Juuzou Suzuya

Juuzou Suzuya (鈴屋 什造, Suzuya Jūzō) is a Special Class Ghoul Investigator.

In the past, he went by the name Rei Suzuya (鈴屋 玲, Suzuya Rei). His first partner was Yukinori Shinohara, and his current partner is Hanbee Abara.

He was first assigned to the 20th Ward and was responsible for the investigation of the Binge Eater.

He was assigned to the 13th Ward and was investigating the ghoul Nutcracker, along with his squad.

Appearance
Juuzou is a young-looking man, with pale skin and pure shoulder-length white hair, with red hairpins, which form the Roman numeral XIII, keeping back his bangs. He has red eyes with bags under them.

He self-stitches his own body, explaining it to be a form of body modification. A miniature set of red threads that appeared to be two x's are stitched on below his right eye. One below his bottom lip and a line of several stitching threads from his upper neck downward, and several more around his right arm and hand. His attire consisted of a white suit with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, left halfway buttoned and polka dotted red suspender that supported his black pants and a pair of red slippers. He frequently wore a black suit above all this, with rolled up sleeves.

In the Joker side story and at the start of Tokyo Ghoul:re, Juuzou's appearance changes drastically. His hair is now dyed black and reaches only chin length. and his stitches are in a different pattern. His attire consists of a black suit, now, with black dress pant and red suspenders with yellow triangle pattern. He, now has a prosthetic leg was made in replacement for his leg, that was maimed two years ago.

Later on in Tokyo Ghoul:re Juuzou's hair has now reached passed shoulder-length once more. He either keeps it kept, having it tied in a bun above his head or in a ponytail, or without as was shown in the promotion ceremony. He has also changed the stitch markings below his right eye, returning it to the original two x's. He has removed all stitch markings from below his right lip. He also changed the roman numeral in his hair, now making it the roman numeral twenty, the 'Judgement' tarot.

Personality
As a child, Juuzou’s personality was somewhat normal, albeit a tad twisted, but as a result of Big Madam's treatment, he no longer feels fear, pain, nor does he have any morals. Yukinori Shinohara, his mentor, describes him as a problem child. Despite his childish and playful demeanor, he is also extremely violent and highly disturbed. He usually describes his killing methods to be clean, without needless movements, which is a skill he seems to take pride in. He shows no hesitation to kill someone.

Due to his past, he was blamed for the killings of multiple animals done by Oomori's interrogator during his time being trained by the CCG, though he was innocent. Suzuya was used as the scapegoat since nobody doubted that he'd committed the killings, which averted suspicions from the culprit who actually committed the murders.

Because of his lack of emotional understanding, he is willing to confront any opponent head on, no matter how dangerous they are. This has proven to be disastrous when he decided to take on Yoshimura alone when cooperation was necessary. Originally he showed no signs of empathy whatsoever and did not understand the emotions of others. However, when he realized how important Shinohara was to him, he let out a cry of anguish. This shows that Juuzou is still capable of loving and caring for individuals close to him. After Shinohara was comatose, Juuzou expressed guilt and remorse for not being able to protect him, deeply bowing and apologizing to his wife.

After the time skip, Juuzou has matured considerably, becoming more calm and warm towards others. Although he still retains some of his childish traits, he has become a capable mentor and leader, commanding his own team of investigators. He is now somewhat capable of understanding the predicaments and emotions of others, giving sound advice to Tooru after the latter expressed his fear of fighting. Juuzou has become much more dedicated to the CCG, which is evident when he told Big Madam that he was going to the kill the latter, not because of a personal grudge, but rather it was simply his job to exterminate ghouls. Despite his changes, he is still quite ruthless to ghouls.

Background
Rei Suzuya was kidnapped at a young age and raised as the pet of a powerful and influential Ghoul known as Big Madam. He was trained to perform circus acts for Ghoul customers, and earned "Good Boy Points", which was Big Madam's deceitful system she used to torture him. Eventually, he began working in the Restaurant as a Scrapper named "Juuzou". When he killed for the first time, he was sick for several days afterward but eventually his sense of morality faded. Big Madam, who he considered his mother, sometimes dressed him as a girl and began to worry that he would become ugly as he matured into an adult. To prevent this, she performed a crude castration with a hammer and forced him to live as a girl.

