate for everyone involved. He genuinely does love torturing others (not being tortured, but apparently Yamori is the exception) and he's an awful person, but he embraces that and doesn't hold back. In fact, Naki doesn't know the meaning of the word "restraint", be it in battle or conversation. Good luck dealing with him, because no matter who you are, you're going to need it.
It's impossible to summarize Naki's personality without mentioning his biggest flaw. Naki is kind of deaf. He mishears things all the time, and most of the time he manages to mishear things in ways that don't even make sense. Almost everything comes back to sex, and more specifically, insults aimed at him. This could be pointing to some underlying issue, but no one really wants to get into that. Needless to say, Naki's deafness is played as comedic relief, but it's a very important thing to point out since he's prone to getting upset over things that no one is saying.
Naki can basically be summed up with a combination of "Naki why" and "you tried". He's kind of stupid and can be easily manipulated, but he's loyal and willing to do anything for the people he considers friends. He's got a lot of issues that he likes to cry about as well, but Naki's biggest concern isn't about dealing with said issues or figuring out a way home. He's more concerned about what he's going to do for his next meal. Naki is pretty simple like that when all is said and done.