Ayato Kirishima

Ayato Kirishima (霧嶋 絢都, Kirishima Ayato) is Touka Kirishima's younger brother, and goes by the alias Black Rabbit. He grew up with his sister in the 20th Ward but at some point in time, he left the district. According to Kazuichi Banjou, Ayato subsequently began to wander all the wards of Tokyo, bringing sheer wreckage and chaos upon them, until his unique powers and abilities caught Tatara’s eye. Ayato was therefore pulled into joining Aogiri Tree, where he is currently an Executive.

Appearance
Ayato is a lean young man, with blue eyes and long, blue messy hair which sweeps down in front of his eyes. He bears a striking resemblance to his sister, and has a rough-looking, rebellious image. He wears a hooded, long-sleeved black leather jacket, and black pants, along with knee-high black boots. Ayato also has a piercing on his left ear, and usually wears a ring on the pinky finger of his right hand.

In Root A, Ayato is mostly seen wearing a black mask with spires, as well as a black overcoat with a white fur collar.

After the time skip, Ayato has grown noticeably taller, and is seen wearing shin-high black boots and a long, black coat jacket over his clothes.

Ayato possesses multiple black masks. The first one has red eyes and a sharp-toothed grin, which he used during the Aogiri Arc. His current and most frequently-seen mask bears a rabbit design, earning him the moniker of "Black Rabbit." During the Clowns' auction, he was seen wearing a very basic, vaguely conical mask which covered only the lower half of his face.

Personality
Ayato is an arrogant, brash teenager, with a similar hot-blooded attitude resembling his sister's, while he normally displays either a scowl or menacing smirk on his face. Other than his physicalities, he shares many similarities with Touka, such as his tendency to use language that is often uncouth or inappropriate. He has a habit for kicking people over the simplest mistakes; such as when Kaneki failed to address him with the desired honorific, or when Banjou didn’t return his missed calls. However, he seems to be more harsh compared to his sister, but admits himself to be surprisingly "softer" than his Aogiri superiors. He is a firm believer in the notion that ‘the weak perish and the strong survive,’ which was triggered by the death of his mother and father. Ayato bears deep grudges against his father, Arata, for abandoning him and Touka when they were young. Ayato has even stated that the whole reason for hating Kaneki was his resemblance to Arata. It was also pointed out by Kaneki that Ayato cares deeply for Touka subconsciously, as shown when he beat her down first rather than allowing her to suffer a slow, torturous death from Yamori. Later on, he also took her alias, "Rabbit" so that the CCG would hunt him instead of Touka. Ayato also seems to have a soft spot for rabbits.

Three years later, there is a reduction in most of the mannerisms and habits which Ayato once portrayed when he was younger; as he became far less ill-tempered, obnoxious and arrogant, and even developed a rational, approachable way of speaking. Ayato also grew on having a sense of concern as well as the instinct to protect his subordinates. However, he still retained a few of his old traits, such as relentlessly slaughtering Ghoul Investigators and engaging in violent brawls.

Background
Ayato resided in the 20th Ward with his sister Touka, under the care of their father, Arata. Arata lived his life like humans did; he usually took Ayato and Touka to the library to study, and even convinced them to eat food offered by humans; for he believed that ghouls should try to blend in with human society by adapting their behavioral patterns. Ayato however, supposed that it was solely a human’s world, and that ghouls weren’t “normal.” He and Touka also cared for a bird, where Ayato was shown to dislike earthworms and insects. One night before Arata set out on his regular scavenging routine, Ayato made a promise to him that he’d protect Touka whenever she was in trouble. After Arata never returned, Ayato assumed that his father had died by Ghoul Investigators finding and killing him. Touka and Ayato visited a woman named Satou to tell her of their father’s disappearance. She offered them human food, but when they refused, Satou stuffed the food in Ayato’s mouth, and so both siblings were sold out. They managed to escape as Touka used her kagune to kill the investigators.

Ayato’s perspective of humans changed immediately; as he came to the conclusion that none of this would have happened if they hadn’t gotten involved with humans. After running away from home, they found Anteiku, where they were taken care of by Yoshimura. As they grew up, the siblings got stronger, to the point where Ayato started displaying violent tendencies. When Touka started school and met Yoriko, Ayato told her that interacting with humans was foolish; for they couldn’t be trusted under any circumstance. Believing that they might end up just like Arata did, Ayato left Anteiku in search of more power. He then wandered the wards of Tokyo, such as the 14th Ward; where he took away multiple feeding grounds from the ghouls there.