Eventually, CCG raided her estate and forced her to flee. Rei was rescued and taken into custody, but his violent behavior caused great concern. Yukinori Shinohara spoke up in his favor, reminding the other officials that Rei was a victim and deserved a second chance. He was enrolled at the Junior Academy, where he was a classmate of Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa. There, he gained a reputation for strange and violent behavior -- when a former interrogator employed as an instructor began killing animals around the Academy, he was made a scapegoat avoid scandal. As such, he was shunned by his peers and treated as an outcast.

When he turned 19, Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu personally appointed him a Rank 3 Investigator. To complete his transition into his new life, he was given a new Family Registry and allowed to choose his own name. He decided on "Juuzou Suzuya", using the alias he had been given as a Scrapper. He was then assigned as the partner of Yukinori Shinohara and sent to the 20th Ward.

Aogiri Arc
In his first appearance, Suzuya stole Ken Kaneki's wallet and began to scrutinize the latter's student ID, license, and money, saying that he could not get any sort of food with the three thousand yen he found. He later killed a gang of ghouls that had attacked him because he smelt delicious. After a police officer had arrested him for being suspicious, he was picked up by Shinohara and Koutarou Amon. Because the police officer did not apologize enough for accusing Juuzou, he sucked out his ear bone. Juuzou was later seen at the CCG's 20th Ward Headquarters, where he attended a meeting and explained his "Body Stitch" to Amon. He also came to a decision to work on the 20th Ward, regarding the Binge Eater case alongside Shinohara. He and Shinohara later visited a crime scene, where the bodies of three ghouls were cut into two hundred parts. Shinohara accuses Juuzou of the murder, subsequently explaining to him the three main clauses of the "Ghoul Countermeasure Law." Suzuya becomes disappointed when Shinohara refuses to give him a Quinque, but also listens as Shinohara explains the concepts of ghoul combat, Rc cells, kagune and kakuhou.

Suzuya participated in the attack on the Aogiri hideout as a member of the 11th Ward Special Countermeasures Unit. First, he killed the members of Aogiri Tree's assault team, which allowed CCG to enter the hideout. Afterward, he moved separately from CCG's teams and tracked down Yamori in his hobby room. Suzuya finished Yamori off after he had already been severely injured by Kaneki.

Raid of Kanou's Lab
Juuzou was part of the team that assaulted Kanou's laboratory. In there he finds Nashiro and Kurona, old friends that he had met during his time in one of CCG's orphanage when he was 16. After a brief conversation, they start fighting. Juuzou is injured in his belly but he stands the pain and hurts deeply the overconfident Kurona, stabbing her several times with all the Scorpion quinques he had stolen. When Nashiro comes to help her sister he gives her an almost lethal blow with 13's Jason, saying that he knows how to fight ghouls and what hurts them the most. Kurona rescues her sister and leaves, hoping that Doctor Kanou can save Nashiro's life. When they left, Juuzou sutured his wounds.

Later on, he joins Amon in his fight with Kaneki, throwing even more Scorpions at the ghoul, and attacking him with 13's Jason while criticizing the other doves' performance. After Kaneki escapes he tries to follow him but he is stopped by Amon, telling him that saving Shinohara is more important than the One-Eyed Ghoul.

Owl Suppression Operation
Sitting alone in the zoo, Juuzou recalls his past with Big Madam. He did whatever she said to be praised, even killing people as a scrapper to appeal to her tastes, but doing this left him mentally scarred while doing so. At a certain point, the CCG raided the ghouls' hideout, freeing and recruiting Juuzou in the process. Walking alone, he comes across Goumasa Tokage who had just finished slaughtering a cat. Surprised by the sight, Juuzou lifts his hand towards the dead animal ahead of him. After being seen, he is blamed and shunned by his classmates for the animal killings.

In the chairman's office, Juuzou is allowed into the bureau under special class Shinohara's care.

