Koutarou Amon

Koutarou Amon (亜門 鋼太朗, Amon Kōtarō) is a former First-Class Ghoul Investigator. He was Kureo Mado's last partner and his last partner was Akira Mado. He was subsequently declared dead by the CCG, though his body was never recovered, and was posthumously promoted to Special Class for his distinguished service. During the Rushima Landing Operation, he reappeared alive as an artificial one-eyed ghoul.

Appearance
Amon is a very tall, handsome young man with black hair and teal eyes. His distinctive eyebrows are curved at the end. Due to his constant, vigorous training, he has an extremely athletic and muscular build.

Like most ghoul investigators, Amon usually wore a black suit with tie. If he left for an investigation, he additionally wore a white overcoat on top of his suit. He also wears a silver necklace with a cross.

Years later, he wears a cloak with a hood, and an outfit with a high collar underneath. He possesses a kakugan in his right eye. His right forearm and hand appear to be made from a kagune, the hand itself deformed with only three fingers and a blade-like extension growing alongside the finger on the right side of his hand.

Personality
Due to a personal experience as an orphan during his childhood, Amon came to the conclusion that the world was wrong, therefore he made it his task to change it. Because he believes it is ghouls who are twisting the world, he views their eradication as a way to mend it. After being spared by Ken Kaneki, Amon started to question the righteousness of his crusade and showed interest and curiosity, wanting to understand the ghoul. At heart, Amon is a likable, sympathetic young man with a great sense of justice, dedicated to his cause. So much so that he views his morality as anything done in the name of justice, demonstrated when he dug into a grave, something other investigators saw as immoral. Due to the connection between ghouls and his childhood and being raised by one, the fuel for his actions lie in his soft spot for children. One of the biggest justifications for his hatred of ghouls is the lost of the precious ones for these children. This was best conveyed when he sees an orphaned child taken in by the CCG and is motivated to work instead of rest.

Despite being well set in his mentality of his duties, he is quite apprehensive and insecure about losing people around him. He has lost many people throughout the course of his life and is fearful of losing more, he admits this to himself while fighting Kaneki, who incidentally feels the same. From this propensity, Amon reacted strongly to Kureo Mado's death. While investigating the ghouls responsible, he becomes near obsessed with it while feeling guilty for not arriving in time. Another incidence is when he intends to bring Seidou Takizawa, a former comrade, with him despite being transformed into a murderous one-eyed ghoul like himself which can also be used as evidence of his loyalty.

Past
Koutarou Amon was orphaned an uncertain point very early in his life, through an unknown cause. He lived a peaceful and happy life in a Catholic orphanage, cared for by the priest, Donato Porpora. However, one night he stumbled in on his foster father butchering a child that had supposedly been adopted and learned he was being raised by a ghoul. The orphanage was merely a front, allowing the seemingly-kind priest to feast on child victims without raising suspicion. Even though his secret was revealed, Donato allowed Amon to live -- an event that shaped the course of his life.

The infamous "Priest" was eventually captured by the CCG, while Amon would be raised in one of their Junior Academies. He later entered the Ghoul Investigator Training Academy and graduated at the top of his class, becoming the partner of senior Investigator Kureo Mado. Amon was initially uncertain of his unusual partner and disagreed with his reliance on intuition during investigations. His first investigation involved the serial predator "Applehead," a dangerous ghoul responsible for many deaths. Mado's prime suspect was Kie Muramatsu, an elderly woman -- Amon's reluctance to suspect the woman nearly allowed her to kill him. However, Mado arrived in time to save his life and taught him to trust his partner's keen instincts.

Doves' Emergence
After they had killed Asaki Fueguchi, Amon and Mado came to the 20th ward in pursuit of his wife, Ryouko Fueguchi and their daughter Hinami Fueguchi. By desecrating a grave Ryouko Fueguchi had visited, he was able to turn up evidence that the grave most likely belonged to Asaki Fueguchi. That served as proof that Ryouko Fueguchi was connected to the ghoul, so they confronted her together with investigators from the 20th Ward Branch office. After Ryouko Fueguchi had attacked the investigators to give her daughter the opportunity to flee, Mado and Amon defeated her and finally, Mado killed her.