Aogiri Arc
Ayato is first seen at the Aogiri Hideout in the 11th Ward, enraged by the fact that he sent Kazuichi Banjou on a mission to capture Rize Kamishiro, but Banjou doesn’t answer his phone calls. Ayato, thinking that Yakumo Oomori and Nico would capture Rize before him, visits the 20th Ward, where he barges into Anteiku upon hearing Banjou telling Kaneki that he should run away from the incoming danger. He kicks Banjou in the arm, cracking his bones, and threatens to give him another beating. Ayato is suddenly faced with his elder sister Touka Kirishima, and when asked where he wandered off to after walking out of her life, Ayato says that he has been ‘studying the world,’ for he would never proclaim himself to be a ‘peaceful idiot.’ Ayato becomes disappointed when he sees Yamori at Anteiku as well, but when Nico points out that Kaneki is indeed the one that smells like Rize, Ayato co-operates with Yamori to capture Kaneki.

When Touka puts up a resistance by not wanting them to take Kaneki, she counters Yamori but is confronted by Ayato. Ayato, punching her in the face, compares Touka to their dead parents, calling her a ‘weakling.’ Touka thrusts her kagune at him, but he blocks the attack with one of his wings. With his own kagune activated, Ayato pledges to show her that ghouls are truly above humans. Ayato then beats her down effortlessly, subsequently ordering Banjou to stuff an unconscious Kaneki in a bag and head back to the 11th ward. When asked if they should take Touka as well, Ayato desists, saying that she would just weigh them down.

At the Hideout, Ayato is the first person to approach Kaneki when he wakes up. He orders Kaneki to follow him, but when Kaneki shows concern for Touka’s well-being, Ayato kicks him, telling him that he is not allowed to talk, and should be obedient at the slightest order he is given. Ayato then admits himself to be a ‘softy,’ in comparison to his superiors. He then takes Kaneki to a meeting to meet Tatara, but when Tatara refuses Kaneki, Ayato is told to do what he wanted with him. Ayato then locks Kaneki away in a room. Later on, during the CCG’s raid on the Aogiri Hideout, he is seen beside the Bin Brothers, battling the ghoul investigators.

After a while, he runs into Touka, assuming that she came to the Aogiri Hideout to save Kaneki. He then tells Touka that Kaneki was originally made into one of his subordinates, but is now with Yamori. Ayato pronounces Kaneki dead; due to Yamori torturing and killing him. Angry, Touka charges toward him, but he blocks her attack by clutching her foot in his palm. He then throws her to the ground, deciding to take her to the above platform once she fell unconscious. Once they arrived there, he bludgeons Touka once more, subsequently feasting off of her kagune. Ayato points out that Touka, just like their father, is weak, and that the superiority or inferiority of any individual is solely dependent upon “power.”

When Kaneki rescues Touka, Ayato confronts him on the roof of the hideout. Ayato declares that Kaneki should die, and starts shooting bullets with his kagune, all of which Kaneki dodges. He becomes irritated as Kaneki vows to half kill him for his actions. The two begin to battle, and Kaneki lectures him for being violent against his own sibling, and pierces Ayato’s thigh with his Kagune afterwards. Ayato begins a close combat with Kaneki, effortlessly beating him down. He then becomes agitated at the fact that Kaneki points out his “Secret;” Kaneki openly tells him that the person Ayato portrays himself to be is the total opposite of what is in his heart. The reason why Ayato had even joined Aogiri Tree in the first place was to become strong enough so as to ensure Touka wouldn’t be killed; and hence he protected her. Ayato denies this, mentioning that he hated Kaneki since he first met him, for Kaneki reminded Ayato of his father, Arata Kirishima. Ayato is weakened when Kaneki gives him another beating, and is forced to endure as Kaneki breaks one hundred and three of the two hundred and six of his bones, crushing the entire half of his body.

Root A (Anime)
After Kaneki joins Aogiri, he and Ayato are partnered to do missions together. They are first sent to destroy a convoy containing a mass of CCG vehicles, one of which an arrested Naki was believed to be in. Ayato is puzzled when Nashiro and Kurona appear. He orders the Aogiri members to retrieve Naki from a car that was set ablaze, and after seeing the latter’s childish behavior over Yamori’s death, Ayato becomes irritated.

Whilst infiltrating Cochlea to find Shachi, Kaneki prevents a barrier from closing in, allowing Ayato to descend through the crevice and target the SWAT members of the CCG. He later runs into Yukinori Shinohara, and the two clash. Ayato senses a strange presence in the room, and after seeing Yukinori activate the Kakuja armor that belonged to Arata, Ayato finally comes to the conclusion of his father’s whereabouts.

