Kishou Arima

Kishou Arima (有馬 貴将, Arima Kishō) is a renowned Special Class Ghoul Investigator known as the CCG's Reaper (CCGの死神, Shīshījī no Shinigami, lit. "Death God of CCG"). He is the S3 Squad Leader.

He is undefeated as a Ghoul Investigator and was formerly partnered with Take Hirako. He is the protagonist of the spin-off Tokyo Ghoul: Jack, alongside Taishi Fura.

His investigative skills and prowess in combat have led many investigators, such as Koutarou Amon, to admire him. However, there are many who are envious of Arima's combat power.undefined

Appearance
Arima is a tall, well-built man with snow white hair. He is always seen wearing his glasses with his face kept in an apathetic expression. Like all ghoul investigators he wears a suit, tie, and a white overcoat.

During his youth at Seishin Senior Highschool, he was mostly seen dressed in his standard school uniform. He also always carried on his back what was perceived to be a 'guitar case.' However this was only a concealment for his blade quinque, Yukimura, which he used to fight ghouls.

In his youth, Arima had dark blue hair.

Personality
Arima is shown to have a very calm personality, he remains unperturbed and composed even when surrounded by several ghouls or facing the monstrous One-Eyed Owl. He is also an overly strict mentor, as seen when he reprimands Hirako for being off on his attack by 0.01 seconds. As a teenager, Arima exerted the same personality, and also noted his main hobby to be Ghoul extermination. He has a very cold and calculating approach to exterminating ghouls as shown when he was about to finish off Renji, and Yoshimura appeared suddenly; instead of panicking or attacking he merely greeted the ghoul. Arima was shown to respect the dead as he reprimanded Itsuki Marude when he talked ill about Mado after his death.

While the author describes him as a sadist, Arima has yet to display any signs of sadism at all, indicating that he either hides it well, or is a side that has yet to be seen, considering not much of his personality is really shown. A possible instance of his sadism is shown in a flashback taking place during Haise's training, where he threatens to kill him in a similar manner he did to Kaneki. It is unknown whether it was real or simply a hallucination. Despite his stoic demeanor, he is capable of forming friendships, he often borrows books from Haise Sasaki, and Akira Mado described his feelings towards Sasaki as "parental love". Arima is also the type of person who compliments his ghoul opponents, an example being when he did so when Kaneki damaged his quinque, IXA.

Jack
Arima was hailed as a genius within the CCG, stemming from his affiliation with the organization since his teens. He was personally selected by CCG's chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu to be promoted to a 3rd class investigator. Taking advantage of his youth, he took on assignments that regular Investigators could not handle. One such assignment saw him working undercover as a Transfer Student in the 13th Ward, where he became the classmate of Taishi Fura. Sent to eliminate the Ghoul Lantern, he rescued Taishi and the two formed a partnership to hunt the ghoul down. Their activities soon caught the attention of several Ghouls in the ward, as two High school students killing Ghouls was unheard of before.

The pair rescued Uruka Minami from Sumiharu Katou, a Ghoul posing as a hairdresser and agreed to let her aid them in their investigations. Though Taishi believed Minami to be in love with Arima, in truth she was simply trying to manipulate them. At an abandoned house, Minami revealed herself to be Lantern and tried to kill Arima -- who had already suspected her. Though he fatally wounded her, Taishi was forced to deliver the final blow in self-defense. Afterwards, Arima left to take on his next assignment.

Past Exploits
Due to his outstanding talent, he was promoted to 2nd class investigator in less than a year. During what was thought to be One-Eyed Owl's third attack in the 2nd ward, he gathered all the Special Class Investigator quinques and worked his way up to the One-Eyed Owl. He was the one who dealt fatal damage to the One-Eyed Owl resulting in a CCG victory and gaining a special two-rank promotion for his achievements. Afterwards, Arima was partnered with Take Hirako and both of them were noted for their involvement in the extermination of the Clowns.

When he was 22 years old, he had an encounter with Yomo and Uta's gang in the 4th ward, subduing Yomo with ease before he was rescued by Yoshimura.

During the Aunction raid, in chapter 21, Associate Special Class Matsuri, said that the first time he saw Arima, 16 years old, that Even the least religious people have moments they come in contact with God, that's the moment when an overwhelming talent presents itself for you, that's when I saw God. Saying this after witnessing the teen investigator eliminate the more than 30 ghouls on his own that were in front of them.

Doves' Emergence
Arima attended Mado's funeral and after Itsuki Marude had expressed his aversion to Kureo Mado's work ethic and fixation on Quinques at Mado's funeral service, Arima reprimanded him.undefined

Aogiri Arc
Marude contacted him to inform him about their victory in raiding Aogiri base only for Arima to tell him that the tree used that as distraction and raided the ghoul detention center.