After he and 20th ward's investigators Ippei Kusaba and Yasutomo Nakajima had gone for dinner, they were attacked by Rabbit. Kusaba was killed and Amon nearly lost because he did not have his quinque with him. He and Nakajima were saved by Kureo Mado.

On the basis of false information spread by Touka Kirishima, Amon and Mado investigated Kasahara River, but were unable to find a hint about the Daughter Ghoul. Amon proposed to leave, but Mado wanted to stay and told Amon he should leave ahead. When Mado called him as Mado attacked Touka and Hinami, Amon hurried to his partner's side but was stopped by Ken Kaneki. In the fight between Amon and Kaneki, Amon lost with his quinque Doujima 1/2 being destroyed, but he was spared by Kaneki. Afterward, Amon hurried again to Mado's location, but Mado was dead when he arrived.

Aogiri Arc
Because he felt guilty for Mado's death, Amon became obsessed with his job. He considered the two fake students who provided the fake information to be the key -- who were Touka and Kaneki in disguise.

To his surprise, headquarters deployed Yukinori Shinohara, Kousuke Houji, Seidou Takizawa and Juuzou Suzuya to the 20th ward, the Special Investigators being major figures in the CCG. This was a measure to deal with the dangerous stand-alone ghouls in the 20th ward. Additionally, CCG's 11th Ward Branch had become powerless, so the deployment was also meant to prevent the destruction of the CCG's 20th Ward Branch. Otherwise, a pincer attack on the wards between the 11th ward and the 20th ward could not be avoided.

The commander of the 11th Ward Special Countermeasures Unit ordered that Amon, Shinohara, and Suzuya shall participate in the unit. Because Doujima 1/2 was destroyed, Amon needed a replacement. Shinohara proposed that he could choose one of Mado's quinques, as Mado had written in his will.

During the 11th Ward Battle, Amon explained to Suzuya why they were unable to attack, due to a sniper's presence and the layout and location of Aogiri's base. had worried where Suzuya was after he had used Marude's motorcycle to get inside the building. He used his new quinque Kura to fight two of Aogiri's executives, the Bin Brothers. Recalling Mado's advice about using any means necessary to win, he was able to kill the S-rated ghouls and help secure a victory. As the battle came to a close, he noticed Kaneki from a distance but was unable to catch up with him. He was left haunted by his wish to speak to the unusual ghoul and learn more about him.

Raid of Kanou's Lab
In the six months following the battle in the 11th ward, Amon was promoted to First Class. With his promotion to a Senior Investigator, he was assigned a new partner -- Akira Mado, the daughter of his previous partner. The two first met as he gave a report at Mado's grave, and Amon quickly found himself struggling to deal with her. Akira made things difficult for him, arguing about small details and refusing offers to spend time together away from the office.

During the raid on the Ghoul Restaurant, the team discovered dozens of corpses and evidence that another ghoul had carried out the slaughter. Based on the evidence of a rinkaku capable of shattering a quinque, he theorized the Eyepatch ghoul was responsible for the massacre of the members.

In order to gain more information about Aogiri, Marude sent him to interrogate Donato Porpora about the attack on Cochlea. Instead, his foster father teased him about his new partner and asked questions about his personal life. Unable to get any further and angry over his past, Amon prepared to leave empty handed. However, Donato cryptically advised him to search for "Alice" instead of the "White Rabbit."

Though puzzled by these words, Amon continued his investigations of Rabbit with the assistance of an investigator assistant, Hideyoshi Nagachika. His findings eventually led him to discover something special involving Akihiro Kanou and led a team of investigators to check out his mansion. There, the group discovered an underground facility. Amon, Akira, and two other investigators fought against the combined forces of Shuu Tsukiyama and Naki. After a fierce battle that left Naki and Akira both wounded, the investigators were able to drive the ghouls off. Receiving word of Shinohara needing help, he arrived to discover an out-of-control incomplete kakuja seemingly eating the veteran investigator. Amon recognized the ghoul as Eyepatch and flew into a rage, battling him while demanding to know about their previous encounter. He was assisted by Juuzou Suzuya, but hesitated and allowed Kaneki to escape after seeing him weep in pain. Afterward, he berated Juuzou for abandoning his partner.