Ayato later succumbs to an overwhelming attack by Shinohara. Weakened, he tries to muster up the strength to strike against the Arata armor, but fails to do so when memories of his father resurface. He then collapses, but before Shinohara could deal him the final blow, Ayato is saved by Kaneki.

During the CCG's ultimate operation of Ghoul eradication, Ayato is seen tackling the SWAT members along with his underlings.

Raid of Kanou's Lab Arc
Ayato was shown to have undertaken the newly found alias “Black Rabbit,” and began wearing his second mask. This was done in order to have the CCG mistake Ayato for Touka, and therefore track him instead of his sister; thus covering up Touka’s actions and cleaning up after her bad reputation.

Post-20th Ward One-Eyed Owl Battle
In the ending montage, Ayato is seen clutching his second mask to his chest; which confirms his identity as the Black Rabbit.

Torso Investigation
Ayato briefly appears in the opening montage, speaking to Hinami.

Nutcracker Investigation
Later on, he appears at Torso’s residence where it was reported that he stole some unknown data that belonged to the CCG. He also attacked and slaughtered all of Shimoguchi’s subordinates; leaving Shimoguchi to be the only survivor, though severely injured. Ayato’s name is then mentioned in a discussion between Akira Mado and Haise Sasaki, whereby Akira noted that three years ago, Ayato murdered multiple Ghoul Investigators while invading the 20th ward, and also hunted down Associate Special Class investigators from the 7th ward. Akira mentions that Ayato’s existence and power have been increasingly outstanding every year, and so she is therefore led to think that it was Ayato and Hinami who had murdered her father, Kureo Mado.

Ayato is later seen speaking to Torso at his home. Since his true identity was revealed, Torso requests that Ayato allow him to join Aogiri Tree; as this is his only choice. Noticing that Torso was intimidated by him, Ayato instead warns Torso about the higher-ups of Aogiri Tree: he’d be killed if he were to ever leave the organization, and should therefore carefully reconsider before joining. Ayato then asks if someone by the name of “Sasaki” is affiliated with The Quinx Squad.

Ayato is seen at the Aogiri Hideout, at a height where he is able to overlook Tokyo. Eto approaches him, informing him that she had gotten a message from Tatara. Eto requests that Ayato be the guard and escort for Madam at the upcoming auction. He later approaches Hinami and Torso, where Hinami tries to listen and interpret a discussion between two ghoul investigators. It is revealed that the CCG is also interested in the "floppy", and will therefore be at the auction. Ayato mentions that he needs Hinami to be his "ears", where she will listen in on multiple conversations in order to gather information.

Auction
As they overlook the auction, Ayato explains the exploitation of humans to Torso, and is subsequently alarmed when Hinami informs him of something she has sensed.

Ayato becomes surprised to see that Tooru Mutsuki is a One-Eyed Ghoul, but is later agitated when Torso throws a fit of excitement just to participate and get closer to Mutsuki. When Juuzou Suzuya intervenes, Ayato quickly instructs Naki and Miza to take charge of their squads as he decides to guard Big Madam; therefore beginning a battle with Juuzou.

During the battle, Ayato loses track of Juuzou after the former begins to gain the upper hand. Hinami then contacts Ayato, telling him that Naki's group is outnumbered. Ayato decides to abandon his fight with Suzuya and leaves the main hall to back up Naki - therefore showing concern over his comrade. After coming to Naki's rescue, Ayato berates him for taking too long. He continues to battle the Ghoul Investigators alongside Naki and demonstrates his ability to not only fight for long periods of time despite being an Ukaku type, but also the ability to use his Kagune for close range combat which he uses to behead two Investigators.

He eventually regroups with Naki and Miza on the roof of the auction house with Naki frantically telling Ayato that a large number of Doves are coming their way. Ayato, knowing of the risks associated with the doves, states urgently that they must hurry.

When CCG reinforcements arrive and Aogiri begins their retreat, Ayato initially refuses to leave without Hinami but is instead told that he doesn't stand a chance against CCG's overwhelming numbers. Ayato grits his teeth in frustration and retreats with his comrades.

Rosewald Investigation
Months later, during an Aogiri meeting, Ayato yet again proposes a mission to Tatara to rescue Hinami from Cochlea. Tatara dismisses his demands, and Takizawa mocks him over the idea of ghouls showing affection for each other. Ayato is enraged and ops to attack him, but Tatara intervenes and reprimands him for having disobeyed his orders. Ayato questions Aogiri's willingness to simply throw away and replace its members, then recalls the first time he met Hinami. He'd been annoyed with her crying and confronted her, but she simply laughed and reminded him of the resemblance of his angered expression with that of his sister; concluding that she felt happy.