While Juuzou continues to draw animals in the zoo, Shinohara comes up behind him and gives him information for their next operation. Shinohara tells Juuzou that it is about suppressing the SSS rank ghoul called Owl, making Juuzou excited. During the Owl's suppression, Juuzou joins in on the attack while being able to land consecutive hits against him. The fight continues, as the Owl begins to flee Juuzou confronts him alone and manages to slash his the Owl's left arm off, but he ends up losing his right leg in the process. Congratulating Shinohara on defeating the SSS ranked ghoul, the real One-Eyed Owl appears in its full kakuja form and attacks the investigators. Juuzou watches as the One-Eyed Owl begins chopping off Shinohara's leg, making Juuzou remember the times he spent with Shinohara and the things he had learned from him. Juuzou begins rushing towards the One-Eyed Owl but falling down multiple times on the way. After failing to save Shinohara from the ghoul, Juuzou screams out because of the sight before him. As the Owl starts mixing Shinohara's insides, Juuzou throws multiple knives towards it, he charges towards it trying to injure the one-eyed in some way but fails to do so. He later faints after getting flicked off to the side.

Post-Owl Suppression Operation
In the aftermath of the Owl Suppression Operation Arc, he appears to have matured and become more composed, expressing gratitude towards Shinohara and regrets that he was unable to save him when speaking with his wife. In his last scene, Suzuya tells the comatose Shinohara that he will continue working hard for the both of them and kisses his forehead telling him good night.

One-shot JOKER
Suzuya appears as a first-class investigator, introduced by one of his subordinates, Hanbee Abara, who admires him.

At an investigation meeting, it seems that Suzuya's team is currently investigating a group of ghouls called 'Skull Masks.' Akira Mado mentions that the Skull Masks have managed to acquire more members, and their range for food has expanded as well. They come to a decision to eliminate the group's leader.

On Kurashiki street, Suzuya and his team begin investigating, whereby Suzuya mentions that his killing method must be done without unnecessary movements, which is a skill that only he wields within the entire team. The group decides to split up, looking for traces of the 'Skull Masks' leader.

When Abara tries to muster up the courage to save a young woman from sexual molestation; Suzuya intervenes, dealing with the matter instead. Suzuya suggests that they follow the man off the train, saying that he has a foul, suspicious scent. He points out Abara’s uselessness since he did not have the courage to do anything earlier. Suzuya inquires why Abara even wanted to be an investigator, to which he responds  that he was attacked by a ghoul as a child, and his father tried to protect him; losing both legs in the process. Abara had wanted to save his father, but never had the courage.

Upon hearing screams, they race to the underground section of the train station, where they see the bespectacled molester from earlier - with his hand chopped off by a member of the ‘Skull Masks.’ He is believed to be the leader of the group, and as Suzuya prepares to fight him, they are surrounded by a horde of ghouls. However, since Abara lacked courage once again, Suzuya decides to fight on his own. He dashes through, slashing all the ghouls with his blade. The leader counters with his kagune, but Suzuya retrieves his quinque from a briefcase, only to be damaged in a short time span. Abara at this point finally musters up the bravery, and impales the leader with his katana, making Suzuya proud.

As everything went back to normal with the investigation solved, Suzuya suggests that they go to the doughnut shop.

Later on, Suzuya remarks that another character was fortunate in keeping his legs after being attacked by a ghoul -- a reference to the loss of his own leg.

Auction
Promoted to Associate Special Class, Suzuya is given command of his own squad in the 13th Ward. The Quinx Squad are assigned to work alongside his squad to investigate the Ghoul Nutcracker, a member of an organization involved in human trafficking. Haise Sasaki recalls their first meeting and being puzzled when Suzuya recognized him and paid him back for the money he once stole. On the day the squads are scheduled to begin working together, he oversleeps and arrives late to the meeting. Upon seeing Sasaki, he rushes to meet the other Investigator and frisks him in search of snacks. Abara explains to the others that the two worked together on previous cases, and became good friends with Sasaki always bringing Suzuya snacks hidden in his pockets. The meeting resumes, with their primary target being Nutcracker, who they hope will lead them to a more significant target -- Big Madam, the Ghoul that raised him.