Afterward, Amon found himself haunted by the sight of Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa as one-eyed ghouls.

After a busy day at the office, Amon joined Seidou and Akira for dinner and drinks. Both ended up drunk, and Amon was unable to stop their argument until Seidou was forced to return to the office. Alone with Akira, their discussion turned to the death of her father and the bitter feelings both felt over it. Akira confessed to her feelings of resentment towards him, and her guilt over holding her father back. He agreed with her, blaming himself for his failure and swearing to protect her. When she passed out drunk, he took her home and watched over her as she broke down in tears. His conflicted feelings resulted in him going out onto the balcony to do pushups, berating himself for his failures as a partner. In the morning, Akira found him still outside and cooked him breakfast as thanks for his help.

On the eve of the Owl Suppression Operation, he visited the graveyard to see Harima and Mado. While there, he encountered Akira and they spoke at length about the people they had lost. Akira attempted to kiss him, but was rejected and stormed away.

Owl Suppression Operation
During the Owl Suppression Operation, Amon was assigned to Squad 4 as Squad Leader. His orders took him to the outskirts of the operation zone, helping to prevent entry or escape of any ghouls. Along with his squad, he faced down members of the Apes and prevented them from escaping the 20th ward.

Eventually, he came face to face with Kaneki as he attempted to break through the blockade. Amon was surprised that once again, the two crossed paths during a major event. He wondered whether this meant the ghoul was his reaper, and refused to allow him through. Under the guise of a challenge, Amon gave his long-time rival his name and wished for him to survive the battle so they could finally talk. Though he recognized Kaneki's intention to break his quinque as in their previous battle, he was unable to prevent it and goes down.

Just then, Dr. Chigyou arrived with the upgraded Doujima and the Arata Proto II armor, throwing both cases to him. Amon donned the completed armor and wielded his new quinque, quickly knocking Kaneki unconscious with a single blow. Losing control over his kakuja, Kaneki continued to attack Amon and their battle soon led them away from Squad 4. Eventually, their battle ended when both critically wounded each other -- leaving Amon without his arm, and Kaneki with an enormous hole in his side. As he collapsed, Amon was shocked to find his thoughts wander to his foster father, filling him with conflicting emotions.

Prompted by Akira's feeling that something was wrong, Seidou Takizawa located a wounded Amon in a side street. As Amon regained consciousness, the pair was located and joined by the half of Squad 4 commanded by Mutsumi Chino. Before they could radio for medical assistance they were ambushed by Tatara and members of Aogiri. The supporting squad wiped out, Amon and Seidou were alone to go against the ghouls. Prepared to fight alone, Amon ordered his friend to retreat, but Seidou refused and opened fire. Tatara quickly dispatched him, horrifying and enraging Amon, who charged at him.

He was officially listed as killed in action by the CCG and promoted to Special Class for his service.

Nutcracker Investigation
He was first mentioned when Haise Sasaki visited Donato Porpora, at the prisoner's request. He informed Sasaki that there is a ghoul of personal interest to him and holds one of the "keys" to Sasaki's lost memories. Though he revealed a name to Sasaki, the scene cut away to a figure in a tattered robe carrying a staff.

Auction
In the aftermath of the Auction, fleeing members of Aogiri Tree were ambushed. The same robed figure mentioned by Donato stood over a dying ghoul, who called out "f... lo... ppy...." The figure mentions "Yasuhisa," and departed from the scene. When the bodies were later discovered by investigators, they found evidence of cannibalism.

Rose Investigation
He next appeared during Aogiri's ambush of the Quinx Squad, rescuing Saiko Yonebayashi from Shikorae. He displayed incredible physical strength and an ukaku-like attack, as well as a deformed right hand. Saiko thanked the man for saving her, but he fled once her comrades arrived.

