Karren von Rosewald

Kanae von Rosewald (カナエ＝フォン・ロゼヴァルト, Kanae fon Rozevaruto, sometimes also 叶, Kanae) was a Ghoul and the last survivor of the Rosewald family. After Matsuri Washuu led an extermination operation to destroy the Rosewalds, Kanae was taken in as an employee of the Tsukiyama family.

Kanae was born as Karren von Rosewald (カレン＝フォン・ロゼヴァルト, Karen fon Rozevaruto), the youngest child and sole daughter of the head of the Rosewald family.

After evidence reveals Kanae as a surviving member of the Rosewalds, Kanae is dubbed Rose (ロゼ, Roze) and becomes the target of a major Investigation.

Appearance
Kanae is an attractive, androgynous youth with a great physical resemblance to her cousin Tsukiyama as well as her mother Emma. She has violet hair, cut short with long curling bangs on the right side and very thick eyebrows. She tends to wear the standard uniform worn by the servants of the Tsukiyama Family, and has a preference for dress shirts and slacks when out of uniform. Kanae's mannerisms and style of clothing are intentionally masculine, completely disguising any indications of birth sex.

When out hunting, Kanae wears the black trenchcoat and veil worn by family servants. Her personal mask is a stylized white Domino mask, that covers the upper half of her face. After being captured and tortured by Eto, Kanae's style has changed significantly. She now wears a massive black trenchcoat with a pair of rings at the shoulder, and heavy combat boots. Her mask has a massive, stitched on smile with bared teeth and multiple eyes scattered across the surface of the white mask. It heavily resembles the clothing and mask worn by Aogiri member Noro.

Personality
Kanae has been shown in a state of distress, crying over Tsukiyama's catatonic state. She is also shown talking to a rose, and Chie has implied that she has made a habit of doing so. Like Tsukiyama, she has a habit of using foreign words in her sentences; specifically German. She also appears to be quite flamboyant and over-dramatic in her speech and gestures. However, beneath her flashy exterior Kanae is very devoted to her family and was completely willing to sacrifice her identity as a woman to help fulfill her father's dying wish to continue the Rosewald family line in place of her brothers.

Kanae has also been shown to be especially compassionate of Tsukiyama. She even resorts to "vulgar manners" such as trying to steal Mutsuki off the auction to help her master recover.

Currently, her personality is quite warped due to Eto's influence as she shows clear signs of mental instability. However, she still seems to hold her feelings for Shuu, as after killing Shimoguchi she proceeds to search for her master. Some obvious signs of her change are when she addresses a severed head as a rose and seeks out Shuu to present the "rose" to him. This warped thought process is a possible result of her torture.

Past
Originally raised in Germany as Karren von Rosewald, a raid led by German Ghoul investigators and Matsuri Washuu forced part of the family including her to relocate. Her father stayed behind during the attack in Bremen to create another opportunity for his direct family to escape. Her mother Emma von Rosewald collapsed and died early on during the escape, while her brothers Nathanael von Rosewald and Arunolt von Rosewald died protecting her. When she had made her way to the Tsukiyama family's household, she decided to take the place of her brothers and took on the identity of the male heir of the Rosewald family to fulfill her father's wish to carry on the family line. For this role, she chose the given name Kanae, combining the initials of the given names of the family members who tried to escape from Germany. As Kanae, he was taken in by the Tsukiyama family, an act seen by other servants as charity. During this time, he began to serve Shuu Tsukiyama and would become extremely loyal to him and eventually developed romantic feelings for him. In later years when Kanae was sparring with Matsumae, Kanae bent over in pain and tries to ease Matsumae's concerned look by saying it was something that always happens. It turns out that all the servants knew he was biologically female, implying Kanae's earlier statement was referencing menstruation, with the exception of Shuu Tsukiyama.

Torso Investigation
Kanae was in despair, crying about Tsukiyama's state and talking to a rose. Chie mocked him for this behavior, suggesting that he does it frequently. He is later seen standing outside a door, holding a large (person-sized) suitcase.

