App for The Far Shore

[dimidiampura]

Player Information

Name: Mika
Contact: indulgentsin
Age: 26
Other Characters: N/A

Character Information

Name: Ken Kaneki
Canon: Tokyo Ghoul
Canon Point: Post ch. 143
Age: 19
History: here
Personality: "If, for argument's sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role... it would certainly be a tragedy"

As far as people come, Kaneki was probably nobody entirely remarkable or amazing of a person when one initially looked at the whole picture.

He was a quiet, shy and kind teenage boy attending college with a future ahead of him and a best friend at his side. If they'd look beyond it they'd see much more than that when they can regard his future and what lies ahead; regarding him as someone who lived on both the dark and light sides of life would be more appropriate.

Kaneki had always been a selfless, kind person who held an underlying fear of being alone and doing whatever he could to stop himself from ending up that way. Influenced by the way his mother had raised him, he had an impeccable sense of optimism and modesty and took blame and punishment from others so he could be the kind of person who got hurt instead of hurting others as a result. This resulted in him being taken advantage of and bullied in his years growing up but that never put a damper on his attitude or the smile he wore, his shy and otherwise reserved nature keeping most at bay until he met a boy by the name of Hide who became his best friend who has stayed at his side all these long years without pause.

Stemming from his fear of being alone, he'll do whatever it takes to protect those people close to him so he won't have to face that fear. This is an act that's both incredibly selfish and a weakness of his, as he'll end up taking on the task of protecting others without asking for help, resulting in him being self sufficient and unobtrusive in his life that came into effect after his mother died and he ended up living with his aunt who did nothing but ignore and hate him. Perhaps this is solely why Hide meant so much to him; a boy who ends up becoming a sole force that attributes to his desire to later protect him not only from himself but others.
As he became a half-ghoul, his mentality and morals were tested as he struggled to survive and clung to his human side, not wishing to become a monster who ate human flesh, even if doing that meant he would live. It left him being stubborn to the point of starving himself, this point being driven in what he was and what they did to eat when he was attacked and forced to protect not only himself but Hide as well, though instincts from a severe lack of hunger nearly had him about to eat Hide with all rational thoughts long gone out the door. It was thankfully prevented but a good example of his stubborn nature and refusal to change his idealogy on how he saw things turning out to almost cost him the one most important person in his life.

However in his time working at the cafe "anteiku", he met other ghouls and saw how they lived and ended up having a series of different experiences that soon drove Kaneki to want to learn how to fight and become stronger, reading martial arts books to try and pick up on the moves within them. Living this life wasn't ever easy for him and for a long time, it was hard for him to find a place to belong as he wasn't human, but nor was he a complete ghoul either. Kaneki as well came to not be nearly as trusting as he used to be at the start, as this came to backfire on him in the incident regarding Tsukiyama and nearly being killed at the ghoul restaurant and by Tsukiyama himself afterward. Appearances were quickly not to be taken lightly in this world and he was learning new things about this lifestyle that he had no clue about in his time as a human.
In his time trying to adapt, he still kept trying to remain someone who didn't kill, once sparing a CCG Dove and begging him not to make him into a killer, having only acted because he wanted to help one of his friends so she would have a fair fight in what she was doing. It was reckless and selfish but in that point in time, he didn't care; he was protecting one of the people he cared for.

Not everything stayed so smoothly as there was a time when Kaneki got taken into custody of Aogiri and it was not a wholeheartedly pleasant experience. Surrounded by all of these murderous ghouls who had little use for others who were not strong, he soon found solace in his time there when he found a small rag tag group of ghouls who were planning to escape this place and eventually the time came when this plan became enacted. This plan did end up failing miserably however, and they got caught by Yamori who threatened that Kaneki should be his subordinate or watch the rest of the escaping ghoul refugees die and being as that kind of person who would rather protect than let others get hurt, he agreed and left Yamori without knowing just what was in store for him and happens to be just where Kaneki's personality and sense of self took the most beating and turn around.