Later on, Akira Mado pulled Saiko aside in order to talk to her more about the "robed hero" who saved her. While thinking about this, Sasaki experienced an uneasy feeling.

Rose Extermination
While searching through the archives for information on the Eyepatch ghoul, Sasaki stumbled across draft reports written by Amon. These reports detailed his encounters with Kaneki, and his growing interest in the strange ghoul. While reading them, Sasaki experienced a hallucination of Kaneki weeping because he believed he killed Amon. Sasaki resolved to ask "him" about the information Amon left behind in his drafts.

During Sasaki's questions about Amon, it was let known of Amon's double promotion to Special Class after his presumed death.

Rushima Landing Operation
In a hooded cloak, Amon observed events from a distance, with his kakugan active in his right eye. Seidou held Akira up, strangling her. As he tightened his grip, further suffocating Akira, Amon appeared and cut Takizawa's arm off, saving her. After cutting off Takizawa's arm, he was then kicked by the latter and fell to the ground, he later stated his goal is to save his former comrades, including Takizawa. As the battle ensued, Amon was repelled by Seidou's shards. Afterwards, Seidou quickly rushed towards him and locked him with his hands while piercing him with his kagune. Amon recovered from the impact and called Seidou out on his past actions, saying he needed to atone for his sins while labeling him as ghoul investigator. This enraged Seidou, and the latter charged Amon once more. They clashed with large kagune blades and Amon pleaded with his former comrade to come with him, as there were alternatives to repenting other than death. However, Takizawa only pierced Amon's kagune and tossed him aside, before being surprise-attacked himself by Tooru Mutsuki. Amon, being exhausted, only watched as the investigator announced that he would buy time until reinforcements arrived and began the extermination of both Owl and Floppy. The fight went awry quickly for Takizawa, as he was easily tricked by Mutsuki's quick and clever tricks that soon brought him lying on his back. Before Seidou could be finished, Akira put herself in the way of Mutsuki's kagune, not being able to bear the sight of her long-lost friend dying like that. When Mutsuki continued her assault however, content on killing both of them, Amon took action, the sight of his friends being tortured enraging him. He struck at Mutsuki with Doujima's handle. The investigator moved in to bind him with her kagune, but his physical strength proved superior as he broke free. Then he bit Mutsuki's shoulder and managed to take away a large piece of flesh. Revitalized, he activated his quinque using kagune from his right arm, completing Doujima's form. His attack was short lived however, as the rest of the Quinx Squad arrived and Urie used Ginkui to restrain and slam him against a wall. They swiftly attacked him strategically from all sides, however an error occurred, allowing him to use the opening to knock Higemaru unconscious and crush the kagune of Shinsanpei Aura, one of the Quinx, as well as cut his right leg off. Amon spoke to Takizawa, instructing him to take Akira and leave, throwing him his cross necklace, being the first time he had removed it throughout the series. Takizawa took Yumitsu Tomoe and Akira as his "hostage" as he planned to leave the island and Amon continued his fight with the Quinx Squad.

Donato Porpora
Donato was his ghoul foster parent and they lived together in a Catholic orphanage. But one day, Amon discovered that Donato had been slaughtering the children in the orphanage daily, which made Amon grow a sense of hatred toward him. Since then he has cut his ties with him and refuses to recognize him as his foster family. When defeated by Kaneki, Amon is frustrated over how he remembers Donato as his father, thinking why it was him even in a moment like that.

Kureo Mado
Mado was Amon's first partner and a mentor in Amon's eyes. He respected him greatly and learned a lot from him. When Mado was killed, he underwent a phase of great sorrow and promised to catch Rabbit, the ghoul who killed him. Amon still feels responsible for arriving too late to save his mentor, as he reveals to Akira when she is drunk.