Auction
Ultimately, Kanae brought Sasaki's undershorts, retrieved by Chie, to Tsukiyama to let him identify its scent. While Tsukiyama reports that he is unable to feel anything in particular but faint sadness, as his ability to recognize smell has declined, Kanae tells Chie that he did not feel anything at all. Chie sees through his lie to which Kanae threatens her with killing her because Kanae seems to be jealous when she mentions that Tsukiyama would not be happy if something happened to her.



He next appears in a parking garage, hunting for victims suitable for his master. Having obtained a sprinter's thighs and the tongue of a Sommelier, he targeted someone with rare RH negative blood. However, he determined that the scent of the blood is not suitable and rejects it. He broods over Tsukiyama's current situation, admiring his master's interest focus but blaming Kaneki for his downfall. Jealous and resentful, he decided that should Sasaki turn out to be Kaneki, he will secretly kill him so that Tsukiyama never finds out. He decides to attend the upcoming Auction, in hopes of finding his master a suitable meal.

Kanae attended the auction in the company of another servant, Matsumae. He notes of the many cloaked ghouls present at the event, correctly guessing that these are hired bodyguards. The first major "item" up for auction, a famous actor, triggers a bidding war between Big Madam and Croque Monsieur -- Kanae observed this with disdain, calling the actor past his prime. He is unimpressed with the merchandise until Tooru Mutsuki is brought on stage and revealed to be a one-eyed ghoul. Deciding this is exactly what Tsukiyama needs, he engaged in an unsuccessful bidding war before losing to Big Madam. Matsumae attempts to comfort him as he despairs at his failure.

Though he considers stealing beneath him, Kanae decided to take advantage of the chaos created by the appearance of Juuzou Suzuya. Intending to steal the auction's prize item, he goes in search of Mutsuki and corners the Investigator as he tries to make his escape. He decides that sampling is necessary, striking Mutsuki across the face with enough force to draw blood. He sampled this, reacting with an extreme motion to both the exceptional flavor and the thought of having finally found something to satisfy Tsukiyama. Before he can do more, however, he is ambushed and beaten by Karao Saeki. In the chaos, Mutsuki attempts to flee -- Kanae pierces him through the stomach with his kagune to prevent him from escaping.

While the ensuing struggle is not shown, later on, he finishes beating Saeki as punishment for interrupting him and orders him to stay put until he can retrieve his prize. He goes in pursuit of a wounded Mutsuki, eventually catching up with him and noting the injuries had begun to heal. This delights him, and he charges to attack, claiming that since his prey heals it won't matter if he injures him further. The Quinx arrive on the scene, with Sasaki retrieving an injured Mutsuki while Kuki Urie and Ginshi Shirazu hold Kanae off. After a moment, he recognizes their leader's scent and flies into a blind rage at coming face to face with Sasaki.

He begins to fight with the team, managing to knock Urie and Shirazu aside before turning on the target of his rage. Cursing him, Kanae recalls a happier time when he played music with his master, laying all the blame for Tsukiyama's depression on Sasaki. The three members of the Quinx manage to overwhelm and wound him, but he is rescued by Matsumae. She sealed the hallway with her kagune, taking a wounded Kanae and fleeing.

In the aftermath of the Auction, he regrouped with his master, Mirumo Tsukiyama, and the group resolve to continue looking for "ingredients" elsewhere.

Post Auction
While watering flowers at the Tsukiyama estate, Kanae thinks back to his childhood when he was taken in as a new servant after his family was eliminated. He cries as he overhears the other servants talk about their concerns about the master taking him in. He's then approached by Shuu who regards him cheerfully and is impressed by his surname as it means "Forest of Roses" in German.

Shuu takes Kanae to the Tsukiyama family garden where he shows him a high-class German rose and asks Kanae to live as beautifully as the flower.

In the present, Kanae silently wept for Shuu at his bedside as his master suffers unable to think about how pitiful he's become.

