Talk:Ken Kaneki/@comment-26232562-20150410101142/@comment-10733658-20150410103533

^ Excellent point.

The standard "Shironeki" (pre/during Kanou raid Kaneki) is an incredibly messed up and damaged kid that is acting self-destructively and nearly destroyed himself in the process. He's the one Banjou begs to not take all the burdens onto himself, the one Tsukiyama and Hinami worry about, and the one that Touka calls out.

In series, no one is happy with "Shironeki", because they see how he's nothing but a ball of pain and unhealthy coping mechanisms. I've honestly considered the possibility that his current amnesia is at least partially psychological in nature -- that he was suffering so much, his only option was to repress everything.

Haise is what Kaneki could have been, had he not spent a lifetime being beaten down by the world. And he's in many ways a step forward in terms of combining his fiercely protective instincts with his gentler aspects. He can be funny, and silly, and nurturing while also bringing destruction on anyone that threatens the people he loves. He's a fusion of the two Kanekis, mostly embodying their most positive traits.

What he needs is to reclaim his memories, while not falling back into the patterns that destroyed him before.