Togainu no Chi/Characters

This is a list of tropes which applies to the characters of Togainu no Chi. This article is a work in progress. Most of these tropes are from the viewpoint of the Visual Novel, and some tropes pertaining to the BL aspect of the Novel may not be present in other media.

Akira
The protagonist. He is the reigning champion of Bl@ster, a series of street brawls, and childhood friend to Keisuke. When he is falsely accused of murder, he faces life imprisonment...until he is approached by a mysterious duo; Emma and Gwen. In exchange for his freedom, they send him to Toshima, a city ravaged by the war, and participate in the game of Igra. Upon arriving, he learns that Igura is completely different from the street brawls of Bl@ster, and in Toshima, it's either kill or be killed.


 * A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted, it is clearly stated Akira is a virgin, and struggles to feel comfortable during sexual encounters.
 * The Determinator: When he first encounters Shiki, who is supposedly invincible, he refuses to run away, glaring at him despite a blade pressed to his neck. During his second encounter, he tries to block his sword with his knife, and succeeds for a while.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Of course, in the BL Visual Novel.
 * Gray Eyes
 * Heroic BSOD: Experiences this shortly after fighting with  Keisuke.
 * Heroic RROD: Also after fighting Keisuke, where he struggles to merely keep awake.
 * Kosuke Toriumi
 * Lack of Empathy: Arguably, to Keisuke, depending which route the player takes.
 * Weak but Skilled: Compared to abnormally powerful characters and Line users. Although his physical strength is inferior, he strategically reads and analyses his enemies' movements to find openings and ways to avoid attacks. He exploits these to the utmost rather than swinging his weapon around randomly like some other characters.
 * Wimpification: Debatable and may or may not be justified or even exist depending on which route is taken. He starts off as a strong and confident fighter, with no need to rely on anyone else. When he encounters certain sex scenes, he becomes like a typical Uke. This is justified through excessive guilt from the death of  in Shiki's route.
 * Wimpification: Debatable and may or may not be justified or even exist depending on which route is taken. He starts off as a strong and confident fighter, with no need to rely on anyone else. When he encounters certain sex scenes, he becomes like a typical Uke. This is justified through excessive guilt from the death of  in Shiki's route.

Keisuke
Akira's longtime friend, having lived in the same orphanage at the same age. After learning Akira has been sent to Toshima, he follows Akira with a vague knowledge of the dangers of the city. In contrast with Akira, he is quite meek.


 * Adorkable: Arguably the main appeal of his character.
 * Brown Eyes
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Corrupt the Cutie: What happens to him when he
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Dogged Nice Guy
 * Incompatible Orientation
 * Insecure Love Interest
 * : Occurs in every route save his own.
 * Non Action Guy: Just sits in the background doing nothing in particular.
 * Rape Is Love: Subverted in his route. Although he rapes Akira, he later apologizes for his actions and the rape becomes the subject of his nightmares.
 * Tomokazu Sugita
 * Shrinking Violet: During conversations with other characters, he usually fades into the background to the point the audience forgets he is there.
 * The Load: A part of why he feels inferior to Akira.
 * Too Dumb to Live: What do you do when you can't fight and your best friend is sent to a city-wide battle royale where the cost for loss is death? You follow him, of course!
 * Took a Level In Badass: If he survives, not only does he gain a noticeable increase in strength and mental aptitude, he becomes less emotionally dependant on Akira and is able to find the resolve to participate in a fight against multiple enemies and win.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Lived in the same orphanage as Akira.
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: In his route.
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: In his route.

Rin
A helpful young boy who has been participating in Igra long before Akira and Keisuke arrived in Toshima. Many people mistake him for a girl. He enjoys taking photos.


 * Badass Adorable
 * Cain and Abel: His Cain to Abel. Too bad for him it's not working out so well.
 * Cute Bruiser
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: The text of the novel states he is a "little girl" until Akira observes him closer.
 * Hair of Gold: Is extremely friendly and generous to Akira and Keisuke, even trading his own tags for supplies when they are injured.
 * : His good ending
 * Jun Fukuyama: Hard to believe he's Lelouch.
 * Knife Nut
 * No Sense of Personal Space: During his first encounter with Akira and Keisuke, he happily huddles up with them, one on each arm, making the two feel rather uncomfortable.
 * Pint Sized Powerhouse: The shortest and youngest member of the cast, but he can easily defeat several Igura participants. At once.
 * Stepford Smiler: On the surface, he appears almost suspiciously as a cheerful, upbeat person in a Crapsack World. Later in the story, it is revealed his friends have been killed by, and is participating in Igura to exact his revenge.
 * Waif Fu: Demonstrated in the anime, where he defeats an opponent through the use of acrobatics.