There was then about ten days in which Kaneki was chained up and tortured vigorously, where he hallucinated Rize - the source of him becoming a half ghoul - who chastised him for his attitudes and eventually forced him to stop hiding and confront his loneliness and accept the desire to pay Yamori back for all the pain he's caused. Telling him that his indecisions would only cause more pain and suffering, and due to this and the constant torture he was put through for those ten long days, it took a toll on Kaneki's mind which soon cracked thoroughly.
Like the contrast of white and black, he now acted completely opposite than the boy he'd been before, acting truly on his ghoul strength and enabling himself to not only use his kagune, but breaking his handcuffs and forcefully beat Yamori down where he then proceeded to actually EAT the man's kagune without any reservations whatsoever. He'd become ruthless and a shadow of the boy with a innocent and kind mindset who would just take anything that came at him with a smile.

It was completely opposite by every means.

This brutality was also especially noted in the instance afterward where he'd fought Touka's brother, Ayato where he figured out the reasons for what he'd been doing in Aogiri. Without going excessively into detail, he gave the boy a detailed description of the bones in the human body as he proceeded to break 103 of them as to 'half-kill' him for what he'd done to hurt Touka.

Despite this, it's not as if he's not capable of being kind, shy and gentle; a trait that had him liked by a number of people, but it's more that he's able to turn that part of him on and off at will. Some could even say he's learned to lock that side of his personality away and embracing that newfound brutality of his, coming now to cannibalize other ghouls who get in his way and others that just commit completely pointless crimes. Instead of being the kind of guy who would read books, he occupies his time training so he can become stronger so he can continue to protect those close to his heart and be able to someday even take down Aogiri. Kaneki now also lacks patience where it regards how he used to live but still has his softer points, like how he takes time out to cut Hinami's hair as her 'big brother' and takes her on outings but still seems to otherwise lack 'joy' and enthusiasm for things.

Completely driven and focused on the end goal.

Then one comes back to the way his mind cracked back after Aogiri, which also showed within the way he seems a little mentally unstable which is likely to wear him down more and more as time will pass.

Due to this fact, it really shows in the way he fights, as if things get severe he begins to lose control of himself and becomes almost obsessed with it, tearing through opponents ruthlessly. Some call this a persona called the Centipede, a monster who won't - or can't - see who is friend or foe but it isn't completely impossible to shake him and bring him back with a little effort. A man named Banjou who's been with him since before/around the Aogiri incident is able to bring him back and it's likely anyone close to him probably is capable of this as well but remains to be seen just yet. The man talked him down, making him realize what he's done and keeping him sane. He's still completely selfish as always, keeping a small group of others around him to avoid being alone, a very real and intense fear he still holds even as he is now. This is why he kept a team around him that would be able to keep him almost sane and reminded him just exactly what he was fighting for, even if one of the ones on his team was the man who once had tried to kill him but now served him as playing the role of his 'sword', which happened to be Tsukiyama.
The only difference is Kaneki put him in his place and informed him he'd sooner kill him if he tried to do anything, and that might have been what drove the man to follow after him. A stark change of how his relationships with others were affected by his change, and it's not just Tsukiyama who saw this change..

Kaneki has had a lot of meaningful interactions throughout the manga itself, from his best friend to the first person as a half ghoul he really had contact with. Her name is Touka Kirishima, a stubborn, strong and independently willed girl who at first cussed and refused to want to deal with Kaneki but eventually came to help him start training and taught him a lot of nuances regarding blending in with society as a ghoul and what it meant for her and the others to have anteiku. He began learning how to try and eat human food there - a thing revolting for ghouls due to their altered taste buds - without making it obvious as well as making coffee. She's done a lot for Kaneki, fought beside him and even became someone he really wanted to protect and was moved by his changes. He was no longer the same person she remembered, and when she confronted him,she ended up beating him and telling him not to come back to Anteiku, asking why he had to change.

Another whom he's grown close to was Hinami Fueguchi, a little ghoul girl who came into their care after her mother was brutally killed by the CCG doves/investigators and someone who soon looked up to Kaneki and referred to him as a big brother who she still regards as such even today.

The strangest and most peculiar of his interactions still has to be with the man named Amon Koutarou, someone whom he first displayed his will to not want to become a killer to and a man whom really made Kaneki question himself in the long run. It didn't end there, almost seeming to treat him with a respect even in the second time when they fought again, not desiring his death as the end result as it would make a killer out of him despite what he's done to other ghouls in his time after Aogiri.

