Chie Hori

Chie Hori (掘 チエ, Hori Chie) is a human photographer and information broker. She is a long-time friend of Shuu Tsukiyama, aware of his secret but uninterested in exposing him as a Ghoul. At his request, she serves as an informant to Kaneki's group.

She seeks out the members of the Quinx Squad, and offers to sell them information pertaining to Torso. This is because she has an unusual interest in their leader, Sasaki.

Appearance
Chie has a small body and an appearance of a child even though she is 24. She doesn't seem to age since she has looked the same since she was 16. She has dark brown hair and a lighter shade of brown eyes, however in the light novel's she is illustrated with burnt orange hair and eye's of a similar shade. She is shown wearing a green rain coat and carries around a pink camera.

Personality
Chie has a unique personality. This is due to her first encounter with Tsukiyama as a ghoul. Instead of showing fear and screaming, she let him treat her at a dessert shop, whom later befriends Tsukiyama, who started to call her 'Little Mouse'. She also seems very curious and seems to do anything for a 'scoop'. Yoshimura also warned Tsukiyama to be cautious around Chie as her true intentions are hidden.

Days: Photograph
Chie is introduced taking a photograph of Tsukiyama as he feeds on a victim, startling him and triggering a chase. She manages to elude him at first, but is eventually cornered in an alleyway. Rather than responding with fear, she shows him the photo she'd taken and reveals they attend the same high school. She demands that he take her somewhere to eat, and the pair end up at a cafe where she makes him purchase her a dessert. Though Tsukiyama attempts to manipulate her to find out her intentions, she quickly loses interest and states she won't leak the photo after all.

In the following days, Tsukiyama investigates her at school while she goes about her business. She is revealed to have gotten into the prestigious academy on a scholarship, but neglects her grades in favor of constantly looking for interesting things to photograph. Having gotten the scoop she wanted, she is initially uninterested in Tsukiyama, but he presses her further and invites her to accompany him to a nearby hospital.

There, Tsukiyama introduces her to one of the nurses and reveals her elderly patient frequently harasses her, but cannot recall his actions afterwards. Chie snaps a photograph as the old man sneaks up behind the nurse and grabs her from behind, saving it for later. Before they leave the hospital, she is invited to come back at midnight for a special "dinner show". Though wary, Chie accepts the invitation and returns later that night. She hides in the restrooms for some time, and changes into pajamas so that she will blend in with the patients. Once visiting hours have ended, she joins the patients returning to their rooms and sneaks onto the ward visited earlier. She sneaks into the old man's room, making note of the massive private room and expensive, unopened gifts. When the nurse enters the room, she hides underneath the bed.

As she hides, she hears the nurse begin to abuse the old man, insulting and hitting him. Tsukiyama breaks through the window, startling the nurse and chiding Chie for failing to open the window for him. Chie emerges from beneath the bed, and watches the scene as he declares his true identity and begins to remove the old man's skin. Eventually, the old man wakes up and begins to struggle, begging the nurse to save him. As she begins to viciously kick the old man, Chie takes a photograph of the abuse.

Amused, Tsukiyama catches Chie by her shirt and holds her out the 8th story window, threatening to drop her. Rather than plead for her life, Chie calmly takes another photograph of Tsukiyama as he prepares to kill her. This intense focus further amuses Tsukiyama, and he lifts her back into the room while declaring that she is clearly a very amusing pet. Chie refuses, but is immediately ignored. She then reveals to Tsukiyama that she had prepared for the possibility of being killed, and has a blog post set for 1am which would reveal his identity if she does not cancel it in time. The pair climb out the window, leaving the injured old man and the nurse behind.

Weeks later, Chie and Tsukiyama meet in a cafe to discuss the events of that night. She shows him on her laptop the news, and how the nurse had reported an unknown Ghoul had attacked her and then killed her elderly patient. As a result, she has become the "heroine of the tragedy" and become romantically involved with a doctor. Chie reveals she went to see the nurse afterwards, and tells Tsukiyama that the nurse is grateful to him for her good fortune. Looking at the photograph again, she notes how the nurse looked at her patient as if he were an insect to be crushed. He expresses amusement at the cruelty of humans, and Chie takes another photograph of him as he smiles.

Raid of Kanou's Lab
While she never appears in person, Chie is mentioned by Kaneki in conversation. He refers to her as a "reliable person" after she obtains the list of prisoners that Aogiri Tree freed. Itori suggests this information could only be obtained by hacking CCG's database.

Later, when Tsukiyama tells the story of the Yasuhisa family, he mentions that he was given this information by Chie.

Torso Investigation
Chie is first glimpsed sitting on a ledge, watching over Kanae and chiding him for his behavior.