The Quinx successfully obtain information about an upcoming Auction, reporting this information to Matsuri Washuu. During the meeting between Matsuri, Suzuya, and Sasaki things become tense when the commander orders Tooru Mutsuki to be sent in undercover. Suzuya interrupts and volunteers to join Mutsuki as another "girl" being recruited for part-time work, stating that he has plenty of practice disguising himself as a woman. Matsuri gives in to his request and finishes the meeting without further incident. Once outside, Sasaki thanks Suzuya for intervening and places his subordinate in the others care. Suzuya admits one of the reasons he volunteered was because of personal business, knowing the target of the operation is his "Mama".

In the weeks leading up to the operation, Suzuya meets with Mutsuki to train him. Mutsuki expresses unease over his own powers, admitting that he fears losing control of them just like Sasaki. Quoting a famous boxer, Suzuya advises him that fear can be a powerful tool when controlled but it can destroy you. When asked about this advice, he admits that he learned it from his former superior and partner, Shinohara. Meanwhile, Abara takes Ginshi Shirazu and Saiko Yonebayashi to the hospital to visit a still-comatose Shinohara and explains how Suzuya contains to work hard to honor him.

On the day of the Auction, Suzuya and Mutsuki meet Nutcracker disguised as girls. They are drugged during the car ride, taken to the location of the event, and separated from each other. Uta announces a special item for sale, a beautiful young woman that turns out to be Suzuya. The audience is awed by him, but he takes this opportunity to interrupt the auction and reveals the knives hidden inside his prosthetic leg. He stabs Uta repeatedly in the face, before turning his attention to the Ghouls in the audience and the members of Aogiri that rush the stage. Meanwhile, Big Madam recognizes him as her former pet.

Ayato Kirishima joins him on the stage, beginning a fierce battle between the two. Suzuya quickly realizes that his opponent is too strong to fight without his Quinque, and is forced to hide when he runs out of knives. Ayato abandons the fight, allowing Suzuya to slip away with thoughts of honoring his promise to protect Mutsuki.

When Urie and Mutsuki found the customer ghouls in the product storage room, Suzuya was there already, waiting for backup due to losing his communication device. Urie shrugged it off by falsely claiming that he had tried too but there is no signal there in order to hog as much achievements as he can. Suzuya and Urie headed down and faced the ghouls.

After Urie and Tooru faced Big Madam and her bodyguards in an unsuccessful attempt, Juuzou and appeared with his Jason quinque and his squad, successfully subduing Big Madam. He tells Brie (ghoul) that he held no ill feelings for what he did to him in the past, and that slaying him is just simply a part of his job as an investigator. It is after subduing Big Madam that he reveals the ghoul's gender, calling him "father."

Post-Auction
One month after the operation, Juuzou and Hanbee appeared at The Chateau for a Christmas party. He mentioned that the rumor of Arima falling asleep during combat was true, as he remembered him sleeping a few seconds during their whack-a-mole operation due to prolonged combat without rest.

Rose Extermination
In the following Spring's ceremony, Juuzou is promoted to Special Class at the age of 22, the first to reach the rank at that age since Arima.

Post-Rose Extermination
Juuzou attends an S2 briefing under Matsuri, discussing S2's successes in battles against Aogiri in the 23rd Ward.

Afterward, he attends a Special Class Investigator Conference about the continued fight against Aogiri. He spends the meeting eating candy.

Rushima Landing Operation
Juuzou came up behind Kurona and tried to cut her with 13's Jason. When she evaded the strike, Juuzou quickly used Scorpion 1/56 and pierced Kurona's eye. Juuzou charged at Kurona, slashing the trees apart around them. In the middle of dodging, Kurona is quickly surrounded by the rest of Suzuya Squad. Kurona gets excited to show Nashiro all of Juuzou's pain. Juuzou questions Kurona if Nashiro survived the wounds she received from him. Kurona then removed her cloak, showing him her stomach, which is now covered with a kagune face. Seeing this, Juuzou calls it disgusting.

