Shuu Tsukiyama

Shuu Tsukiyama (月山 習, Tsukiyama Shū) is the infamous Gourmet (美食家) ghoul. He is a fourth-year student studying Social Welfare at the Department of Human Sciences at Haruna Gakuin University.

He was a member of the Ghoul Restaurant, known as "MM" until he betrayed them.

He was also an acquaintance of Rize Kamishiro.

Afterwards, he joined Kaneki's group with the intention of eating him, obsessed with his flesh and blood.

Appearance
Tsukiyama normally dresses in European attire, though his sense of style is questionable. In his first appearance, Kaneki thinks to himself that he looks like a model with his height and well-kept hair. The other characters seem to find him as flamboyant and loud as he looks. His mask, shaped like a crescent moon, is a reference to his name.

Personality
An eccentric man with opulent taste, his act as a gentleman and intellectual serves as a facade to hide a disturbed and narcissistic nature. As a ghoul, he displays his arrogance as a strong predator that seeks to devour the finest meals he makes of his 'prey' to proclaim himself as top of the food chain. His interest in European literature and language is shown in his gestures and mannerisms, often peppering his dialog with borrowed English, French, and Italian. He shows great anger towards others who disrespects his taste in food, shattering a teacup in front of Kaneki during their date at the coffee shop when he remembered his encounter with Rize. Rize believed that his picky eating habits made him seem more like a human than a ghoul, the worst sort of insult he could have received. He compares himself to a noble 'knight', especially later when in the service of Kaneki.

Gourmet Arc
After noticing Misono Karube's beautiful eyes, Tsukiyama stalks her and steals them, then has them prepared at the Ghoul Restaurant.

Tsukiyama later makes an appearance at Anteiku, where he encounters Kaneki for the first time. After hearing about how Kaneki was able to confront the investigators, then noticing his enticing, unique scent, Tsukiyama takes an interest in him. Aware of his unsavory reputation, Touka demands that he leave. Though he complies, he promises Kaneki that they will meet again.



Tsukiyama shows up at Kamii University to meet Kaneki and discusses books with him and tells him a little about himself, intent on endearing himself to him. He asks Kaneki to accompany him to a coffee shop soon, and Kaneki hesitantly accepts his offer. Before they go to the coffee shop, Tsukiyama plays a game of squash with him, assuring him that the coffee will taste better if they work up a sweat first. At the coffee shop, Tsukiyama tells him about his ideals as a gourmet. As the topic shifts, Tsukiyama "accidentally" cuts Kaneki's hand with his fingernail so he could have a handkerchief with Kaneki's blood on it. (In the anime, the book is replaced with the teacup that Tsukiyama crushed in his hand in a fit of rage when thinking about Rize. Kaneki cut himself on one of its ceramic shards and Tsukiyama handed him his handkerchief.) After acquiring the bloodied handkerchief, he excuses himself to the restroom where he indulges in the scent of Kaneki's blood.

When they leave the coffee shop, Kaneki asks Tsukiyama what he does about food. Tsukiyama, seeing this as an opportunity to invite Kaneki to the Ghoul Restaurant, does so. At the Ghoul Restaurant, Kaneki, yet unaware of Tsukiyama's real intentions, is separated from him so that the staff can 'prepare' him.

During the presentation of the night's dishes, Tsukiyama presents Kaneki as the main dish and explains the lengths and effort he went through to make Kaneki taste his finest. However, after Kaneki reveals himself to be a one-eyed ghoul while defending himself against the scrapper, Tsukiyama puts a halt to the night's proceedings, killing the scrapper, Taro, by himself. He offers Taro as the meal instead, determined to have Kaneki entirely to himself now that he is aware of his extreme rarity.

Aogiri Arc
It is revealed that Tsukiyama escaped his untimely demise, having to resort to auto-cannibalism in order to recover the wounds he sustained in his fight against Touka (to which he proclaimed that he tasted delicious). He volunteers to join Anteiku's expedition to save Kaneki with the intention of devouring him. Although when Kaneki is saved and he offers his service to him, Kaneki agrees but whispers that if he shows even the slightest bit of disloyalty, he would not hesitate to kill him. Tsukiyama is quite happy and thrilled that he didn't choose to eat Kaneki and loyally pledged to serve him.

Powers and Abilities
The 'Gourmet' is a name feared in the 20th ward, not only for his selective taste in prey, but because he is very difficult to catch. An avid reader like Kaneki, he is also deeply invested in martial arts and fights gracefully with deadly efficiency.


 * Koukaku Kagune: Using a Koukaku kagune is known to be difficult, as the weight of the kagune is unwieldy and its hardened cells make it hard to manipulate. Tsukiyama displays mastery of his koukaku, able to shape it into various forms at will. He can form a linear metal ribbon that can wrap into a flexible spiral that doubles as armor to shield his upper body, as well as a spinning drill that can cause devastating damage. To extend his reach, he can form it into a large, sword-like blade that is suited to thrusting and stabbing. However, despite his kagune's diverse nature, its weight and size restricts his range and movement to close quarters. While he almost never dodges, his kagune is sturdy enough to block most attacks.

Relationships
Ken KanekiKen Kaneki Kaneki is the object of Tsukiyama's obsessions. Tsukiyama first meets Kaneki in Anteiku and becomes fascinated with his scent. After Kaneki reveals his half-ghoul nature in the Ghoul Restaurant, Tsukiyama becomes completely obsessed with eating him, seeing him as an exotic, one-of-a-kind dish that only he deserves to consume. As a result, he is always trying to find a way to devour Kaneki, which is why he joins the efforts to rescue Kaneki from Aogiri's hideout. After the Aogiri arc, he joins Kaneki's Anti-Aogiri band as his 'sword' and mentor. Because of this obsession, Tsukiyama is extremely protective of Kaneki, though it is implied that a part of him may have truly see Kaneki as a potential friend. Particulary when Tsukiyama attacks Kaneki to stop him from running into his sure death, mixed signals make it unclear what the motives behind this desperate action are. He cries and begs Kaneki not to go, and after Kaneki's fight, he is still seen crying on the rooftop, refusing to eat or drink.

Chie Hori: 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. Over the years, she has acted as an informant to Tsukiyama and appears to have made contact with the Quinx Squad for his sake.

Touka Kirishima: He originally met Touka in the 20th ward when he had to fight with her and Ayato over territorial rights. He even stated that he liked her old side when she was fourteen and said he was "head over heels" for her back then. Tsukiyama acts friendly towards Touka, despite her low opinion of him. Touka is quite wary of him when he decides to participate in rescuing Kaneki from Aogiri Tree's Hideout.

Nishiki Nishio: Nishiki hates Tsukiyama for kidnapping and plotting to use his girlfriend, Kimi, in his plot to eat Kaneki. After the Gourmet Arc, he does not appear to be happy to see that Tsukiyama survived. However when Tsukiyama lay motionless and emotionally drained on the rooftop, he seemd to show concern, offering him coffee so he wouldn't starve.

Trivia

 * Tsukiyama was ranked third in the character popularity poll.
 * Tsukiyama likes self-discipline, humans that are tempting (irrespective of age and gender) and new stimuli.
 * Tsukiyama's hobbies are sports, martial arts, playing musical instruments and evaluating prey.
 * Tsukiyama wears a size 7 shoe.
 * Ishida Sui answered a fan question on twitter, revealing that Tsukiyama was the one who designed Kaneki's black, backless battle suit.
 * In the artbook Zakki, Ishida Sui revealed that Tsukiyama was originally intended to be the main character of an entirely different series. However, he ended up using the character in Tokyo Ghoul instead.