Anteiku Raid
After being given the missions to ambush any fleeing ghouls and neutralize the One-Eyed Owl, Arima was stationed within the underground route V14 where he had slaughtered a vast amount of ghouls by himself. Upon having his gaze fall on Ken Kaneki, he quickly approached him with the intention of completing his mission and, without giving off any sudden warning, dealt an attack towards him. Arima had quickly lunged his quinque IXA through the back of Kaneki's skull, piercing his brain and ultimately coming out stabbing his left eye. He then began to easily dodge Kaneki's rapid Kagune strikes without showing much effort before witnessing his sudden emotional outburst. He quickly makes note of who Kaneki is, then mentions that it was raining outside which he knew from the sound of water pouring in, also stating that his sense of time gets dulled when he is underground. Arima quickly brings out his other quinque Narukami and activates it, stating the objective of his mission before releasing dangerous bolts of electricity. After having Kaneki dodge this he commanded his quinque to go into remote activation and kept going as like his previous attack. He easily blocked a strike from Kaneki's Kagune using Ixa's defensive barrier but was surprised as it been broken and then complimented him for his attempt. Arima then went on to pierce Kaneki through his body with Ixa which raised him from the ground before dropping him in front of the man. After stating how he hadn't expected Kaneki to damage his quinque, he stabs Kaneki through his head before mentioning he needed a new Quinque. After that Arima noticed a scratch on his right cheek that is bleeding. Later on, he is seen confronting the One-Eyed Owl and he manages to sever an arm as well as wound the legendary Ghoul before it is able to escape.

Post-20th Ward One-Eyed Owl Battle
Alongside Yoshitoki Washuu, he appears in front of Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu to discuss the results from the operation in the 20th ward. The director is seen holding a piece of paper with Kaneki's profile crossed out and marked as 'Erased'. He speaks to Arima informing him the 'ownership rights' are his and asks him what he will do about the name. Arima replies that he will entrust it to him.

Torso Investigation
Some time after the Anteiku Raid, Arima along with Akira Mado are in charge of supervising Haise Sasaki and his Quinx members. Following the failed operation to capture Torso and Serpent, Arima summons Haise to an S3 meeting. He does a minor spar with Haise, subsequently returning the book he borrowed. When Sasaki apologized for using his kagune to fight Serpent, Arima dismissed this apology, and then listens attentively as Haise compared him, Akira and the rest of the Quinx Squad to a somewhat troublesome family.

Nutcracker Investigation
Arima is seen giving his approval for Urie's operation to strengthen his frame.

Auction
Arima takes part in the Auction Raid, arriving near the end with his Squad and members of S3 Squad. He, along with the rest of his squad confronts Hinami Fueguchi, who after her fight with Takizawa is in no fit state to put up a fight. He approaches her and is stopped by Haise Sasaki, which makes him tighten the grip on his quinque. Haise then asks him for ownership rights over Hinami, which he grants before ordering his squad to call for the medical team to deal with Haise's wounds.

Post Auction
A month has passed since the Auction mopping-up operation and he attends a Christmas party at The Chateau, arriving with Akira. He enjoys himself in the company of everyone, talking about the bizarre stories that surround him, like the time he fought a ghoul with an umbrella, fell asleep during a fight, and how ghouls are so afraid of him that they faint on the spot and are taken straight to prison. These stories turned out to be true. He received a tie-pin with a decorative horse as a present from Sasaki.

Rosewald Investigation
Koori is visited by Arima, who has heard of his operation commander position from Marude earlier, and expresses ease as his former superior is the only one he can feel relaxed around after being promoted to Special Class. Koori attempts to tell Arima something, but his former superior is then called on by a fellow employee and leaves before anything else could be said. He is then later seen in Sasaki's flashback during when they were training. He was shown being cold towards Sasaki, stating that Sasaki should kill like him, because he was his quinque. He then later threatened him by holding IXA to Sasaki's eye, similar to him and Kaneki in part one, asking if Sasaki wanted to die again.

Taishi Fura
Arima and Taishi have known each other for over twelve years. They attended the same High School, and were even in the same class. As teenagers, Taishi and Arima embarked on many ghoul investigations, where they were shown to look out for each other’s well-being. However, because their personalities were so different, they often had trivial quarrels, where Fura would accuse Arima of not ‘living a normal life.’

Haise Sasaki
According to Akira, Arima is believed to possess “parental love” for Sasaki, as they usually lend each other books and Arima even checks on Sasaki regularly. Even though Haise claims he has a “make-believe” family, Arima is like his father figure. Arima often spars with Haise as a means of training, and gives him advice when he is in need of help. In a hallucination, Arima was shown referring to him as a quinque and threatening him with death for not getting up once knocked down, indicating that despite his affection, Haise likely harbors some fear toward him.