Motomi
An older man living in Toshima as an information broker.


 * Knowledge Broker: He states he is an information broker, but we rarely see him giving information other than common knowledge about Igura to the protagonists. This is until he has an audience with Arbitro, where he uses previously unknown information to interrogate him. In his route in the game, he reveals even more information to Akira about Project Nicole, and comes complete with the romantic subtext.
 * Non Action Guy: Chooses to be an information broker instead of participating in Igura. However, he still keeps a gun for self-defense.
 * Only Sane Man: He is the only person in the main cast who isn't obsessive, craves killing, mentally wounded from past events, complete monsters or apathetic towards things which should be important to them.
 * The Medic: He used to work in an occupation involving medical care.
 * The Smart Guy: Extremely knowledgeable about Igura, and the people controlling it., and therefore has had access to information he can use as leads to investigate further.

Shiki
A powerful and feared man who mysteriously appears in front of Igura participants and kills them.


 * Badass Longcoat
 * Bastard Boyfriend: To Akira in his route. Not like most of the fans are bothered by this.
 * Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Hot Guys Are Bastards
 * I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Towards Akira's unwillingness to surrender to him.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: His weapon of choice, and is frequently shown slicing Igura participants (on Line) with hardly any effort.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning

Nano/
A mysterious man who is being pursued by Emma and Gwen.


 * Charles Atlas Superpower: Appears to have this, being capable of holding a man and strangling him with one hand effortlessly despite a scrawny physique.
 * Creepy Monotone: Combined with slow speech.
 * Emotionless Guy: This is explained by
 * Purple Eyes: Or more specifically, light blue eyes which turn purple on occasion.
 * Super Strength
 * These Hands Have Killed
 * The Stoic
 * When He Smiles: During the end of his route.

Takeru

 * Eyepatch of Power
 * Honey Trap: Resorts to this to get tags
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Attempts this against Il Re, the circulator of Line, the drug responsible for the degradation of
 * : He is a powerful fighter, able to go toe-to-toe with Akira, a Bl@ster champion in a veteran's region. He survives in Toshima on his own, unlike others who are part of a small gang who tend to look out for each other. Despite this, he is convinced to . This is the first major indicator that Toshima is dangerous for reasons other than Igura.
 * : He is a powerful fighter, able to go toe-to-toe with Akira, a Bl@ster champion in a veteran's region. He survives in Toshima on his own, unlike others who are part of a small gang who tend to look out for each other. Despite this, he is convinced to . This is the first major indicator that Toshima is dangerous for reasons other than Igura.

Arbitro
A high-up of the drug syndicate Vishico, which is responsible for distributing Line.


 * Affably Evil: He is extraordinarily polite and invites Akira to dinner, offering him some bread... laced with drugs.
 * Anything That Moves: Hinted, through his hobbies and his fascination with Akira.
 * Fashion Victim Villain: Akira's first impression of him is how bad his taste in clothing is. Many other characters also point that he has 'bad taste'.

The Executioners
A pair of men hired by Arbitro to enforce the rules of Igura, often through violent means. They are somewhat irresponsible and use whatever they can as an excuse to kill people randomly for fun. Consists of Gunji and Kiriwar.


 * Ax Crazy:
 * Beware the Silly Ones
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday: Igura participants make a big deal of when they randomly kill people for fun. However, the Executioners themselves shrug it off and pay no mind to it.
 * Dumb Muscle: They are extremely strong fighters, able to kill a standard Igura participant with hardly any effort. However, Kiriwar is dimwitted, and Gunji confuses cats with dogs.
 * Murders Are Rapists
 * Psychopathic Manchild: They speak with childish mannerisms... while beating the living daylights out of you.

Emma
A mysterious woman who approaches Akira, offering him freedom from prison in exchange for his participation in Igura. She is cold and calculating.


 * Absolute Cleavage: Wears her jacket with zipper halfway down.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Appears in the beginning of the story to release Akira from jail. Later,
 * Evil Redhead
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Revolvers Are Just Better

Gwen
Emma's right hand man.


 * Only Sane Man: The only character outside the main cast to be reasonable and clear-headed.

Kau
A heavily mutilated boy who Arbitro keeps as a pet.


 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Stockholm Syndrome
 * Stripperific