Standing before Kurona, Juuzou watched as she started developing her kakuja. He assigned Keijin to Hanbee and ordered the rest of his squad to prepare for battle against floppy. After Kurona had released a set of kagune, Juuzou with Mizurou and Miyuki begin charging her with two of his subordinates holding Kurona in place. Preparing to strike her with 13's Jason, Juuzou was struck in the chest by one of Kurona's kagune.

While Kurona is distracted fighting Suzuya Squad, Juuzou revealed that he has recovered from the previous attack, wearing Arata Joker. He immediately overwhelmed Kurona by repeatedly lacerating her arms and legs. Kurona fled but Juuzou reassured Keijin that they have successfully stopped her. Suzuya Squad then decide to rendevous with Houji's Squad.

Big Madam
As one of Big Madam's former executioners, Juuzou was trained to become a proficient killer. During his youth, Juuzou would try to satisfy Big Madam as much as possible and always don a smile, as Big Madam sought for perfection and would torture Juuzou depending on the 'scores' he received from her. It was Big Madam who destroyed a part of his genitals in order to make him a doll-like girl, hoping for him to live on as 'Rei'.

At their final confrontation during the Auction arc, despite years of abuse and twisted education, Juuzou still called Big Madam as "mama" and stated that he never hated her for what she did to him. In his final farewell to her, he referred to her as "father", thereby hinting that Big Madam's background might be more complex than what was originally assumed.

Yukinori Shinohara
The relationship between Shinohara and Juuzou is similar to that of father and son; Shinohara usually treated Juuzou to donuts, but did not hesitate to lecture him after he had brutally murdered three ghouls without practicing the clauses of the Ghoul Countermeasure Laws. Shinohara is proven to be very important to Juuzou, as seen when he let out a cry of anguish when Shinohara received a fatal blow, and expressed regret over being unable to save him. Shinohara now remains at the hospital, living the rest of his days in a vegetative state.

Hanbee Abara
Though Suzuya is admired and highly respected by Abara, he is not hesitant to point out the moments when Abara is being useless. Besides this, Juuzou is somewhat sympathetic over Abara's lack of courage; he would always intervene and fight independently whenever Hanbee is reluctant to face a ghoul. Suzuya was also shown to be proud of Abara's ability to finally impale a ghoul using his sword.

Seidou Takizawa
Suzuya does not display much respect for Seidou, for he is constantly yelled at and is annoyed whenever Seidou tries to be overly strict on him as seen when he ordered Juuzou to put away his candy in the meeting room. However, Juuzou is not reluctant to lash out at him, as seen when he poked his fingers up Seidou's nostrils, making them bleed excessively.

Itsuki Marude
Suzuya respects Marude as a superior but was offended and irritated when Marude openly joked about Suzuya's castration in the presence of Amon and Shinohara. However, he managed to restrain himself from lashing out at Marude, as Shinohara told him to ignore it.

Haise Sasaki
As senior-junior comrades, Haise and Suzuya share a reciprocal understanding, as seen when Suzuya returned the money he once pick-pocketed upon first meeting Haise. Suzuya is also known to have a habit of constantly checking Haise's clothes every time they meet; for Sasaki always brings sweet treats and snacks for Suzuya. It is hinted that Suzuya knows that Haise was previously Kaneki.

Kishou Arima
Since becoming an investigator, he and Arima share a positive, professional relationship. They often participate in Wack-a-mole operations together.

Koutarou Amon
Suzuya is quite oblivious of Amon’s true opinion about him and is relatively unaffected when scolded by Amon. However, he can be opened up whenever the latter is curious about his strange characteristics; as seen when he explains his “Body Stitch” to Amon.

Tooru Mutsuki
While their relationship has not been explored much Juuzou has advised Mutsuki about overcoming his fear of his kagune and ghoul abilities and tells him that fear can be used to one's advantage. He also volunteers to go with Mutsuki to the auction and has taught him several knife tricks which he used against Torso on their confrontation after the time skip.

Kurona and Nashiro
Juuzou was the classmate of Kurona and Nashiro back in the CCG academy but did not interact with each other much. He was scolded at when he refused to attend a sickly classmate's funeral, and instead sat in a ditch killing ants. During the raid on Kanou's lab, he sees the two sisters as playthings, deeming it logical and fine to slaughter them due to their ghoul and ghoul investigator positions. However, they get away before he is able to kill them.