Rose Extermination
Months later, Kanae is still distressed, especially as Shuu's father is equally at a loss at what to do for his son.

As the Investigative team began working on the case, Chie Hori visited him at the estate and warned him. Since the CCG are closing in on him, she suggested that he should abandon the Tsukiyamas and serve a different family. Kanae is outraged by this suggestion, crying as he screams that only Shuu matters. The human girl compared his situation to Shuu's own despair, noting that neither of them will be happy unless they have exactly what they want. She asked him whether he would be willing to abandon the Tsukiyama Family for Shuu's sake.

Mirumo asked him to bring Tsukiyama wine, to which he thought back when Tsukiyama was still in high school. Mirumo asked the young Kanae to bring his son, who was singing outside in the rain, an umbrella. He gladly did so, but then spotted Chie Hori with his young master. He tightly grasped the umbrella and stopped in his motion, feeling jealous, as Tsukiyama is as nice to her, a human, as he is to him.



The flashback is disrupted by Tsukiyama losing control over his kagune and attacking servants. Kanae sent Aliza, whom he was informed by, to immediately inform Mirumo over the events and then rushed to his master's room. He apologized for having to use his kagune against him and put up an effort to stop his master and became injured by him in the process. The servants use the fight to restrain their master and feed him a substance, which seemsed to make him calm down. Bringing Tsukiyama back to bed, his master seemed to have forgotten the previous event and asked what everyone is doing in his room. Kanae lied to him, withholding the fact that he had just lost control. Tsukiyama apologized and caressed his face, asking him to take care of his family from now on. Kanae began to cry but accepted the requests, leaning into the touch.

Soon after he is seen running outside, willingly hitting his head against a tree repeatedly. He fell to the ground, still crying thinking about how he resented Chie and Kaneki/Haise Sasaki, but also, how he resented his loyalty to the Tsukiyama family.

Kanae is later asked by Hori whether he could give up the entire Tsukiyama family for Shuu himself, to which he stalled the reply and consulted Matsumae the same question. After being told that the two options are one and the same, he approached Hori for help and is given a set of photographs revolving around Sasaki which Hori instructed him to show Tsukiyama one each time when she told him to. With Hori's plan, Tsukiyama regained composure in an astounding rate, albeit still confused initially when Sasaki did not recognize him at all. After some time, Tsukiyama became distraught as even though he needed time to talk to Sasaki without rush in order to bring back his memories, the Quinx squad members kept getting in his way.

Yearning to provide his master with the time he needed, Kanae hired Aogiri hitmen to exterminate all the Quinx members aside from Sasaki. Leaving Sasaki, Saiko, and Mutsuki to the hitmen, he attempted to eliminate Urie and Shirazu by himself. He lost his advantage soon after disabling Shirazu though, as he did not anticipate Urie's fast ability growth over half a year and is overpowered by the investigator before escaping with his rinkaku kagune.

While brooding over his defeat, Kanae is approached by Eto and taunted until he attacked her in a rage. However, he immediately finds himself overwhelmed by her abnormal kagune and left completely at her mercy. She began to wax philosophical, discussing the Garden of Eden and the story of the Fruit of Knowledge while toying with an apple. Revealing herself as a one-eyed ghoul, she questioned him about his religious beliefs and idea of what "God" is. Eto then began to dissect his actions and the motivations behind them, confronting him about his feelings towards Tsukiyama and stating that he will never be loved in return. She suggested all of his actions have ultimately been selfish, to control his beloved master and to make Sasaki suffer. As Kanae began to weep and break down under the contrast barrage of words, Eto loomed over him and promised to become his new "God".