Akira Mado
Amon's second partner/first subordinate. They met for the first time in the cemetery where both had gone to pay their respect to Kureo's grave. At first, their relationship was strained because Akira held Amon responsible for her father's death. After several ghoul incidents, and a time wherein Akira had gotten drunk, their bond grew closer and they started to work well together. Before the battle against Anteiku, Amon offered her a cat strap because it reminded him of her cat, and they went together to see Kureo's grave one more time, Amon asking her not to be rash in the future battle against Anteiku. Akira may have romantic feelings toward Amon as she tried to kiss him once, which he stopped. It is then showed that the two are in completely different teams during the battle against Anteiku. She ends up confessing later in the manga that she does have feelings for him and her old school rival.

Yukinori Shinohara
Shinohara was Amon's teacher in the CCG Academy, and Amon respects him a great deal. Just like Mado, Shinohara is like a mentor to him, and when Ken Kaneki hurt him in Kanou's laboratory, Amon became enraged and immediately went to fight Ken.

Juuzou Suzuya
Amon considered Suzuya to be quite weird and was angered by his carefree attitude and how he was uncaring of Shinohara's injuries, but later started to get along, though Amon said that he still doesn't understand the way Suzuya sees the world.

Seidou Takizawa
During their time working together, Amon and Takizawa were on great terms. The younger investigator greatly admired him, though Amon was often left trying to keep the peace between Takizawa and Akira. During the raid on Anteiku, Takizawa abandoned his position to rescue Amon and was mortally wounded protecting him.

In the years since their experimentation, their relationship has changed significantly. Though angered over the crimes Takizawa has committed, Amon still considers him a comrade and desperately tries to bring him back to his senses. In contrast, Takizawa looked down on him and reacted violently to his lectures, however but under the guise of having Akira as hostage, escaped from the battle on Rushima Island doing as he asked.

Ken Kaneki
At first, Amon thought Kaneki was just a regular ghoul. However, after being spared by Kaneki after their first confrontation and seeing him crying while begging him not to make him a murderer, Amon begins to gain interest in Kaneki as to why he was spared and what his motivations are. Once Amon concluded that Kaneki and Rabbit were the keys to solving Mado's death, he began pursuing Kaneki in search of answers. Amon was responsible for stopping Kaneki's rampage when he was raiding Kanou's Lab. Kaneki is the only ghoul that Amon does not seem to have any real hatred or scorn for, although he has a lot of questions that he wanted to ask him. After fighting Kaneki during the Owl Suppression Operation, Amon lost his arm. Even after being severely wounded by Kaneki's kakuja, Amon persists to stay alive in order to prevent Kaneki from becoming a murderer.

Hideyoshi Nagachika
Hideyoshi worked under him after joining the CCG. While working together, Koutarou seemed to care for his well-being.

Touko Harima
Amon's old friend, his first quinque (Doujima 1/2) is a memento left by Harima. He still remembers her fondly.

Kishou Arima
As Arima is the strongest investigator, Amon has respect and admiration for him.

