Talk:Itori/@comment-185.217.68.197-20171111080553/@comment-10733658-20171111212438

Reimeille is absolutely correct on this front, that the title translates to "King" in English doesn't indicate anything about the actual person. While "Ou" generally indicates a male ruler, it wouldn't be the first time in the series that people were misled or made an incorrect assumption.

Ghouls in particular seem to play with expectations that way, since human society is a lot more rigid in terms of gender roles compared to ghouls. Remember that the CCG believed that the One-Eyed Owl, the Binge Eater, and Lantern were dudes until it was proven otherwise.

It's also been incredibly common in history for women to intentionally co-opt masculine titles and ceremonial stuff to establish their legitimacy as rulers. Women calling themselves King or Emperor or the like, using the terminology and imagery used for male rulers to establish that they are in charge and not simply a spouse or mother of the legitimate ruler.

Eto did that with Aogiri, intentionally letting them believe the One-Eyed King was their leader and letting Tatara serve as her spokesperson, while being the actual leader the entire time.