Power and Abilities
Pain Tolerance: During his time with big Madam, Juuzou could handle hooks going through the back of his body. After getting his stomach cut open, Juuzou could still fight and beat Kurona and Nashiro without any difficulties. Juuzou was still able to fight the One-eyed Owl consistently when he had lost a leg.

Swordsmanship: Being able to use his quinque to destructive abilities, Juuzou can use the strength of his attacks to efficiently subdue ghouls and even slice off one of the Owl's arms.
 * Scorpion 1/56 is a Bikaku quinque that takes the form of a flat-headed switchblade. Having great skill with the blade, Juuzou can quickly pinpoint a throwing knife and easily execute ghouls. These quinques are simple yet effective.
 * 13's (Juuzou's) Jason is a Rinkaku quinque that takes the form of a scythe with a jagged and squared blade. When using this blade, Juuzou can easily slice through multiple ghouls and use the gimmick to pierce a half-kakuja ghoul.
 * Arata Joker is a koukaku kakuja quinque that is capable of attaching itself to the user and be used as an armor. It enhances the users speed and allowed Suzuya to ambush his targets so quickly, his target could not keep up with his movements. This armor also has a claw function that was capable of bisecting an SS rated ghoul with relative ease. Like the previous Arata quinque, it consumes the user, as it caused Juuzou to bleed heavily.
 * Submachine gun: During the 11th Ward Battle, Suzuya was armed with a submachine gun that resembled a Mac 11. When charging the base, he used the weapon to slaughter every ghoul inside.
 * Prosthesis: Since losing his right leg below the knee in the battle against the Owl, Suzuya has been fitted with an advanced prosthetic leg. He can detach his prosthetic leg and attack non-expecting ghouls with the blades hidden inside.

Trivia

 * Suzuya is ranked sixth in the character popularity poll.
 * His profile in the original series lists his likes as Sweets, Ghoul Hunting, and his Mama.
 * According to his profile in :re Volume 3, his current obsessions are "Serious Hide-and-Seek" and "Throwing Hanbee".
 * The association of Suzuya with the number "13" is a word play: It's possible to write the name "Juuzou" with the kanji 十三, translating to "thirteen".
 * 13 (XIII) is also the Death Arcana. Apart from the grim reaper parallels it can represent loss, conclusion, sadness, transition into a new state, psychological transformation, and deep change. The number can also be associated with his hair clip, his quinque, his association with Jason, and working on the 13th ward in the Oneshot Joker. It's also considered an unlucky number in many cultures and is associated with death, betrayal and loss.
 * During Owl Suppression Operation, one of Suzuya's hair clips went missing, reducing his number down to 12 (XII); referencing The Hanged Man, or "Change", hinting that he would change in some way.
 * Suzuya seems to have a particularly delicious scent when ghouls smell him.
 * Both of Suzuya's voice actress' (English and Japanese) voiced Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * He is noted to be the only Investigator since Kishou Arima to become a Special Class in his early 20s.
 * In Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 32, while being promoted to Special Class, his hair clips are arranged into the Roman numeral 20. This is most likely a reference to the Tarot Card 20, referencing the Judgement card which calls for a period of reflection and self-evaluation.
 * In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, he is featured as a "White Joker".
 * It is possible that Suzuya is left handed, as parts of his right arm are stitched, though he as he is seen wielding quinque knives with both hands it is more likely he is ambidextrous.

Quotes

 * To Unknown Ghoul: "Now then, shall we play a game of chef? I'll be the chef and you're the pig."
 * To Matsuri (about Mutsuki and the auction): "How about pretending to be his friend? Isn't it better to have one more to fuck over the place from the inside out?"
 * To Mutsuki: "If you can control it, it can cook for you, it can heat your house. If you can't control it, it will burn everything and destroy you. Fear is your best friend or your worst enemy."
 * To his 'mama': “Mama. The only things you’ve given me are scars. Those are the only things I remember… It doesn’t matter what the people around me say, I… Don’t hold a grudge against you or anything. This is just… My job.”

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