As well, a few last things to note would be that in regards once again to Yamori and his time being tortured by the man, it seems like Kaneki no longer fears pain and it's like he now welcomes and uses it. Such is obvious when he injures himself to get out of a hold, intimidating others or even coming out because of habits he ended up picking up along the way to becoming how he is now. Such as his little tic that he seemingly picked up from Yamori where he cracks his fingers when annoyed or about to fight, which surmises the idea that he picked up not only that but initially it was both Rize and Yamori who had an influence on who he is now. If only reflecting in the little habits he now holds.

Seeming just like the protagonist of the book "The Black Goat's Egg" which he loves so much, likening himself to the protag after his transformation into a half ghoul. Noting that he still loves books but doesn't read them as much as he used to due to canonical events, his humanity almost completely forgotten once he accepted his ghoul side and stopped running from it.
In short, Kaneki's become nothing short of a monster essentially, but he's still not so bad of a guy, if not misunderstood. His mind is much weaker because of what's happened to him and it's more prone to breaking down easier than normal, though he's capable of adapting and after the raid in Kanou's lab he'd started to become somewhat like his old self before Aogiri, moving to speak to people like Uta, Yomo and Yoshimura to try and understand the events that have happened around him since he's changed into a ghoul. He's begun to question the path he's taken to become stronger, furthered by his interaction with Touka that happened after speaking with Yoshimura. A boy who's still a young man with questions, closed off from himself and the world, but capable of such insane brutalities when he's allowed himself to become near starvation and loses control of himself.

A very fragile existence whom amidst his fight with Arima Kishou had begun to lose all that was him, though as a last note, it can be said that he does incite poetry to try and regain his mind, even if it was all in naught. The fight was brutal and he never had a chance, leading to a confrontation within his very mind where he began to give in, believing now that it was okay to rest, and that he didn't have to fight anymore.

Abilities: Kagune: Like every ghoul, Kaneki has a kagune; his is one called rinkaku as his kakuhou (given to him through Kanou when he implanted Rize’s into him from the start) is within his lower back and where his kagune comes from. His takes the form of two to eight scaled reddish translucent tentacles except in his half-kakuja state in which form two larger ones that resemble a centipede’s body and there’s a mask that forms over his face. In this state he is quite unstable and is quite dangerous to fight.

As a note, his kagune are incredibly durable and can be used as hands or blades that can tear through heavily armored beings.

Physical: In the beginning he was nothing more than an average kid but due to being a quick learner, he was able to pick up on martial arts skills from both reading in books and strict training from Yomo and Touka which makes him quite a competent fighter beyond the average person. This was only enhanced by the training he started working on after his time in aogiri, toning and refining his body.

Once he accepted his ghoul nature, he was able to properly utilize what he learned, holding a high level of agility which allows him to dodge quick attacks. His regenerative abilities have also been heightened,to the point where a broken leg or dislocated fingers in a matter of seconds, making it incredibly hard to kill him; near impossible in fact.

Lastly, while it is slight, and not physical by any means, Kaneki is also very tactical and holds a high level of intelligence. This, along with his improvisational abilities, allow him to take on enemies far stronger than him.

Strengths: Protective, Loyal, Resilient, Intelligent & Agile
Weaknesses: Stubborn, Unstable, Headstrong, Broken & One-TrackMinded

God/Shinki: Shinki
Why?: He may be a strong young man and one of the strongest ghouls that exists out there but his existence would fit more as a weapon due to the nature of his death and that he was reaching his breaking point. Plus his mind would be too unstable to be in any sort of position as a god as well.

Cause Of Death:If you don't count the future events of Tokyo Ghoul: RE, Kaneki did die at the end of chapter 143 at the hands of Arima Kishou, fatally wounded and stabbed through the skull where his eyes were. For the sake of this, it would result in even a ghoul's death.
Vessel: A slightly more jagged version of this sword.
Name Location: The left side of his neck.
Power: Regenerative Healing Factor.

Writing Sample this should be okay but please let me know if you'd like something a little bit more recent?

Sample:

Other

Anything Else?: If possible I would love it if he was paired with Arima as his shinki. For canonical reasons.