Post Tsukiyama Operation
Ayato is at the Aogiri hideout on Rushima where he asks Miza if she's seen Saeki. When she denies knowing his whereabouts, their discussion moves towards the upcoming assembly held by Eto. Neither of them know what the assembly is about, just that Eto has something to say and everyone has been asked to gather.That conversation also coming up short, Miza then asks about Cochlea, however, the news is as bleak as ever. The place is far too secure and even information about guard shifts is null. Their conversation ends with Ayato informing Miza that Naki was already at the meeting hall, noting that it was odd for her to be on lookout duty, so he figured she was looking for him.

He later watches Sen Takatsuki's press conference with the other Aogiri executives. He eventually comes across his former subordinate Kazuichi Banjou where he asks for his help to assault Cochlea and save Hinami before she is executed.

Arata Kirishima
Ayato despises his father for not being able to stand up against Ghoul Investigators, and leaving him and his sister alone to fend for themselves when they were younger. Ayato often tends to deride his father’s way of living whenever he talks to Touka about their family or comparing his father to Kaneki; saying that he couldn’t even bear the thought of remembering him. It is implied that despite loving his father, Ayato grew to resent him for his kind nature as it was that very element which had gotten him killed, leading to the siblings growing up in a violent world orphaned. Although he holds this irrational hatred for Arata; Ayato still managed to secretly protect his elder sister, just as he promised Arata as a child.

In Root A, before his battle with Yukinori Shinohara, upon seeing the latter activate an armor in the form of a Kakuja that once belonged to Arata, Ayato becomes immensely infuriated. This suggests that Ayato still holds some degree of grief over his father’s death.

Touka Kirishima
Though he doesn’t share a strong bond with his sister, Ayato is very pretensive about his true feelings towards Touka. He often insults her and refers to her as a ‘weak’ person, just like their father was, and even goes as far as beating her up to the point of unconsciousness and ripping off her kagune. However, Kaneki sees these mannerisms as a mere shell; since Ayato had beat down Touka before Yamori could take the pleasure of torturing and killing her and expressed disgust at Nico when he comments about her appearence. Ayato cares for Touka and wishes to protect her whenever she is in trouble, given that this is what he wanted to accomplish by joining Aogiri Tree and becoming stronger. As his presence became prominent each year, he undertook the alias, “Rabbit” in order to cover up for Touka’s actions, cleaning her name, which lead the CCG to think that it was Ayato who had murdered Investigators such as Kureo Mado, and therefore suspend their hunt for Touka.

Ken Kaneki
Ayato expresses indifference and agitation towards Kaneki, seeing him as just another useless weakling; for he is constantly reminded of his father through Kaneki’s attitude and way of talking. However, when Kaneki confronted him about his false pretense and true motives for joining Aogiri Tree, Ayato became offended by this, but was in denial, despite the fact that Kaneki was telling the truth. Ayato also appears to hold an interest in Kaneki's current self, Sasaki, asking Karao Saeki if he encountered Sasaki in his encounter with the Quinx Squad.

In Root A, Ayato is usually seen partnered with Kaneki, and though he has shown little signs of aggression towards him, he does seem to consider Kaneki an ally, trusting him during their mission to retrieve Shachi in Cochlea.

Yakumo Oomori
As superiors of Aogiri, Ayato and Yamori are seen co-operating to achieve Aogiri’s goals. However, Yamori greatly dislikes him, but does not challenge him since he respects Ayato’s power.

Kazuichi Banjou
Ayato knew Banjou long before he joined Aogiri Tree. Despite this, Banjou is frequently aggravated at the fact that Ayato constantly pushes him around.

Hinami Fueguchi
Ayato sees Hinami as his partner and subordinate. He treats her with respect and seems to get along nicely with her, always speaking to her with kindness. According to his instructions, she executes both the auditory and scent detection of ghouls and humans. She is mostly seen alongside him, whereby they co-operate during missions. Ayato is also shown to possess a deep concern over Hinami's well-being, as seen when he was hesitant about leaving her behind at the Auction, and therefore continuously prorogued Tatara to retrieve her from Cochlea.

Karao Saeki
Torso is rescued by Ayato, who recruits him officially into Aogiri. Unlike his behavior in the past, Ayato is kind to him and offers honest advise or reassurance. He treats his new subordinate well, encouraging him to learn and showing considerably more patience with him than he ever would have in the past.

Seidou Takizawa
Their relationship appears to be antagonistic, as seen when Takizawa made a mockery off of Ayato for proposing to save Hinami. Ayato had lost his temper, but was restrained by Tatara before he could attack Seidou.