Power and Abilities
Ghoul Physiology: He inherited Yoshimura's kakuhou, and gained an ukaku kagune as a result, becoming a half-ghoul in the process. Swordsmanship: As an investigator, Amon was proficient and deadly while wielding a quinque, able to easily and efficiently eliminate ghouls.
 * Ukaku Kagune: He appears to have an ukaku kagune of decent power, capable of firing off numerous projectiles. These can easily blast holes into another ghoul's body, as demonstrated during his brief battle with Shikorae. He exhibits great accuracy, able to hit all four of Ginkui's mouths with four projectiles in an instant. These can vary in size, from small to human sized.
 * Kagune Arm: Amon has a kagune-like arm capable of forming a blade sharp enough to cut through body parts. His kagune-like arm can detach and reattach to a staff to form a quinque. This arm is durable and capable of blocking powerful attacks.
 * Superhuman Strength: As a human he trained extensively in weightlifting, his gained strength allowed him to wield heavy koukaku quinque. As a one-eyed ghoul, Amon manages to rip through Mutsuki's kagune, break free from Ginkui, crush Shinsanpei Aura's kagune with his hand, as well as send Touma Higemaru flying with a single hit and smash the ground by simply stomping on it, causing a large crater.
 * Superhuman Agility: He is incredibly fast, as he disappeared shortly after Saiko took her eyes off him for a very brief period of time.
 * Superhuman Durability: Amon received multiple frontal heavy attacks and yet showed no signs of weakening after being impaled with a kagune.
 * Doujima 1/2: A simple koukaku quinque which initially took the form of a club used to swing heavy blows that are tough to block. During a fight with Ken Kaneki, it was broken and later repaired using the Bin Brother's kagune. The repaired Doujima 1/2 takes the form of a lance-like spear. For additional offensive power, the brothers' kagune can be projected from the spearhead, spiraling around it in a drill-like manner but it was destroyed again. Years after the Owl Suppression Operation he still wields the quinque, viewing it as less of a tool and more as a comrade in battle, calling out to it while releasing it. He carries only its handle section and, when he wishes to release it, uses parts of his kagune to complete its form.
 * Kura: The koukaku quinque is a quarterstaff with a large blade at its end that can take down multiple ghouls in a single swing. The blade can be separated into dual falchion blades to lure opponents off guard and have a quicker weapon at hand. While the swords are a bit heavy for single hand use, Amon can also throw and retract them for longer reach. Amon used this quinque because its weight was similar to Doujima 1/2's. Mado bestowed the quinque on him in his will. It was destroyed by Kaneki during their fight.
 * Arata proto • II: A koukaku kakuja quinque that is an upgrade from its predecessor, Arata Proto. This quinque takes the form of a suit of armor that auto-equips onto Amon's body. Arata Proto II augments Amon's strength, speed, and durability to the point of being able to fight toe to toe with Kaneki, an SS ranked ghoul for a period of time. However using the quinque bears a heavy burden on the body which could be mitigated due to Amon's high physical abilities. The quinque was destroyed by Ken Kaneki in his kakuja form.
 * Unnamed Quinque: A quinque of unknown type that Amon used during his early days as an investigator. It took the form of a spear with a harpoon-like head. Its capabilities remain unknown as Amon was disarmed by Kie Muramatsu before he could use it.

Trivia

 * Amon likes to train and investigate.
 * Amon likes to eat sweets like donuts, but dislikes spicy food.
 * Amon is actually the name of the Egyptian god Amon-Ra, the sun god and god of all gods, the name meaning "the hidden one".
 * During his second fight with Ken, Amon used Arata Proto II as well. In the 11th episode of Tokyo Ghoul Root A, Amon just fought with his Doujima. Also in the manga, Amon first used Kura to fight Ken, and then uses Doujima after Kura was destroyed by Ken. But in the anime, Amon started fighting Ken by using Doujima from the start. In the manga, Amon was defeated by Ken when he was forced to use his Kakuja form. In the anime, Ken defeated Amon without using his kakuja form.
 * During the end of the auction raid, some CCG investigators noted Kuroiwa Takeomi being the first to kill a ghoul with his bare hands since Amon Koutarou.
 * After the Owl Suppression Operation, Amon was posthumously promoted to Special Class.
 * In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, he's featured as the "Jack of Diamonds".
 * His visual acuity is 2.0.
 * The scene of him biting Mutsuki's shoulder mirrors when he was bitten on the shoulder by Kaneki during their first conflict.

Quotes

 * To Kaneki: "This world is wrong."
 * (To himself about the world): “I will change it... I’ll show them. I will be the one to correct this wrong world.”
 * (To Ken Kaneki in his mind) "If you somehow manage to make it out alive. Everyone will be aiming for your head... Even so allow me to make an earnest request... Don't die. I wish to hear your story."
 * (To himself) "All my life... I have always been losing things. My biological mother and father. The false image of the man who raised me. My friends. My teacher. I'm scared. What will I lose next? this is where I make my last stand. You absolutely won't pass through here. Eye-patch... you can take a small break..."
 * To Takizawa: "You're right, I'm an idiot, and weak. But I'll still fight."

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