Later on, Tsukiyama expressed concern when told that Kanae never returned to the manor and remained missing. Kanae and the missing Aliza are suspected of leaking information on the Tsukiyama family when the household noticed investigators cornering them with the two servants still missing. However, Kanae had actually been held by Eto, who used a variety of torture methods, including sewing his eyelids open and mouth shut and wordplay, to bend him to her will. Sometime later amid CCG's Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation, Kanae appeared in Lunatic Eclipse wearing a mask and robe similar to those of Noro's from Aogiri Tree. He engaged in combat with Shimoguchi Squad. When the First-Class attempted to face the Rosewald, Kanae cut off Shimoguchi's left arm and the fingers on his right hand and finally decapitated him after having killed his subordinates. In a form of morbid fascination, he remarked that Shimoguchi's severed head was as beautiful as a rose and called it a perfect ingredient. He exited the building through a broken window and began to climb the building in search of Tsukiyama.

When Tsukiyama had been overpowered and pinned down by Sasaki, Kanae reached the top floor and immediately cut off the investigator's right hand to save his master. He followed up his attack with more strikes by his altered kagune. Finally, he told Sasaki to become a beautiful memory for Tsukiyama while dangling him over the edge of the skyscraper. Before dropping Sasaki off the building, however, the investigator struck back and decapitated Kanae with his legs.

Despite having been decapitated by Sasaki earlier, Kanae's body immediately reattached his head back together through a regeneration cycle similar to Noro's; Kanae himself, however, was confused about blanking out as he was unaware of the regeneration that transpired. As he continued to take on the now rampaging Sasaki's blows, he was reminded of his past when the Rosewald family were hunted by investigators in Germany. Kanae was quickly dispatched by Sasaki, who approached her only to be briefly stopped by Tsukiyama before the Owl attacked the investigator.

Fueled by Eto's words, Kanae once again attacked Sasaki, who had been incapacitated by Eto's attack. Kanae thrashed him around and beat his head repeatedly with her fists until Sasaki's consciousness became hazy. A few moments later, however, Sasaki's consciousness returned with him having regained his memories as Kaneki. Sasaki severed Kanae's left arm. As Kanae knelt in pain due to this injury, Sasaki used his kagune to grab a steel bar and shoved it through Kanae's left eye. Screaming in pain, Kanae went berserk and used his kagune to attack Sasaki. The latter, however, dodged her attacks and jumped behind her before tearing Kanae through the abdomen with his kagune, leaving her incapacitated.

After Eto was driven off by Sasaki and additional investigators including Ui reached the rooftop, Kanae lay defeated alongside Tsukiyama. When Kaneki held up Tsukiyama on the roof's edge ready to drop him, Kanae called out to her master and followed suit down the building when he was thrown. During the fall Kanae told Tsukiyama that she would protect him at all cost. She expressed her final wish for Tsukiyama to call her by her real name and apologized to him and her family for falling in love with him. Tsukiyama obliged and called her Karren, telling her that all would be okay. She used her kagune to grab hold of a ledge, using the momentum to throw Tsukiyama to safety. In her final moments, she questioned whether she deserved to be so happy before finally falling to her death.

Shuu Tsukiyama
As an employee and relative of the Tsukiyama family, Kanae is deeply devoted to her master/cousin, Shuu. She puts her master's needs above her own and always shows her support for his decisions, though she would warn him of the risks involved. Her feelings towards him are romantic in nature, but knowing that her feelings would not reach him, she contents herself at being at his side as his servant and is careful not to show her feelings around anyone. Despite that, she has shown jealousy towards others who have a close relationship with her master, especially Chie. Eto would later take advantage of her unrequited feelings, using them to fuel her anger towards Sasaki. Besides caring for him and running errands, she imitates both Tsukiyama's manner of dress and odd behaviors.

Chie Hori
Chie addresses Kanae by the Japanese honorific "-kun". Although both Chie and Kanae are in close relation to Tsukiyama, they are not on good terms with each other. Kanae looks down on this human girl and refers to her with rude names like "stray rat", "guinea pig", or profanities in German. Kanae seems to be extremely jealous of Chie's relationship with Tsukiyama. Although she has been helping Tsukiyama during his severe depression, Kanae is not grateful to her and even threatens to kill her. However, Chie sees through her intentions and outsmarts her easily, adding to his resentment towards her.