She later approaches Kuki Urie and Ginshi Shirazu, offering them information on Torso. They are initially suspicious, since the identities of Investigators are closely guarded and threaten to take her in for interrogation. Unconcerned, Chie warns them that she'll simply provide the bare minimum of information and won't cooperate further. Instead, she offers to sell them photographs in exchange for either 1 million yen or one of Haise Sasaki's personal belongings. She claims to want it for her "model", in order to cheer them up and make them interesting again. Urie agrees to her terms, but asks for the photographs of Torso's hunting grounds beforehand. She hands them over, with the rest of the information withheld until her price is met.

Days later, Chie meets with Urie and Shirazu to complete their business. She is given a pair of Sasaki's underwear, and gives them polaroids she believes Torso took before killing his victims. She explains to them the different brands of instant cameras, and demonstrates that the brand "Immortal" has a special quality, with faded colors. Chie photographs the pair with two different cameras, revealing that Torso has been using Immortal-brand film and notes that it is a foreign brand that has to be ordered from a specialty store. She tells them their suspect must live near the crime scenes, and has recently ordered a large amount of the film from a store -- she knows of one suspect that fits.

After Kanae delivered Sasaki's boxers to Tsukiyama and got a lack of response, Hori was complained to by Kanae in bringing his master a dirty object. Kanae threatened to kill Hori, but she merely dismissed that idea as something Tsukiyama wouldn't approve of, as Tsukiyama would kill her personally if the time ever comes and notes that he sees her as his "pet". Chie is next seen sitting on a rooftop, holding out her camera to the city lights and hopes for Tsukiyama to get better soon to show her "more interesting things".

Rosewald Investigation
Hori eventually cooperate with Kanae in order to help Shuu Tsukiyama getting back to his normal self after a long time of depression for him. She makes a deal with Kanae and hands him some photographs of Haise/Kaneki and instructs him on how and when to use them. She is later chased by ghoul investigators because of her involvement with the ghouls. Taking pictures of their predatory action, hacking the CCG's servers and help them hunt humans. CCG views her as a ghoul supporter and ally. She manages to hide and escapes from them.

Shuu Tsukiyama
The two have been long-time friends since they met in high school. Their mutual obsession with perfecting their chosen interests and unusual morality has made them unlikely friends, with Chie showing little concern over his predatory nature. She finds Tsukiyama 'interesting' and calls him her 'photography model'. Over the years, she has acted as an informant to Tsukiyama and appears to have made contact with the Quinx Squad for his sake.

When Tsukiyama later suffers from severe depression, she continues to help him with the hopes of making him 'interesting again'.

Kanae von Rosewald
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. Kanae looks down on this human girl and refers to her with rude names like "stray rat", "guinea pig", or profanities in German. It appears that Kanae is 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 his intentions and out smarts him easily, adding to his resentment towards her.

Ken Kaneki
In Tokyo Ghoul manga, though their interactions were minimal, she brought information to him at Tsukiyama's request. Kaneki described her as a reliable person.

In the novel (empty days), Hori Chie negotiated with Kaneki that she would work for his team as an informant provided that Kaneki makes all his requests through Tsukiyama. She is fully aware of Tsukiyama's obsession with Kaneki and therefore utilizes her connection with his group to protect herself from being eaten and influence Tsukiyama to listen to any of her requests.

Kuki Urie and Ginshi Shirazu
She has made contact with them and has offered her assistance in their investigation. Urie is suspicious of how much she knows, while Shirazu seems to take a liking to her right away. Chie is unfazed by their attempts to intimidate her and easily convinces them to agree to the terms of the deal she offers them on the ghoul Torso.

Torso
She possesses quite a bit of knowledge about him, some of which she reveals in her deal with Urie and Shirazu. Though it is an on-going investigation, she has managed to gain access to the crime scenes to photograph them and has gathered polaroids he left behind at the scenes. She even suggests she has a suspect in mind, though how much she actually knows about him is still unknown.

Quotes

 * To Tsukiyama during his depression: "Hey Tsukiyama...can you really die for some 'ingredients'"?
 * To Kanae about saving Tsukiyama: "Whatever happens, you must put Tsukiyama's wishes FIRST."
 * To Kanae about saving Tsukiyama: "I'm really scared about dying. It's hard to think I'll disappear forever. So at least, I want to die when I'm content about dying. That's why I want to fill my lie with fun things. Tsukiyama's a log of fun, isn't he? That must be why."

Trivia

 * Chie has been associated with the number 0 by Tsukiyama. This is a reference to the tarot card The Fool.
 * “So we can’t determine if she’s an idiot or a sage. Like the Tarot’s number 0 - The Fool" - Tsukiyama