Tatara
As a member of Aogiri under Tatara who recruited him into the organization, Ayato has been obeying all his orders without question, but later realizes that Tatara has no concern for lower rank underlings in Aogiri. In the omake it is shown that Ayato becomes cheekier towards Tatara over the years as he grows.

Noro
Their relationship is unknown. However, Noro came to retrieve Ayato from Kaneki after the latter broke half of Ayato's bones.

Rio
In the game Tokyo Ghoul: Jail, Ayato meets and fights Rio. However, despite fighting Ayato takes a liking to Rio and invites him to join Aogiri Tree so they can change this "rotten world" together.

Miza
He and Miza seem to share a professional and friendly relationship. Miza backs up his decision to rescue Hinami from Cochlea and keeps up to date with his intel.

Power and Abilities
A lifetime of fighting against CCG investigators and ghouls has resulted in Ayato being well versed in hand to hand combat with the ability to overcome experienced opponents such as his sister Touka. Combining his Kagune's advantage in long distance attacks with his close combat capabilities makes Ayato a strong opponent to defeat.This abilities allow him to easily defeat Touka Kirishima (Who is able to defeat Tsukiyama who is S rating ghoul) though it revealed he was holding back in his fight against Touka. It was implied that he was stronger than Yamori Jason who is also an S rating ghoul and half kakuja. Three years later, Ayato seems to have taken on a much more developed physique when in battle due to an elevation in power. His Kagune appears to be much larger, and produces stronger bullets with higher penetration capacity. In order to pose more accordingly with his sister's alias, Ayato additionally possesses the ability to generate one wing of his Kagune, as seen in the opening montage of :re. After the time skip Ayato's stamina has increased tremendously and he is therefore able to fight for long periods of time without fatigue. It is believed that the probability of his kagune being linked to his sibling's is 64%; which is higher than average. His control over his Kagune has also improved; his crystallized kagune wings can transform into sharp blades sprouting from his shoulders, in a similar fashion to Yoshimura and Eto's Kagune. He can use these blades to fight opponents up close, and this along with the capability to fight without fatigue, shows that he has overcome the two main weaknesses of an Ukaku ghoul.
 * Ukaku Kagune: Like his sister, Ayato's kagune are vermilion in color. He is able to form a single wing on both of his shoulders. Like many Ukaku ghouls, he is agile and able to shoot bullets from both wings when in the crystallized mode. However he also suffers from a low RC supply and therefore tires if a battle is dragged out for too long. He is able to hide within his kagune mid-air, with the two wings revolving around him to shield him from projectiles such as bullets.

Trivia

 * Deriving from the kanji 文 (aya) "art" and 人 (to) "person", the name "Ayato" has several various trivial meanings including; "ambition", "power", "progress", "confident", "restless", "independent", "determined," and "courageous".
 * Ayato likes brawls, tropical fish and rabbits.
 * Ayato hates the ghoul investigators, humans, and weaklings.
 * His entry in the poetry omake suggests Ayato is deeply insecure about his height.
 * Ayato once asked Shachi about the training required to reach the SS rate, and coincidentally so, at present day Ayato is an SS rated ghoul.
 * Ayato is frequently shown to be fixated with heights.
 * In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, he's featured as the "Two of Clubs".

Quotes

 * To Touka: "Do you suddenly forget that you're a monster, and become happy when around those humans?"
 * To Touka (about their parents’ deaths): “Our mother and father both died because they were weak. What can a weak person protect? Who can they save? Without power the weak can only be snatched away.”
 * To Touka: “You’re the little kid. Face reality, you callous.”
 * To Touka (about his defection from the 20th ward): “I was studying the world. I’m different from a peaceful idiot like you. I’m not a human, I’m a ghoul.”
 * To Touka (comparing ghouls to humans): “Your ‘wing’ isn’t able to fly anywhere, but I’m different… I’m going to make all the trash see that ghouls are ‘above’ humans.”
 * To Touka (after her defeat): "The world runs on power. Everything is determined by the superior power. You are weak. That is why you lose."
 * To Kaneki (about hatred for Arata Kirishima): “Your expression, attitude and way of talking. They make me remember my father and it’s too disgusting to bear!”
 * To Torso (on the exploitation of humans during the Auction): "Deep down...they must think that they have no value."
 * To Himself (after seeing Arata's Kakuja on Shinohara): "I see, so that's where you are, my lousy father!"
 * To Tatara (about rescuing Hinami): "Yamori, Bin...all those that died...is everyone in Aogiri just replaceable pieces to you?"

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