Later in the series, Kanae's attitude toward Chie changed when Tsukiyama's health and mental state continued to deteriorate. Out of desperation, she consulted Chie for advice and finally agrees to cooperate with her plans. He begins to acknowledge her intellect and respects her as Tsukiyama's trust-worthy friend.

Ken Kaneki
Kanae holds a deep hatred and resentment towards Kaneki, blaming him for Tsukiyama's current condition. She believes that what her master needs is simply quality food and not to learn that the person he has been mourning has survived. Her hatred was turned into a desire to kill him when Eto tortured and brainwashed her.

Mirumo Tsukiyama
Mirumo was the one who took Kanae in as a child after her family was wiped out by the CCG. In return, Kanae serves Mirumo as one of his servants. Kanae responds directly to Mirumo, keeping him up to date with Shuu during his unstable period.

Matsumae
Kanae and Matsumae seem to have a positive, professional relationship. Having been the one to save Kanae during the Auction mopping up operation, she seems to look out for her. Likewise, Kanae seems to be worried about her well-being after she returns injured from the encounter with the CCG, and asks her for advice. Matsumae was the first to confront Kanae about her true gender.

Eto
Kanae gained Eto's interest due to her feelings towards Shuu, something that Eto had picked up on. Eto used this against her, forcing Kanae to confront her true feelings for Shuu. During her torture, Eto convinced Kanae that she needed to act for her master while unwittingly doing her bidding instead.

Powers and Abilities
Ghoul Physiology:Living as a ghoul, Karren possessed high physical capabilities along with a rinkaku kagune. After being tortured, Karren had an abnormal healing factor.

Rinkaku Kagune:Kanae is able to create up to 6 whip-like tentacles, with a ribbon-like shape that wraps around itself like a vine. During the extermination, Kanae's kagune can now turn into one massive tentacle with mouths forming on it.

Superhuman Regeneration:When battling Sasaki, Karren could reattach her head in a matter of seconds.

Quotes

 * (About Tsukiyama): "Together to the end of the world...Glorreich (master Shuu)."
 * (About his conflicted loyalties to the Tsukiyama Family and Shu): "Hass (hate)... Hass ...Hass ....Hass ... Hass...Hass...Hass...Hass...Hass...Little Mouse (Chie Hori)...Nuisance (Ken Kaneki)... Nameless (Haise Sasaki)... now I hate this loyalty..."
 * (To Haise Sasaki): "Haiße (No Name), do you know why the rose is beautiful? Because you pluck it before it withers. At the very least, become a beautiful memory for Master Shu before you...Sterben (Die)."
 * Last words (To herself): "The sorrows of life, to not be able to live like yourself. The joys of life, to be able to die like yourself. Do I deserve to be happy..."

Trivia

 * It was believed that in Chapter 14, Matsuri Washuu eliminated the "Rosewald" family instead of the "Rosewald" family, making it seem like Kanae changed her name. This is false, the confusion resulting from a typo in the Young Jump issue.
 * Her surname means "Forest of Roses" in German.
 * She is a member of the German branch of the Tsukiyama family, and related to the main family through her grandfather
 * In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, she's featured as the "Jack of Hearts". In a redistributed version, she's also featured as a "Red Joker".
 * In Re: Volume 4, Kanae's profile lists her as "Male" in spite of the later revelation. This was likely done to avoid spoiling the twist of Re: Chapter 52.
 * Just before her death in Re: Chapter 57, the stitches on her mouth form an XI, which, in the Major Arcana, indicates Justice. Justice can be interpreted as truth. Fittingly enough, this is just after she reveals her true feelings to Shu.
 * However, the same stitches can also be seen as a XXI, "The World" in the Tarot Card Deck. This association means the completion, the accomplishment or the travel. That way the last moments of the character can be interpreted as Karren reaching her objective, and being paid off for all her efforts and hardships.
 * Her life's work is watering flowers and taking care of Shuu; skills are violin, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes; and she loves everyone in the Tsukiyama family and Tsukiyama Shuu.

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