Take Hirako
Hirako is Arima's former partner. Arima trained/mentored him as his subordinate. As Arima always looked down to him as a rookie, and often scolded Hirako for minor imperfections, it seems to be implied that Hirako has an inner hatred for him as evidenced by his immediate strike when Uta wore his Arima mask.

Juuzou Suzuya
Since becoming an investigator, he and Arima share a positive, professional relationship. They often participate in Wack-a-mole operations together.

Koori Ui
Arima is Koori's former mentor, having been partnered together in the past. Koori seems to share a rather friendly relationship with Arima, being one of the few that Arima has been shown to smile to. Koori also notes that after being promoted to Special Class, he can't seem to be at ease with anyone other than his former superior.

Hairu Ihei
A former member of Arima's squad. Arima knew her since she was a small child and they may have been raised in the same place. Details about their past history is shrouded in mystery.

Akira Mado
The two of share a professional relationship as ghoul investigators.

Kureo Mado
According to Akira, her father once mentored Arima and taught everything he knows about quinques. Arima respected Mado enough to reprimand Marude when he talked ill about him.

Power and Abilities
Renowned as one of the most famous and admired investigators in the CCG, Arima possesses unimaginable fighting capabilities, being able to bring out the full potential of his Quinques. In the past, he dealt with a young Renji Yomo and Yakumo Oomori without difficulty and was able to easily neutralize SS-rated Ken Kaneki along with a vast amount of fleeing Ghouls underground. Despite being a human, he has shown to have monstrous speed and reflexes and battle on par with the most powerful of ghouls. Arima's abilities have earned him numerous rumors, including sleeping mid-battle and defeating a ghoul with only an umbrella, which both turned out to be true. Finally, he is the first combatant to repulse both the fake and real One-Eyed Owl.

Quinque

 * Yukimura 1/3: A koukaku type quinque that takes the form of a sword consisting of a long, thin blade without a guard. This quinque was used during Arima's early days as an investigator. He has passed it down first to Take Hirako and then to Sasaki, who currently wields this quinque.


 * IXA: A koukaku type quinque that takes the form of a lance attached to a gun-sword handle with a spiked pommel. It is able to change form into a shield that is capable of blocking potent attacks coming towards Arima. It is also capable of changing into a secondary offensive form that changes the shape of the quinque into several tentacles which can home and pierce any enemy of Arima's choosing. IXA's defensive barrier was shown to be damaged after Arima's fight with Kaneki, who managed to cause a fissure in the defensive barrier. Leading to it not being used in the following fight against Eto. IXA was repaired and Arima still wields it.

Manga depiction
 * Narukami: An ukaku type quinque that takes the form of 4 satellite panels attached to a rapier handle. The quinque can shoot bolts of lightning that can home towards a target of Arima's choosing. It also has the ability to combine the panels into a single rapier blade sharp enough to slice through the One-Eyed Owl.

Trivia

 * He is the one of two people (the other being Juuzou Suzuya) to be promoted to a 2nd Class Investigator in less than a year.
 * He shares the same birthday with Ken Kaneki.
 * While he originally had dark blue hair, flashbacks show that his hair gradually became white over the course of his twenties.
 * Arima has been associated with the number "13". It references the tarot card Death (XIII).
 * His relationship with Sasaki references Franz Kafka's short story, A Crossbreed. The narrator is the owner of an unusual creature that is half Kitten and half Lamb
 * In the manga, Arima first had a fight with Ken, then with the One Eyed Owl, but in Tokyo Ghoul Root A, the order was reversed.
 * In the manga, Ken managed to damage IXA. However, in Tokyo Ghoul Root A, IXA was damaged by the One Eyed Owl.
 * It is revealed in a chapter that Arima once defeated a ghoul using only an umbrella because IXA was being repaired at the time. It should be noted that the only opponent that Arima faced and manged to damage his quinque was Kaneki which mean that the incident happened after Anteiku Raid.
 * In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, he's featured as a "Black Joker".
 * He likes to challenge his subordinates in sparring sessions in the meeting room as shown in the omake of re Volume 1.

Quotes

 * To Minami: "Events that happen in this world, are a continuous series of trifling things, and within those myriad pieces of puzzles, there is always a fragment that leads to the truth."
 * To Ken Kaneki: "...Oh, I see... You're... It's raining. I don't know what the weather outside is when I'm below the surface. My sense of time also gets dull. But I know if it's raining outside from the sound of water... It'll be over soon. We're in V14. No 'Ghoul' can pass through here. You can't go any further than 14."

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