Arata Kirishima

Arata is a lean man of ordinary height with cropped, dark blue hair. He dresses plainly, throwing on a bulky overcoat to hide himself whenever he goes out scavenging, and the neighbors take him for someone frail and perhaps unwell. In his younger years he bore a clear resemblance to Ken Kaneki.

Kind and mild by nature, Arata is a peaceable ghoul who wants nothing more than to coexist quietly with humans and to see his children do the same. A well-read man of many talents, he cooks and eats human food despite being unable to digest it, hoping to pass those human habits on to Touka and Ayato so they might live happily in both worlds. Beneath that gentleness runs a darker thread, though. His wife's murder leaves him craving power, and, as Touka reveals, he secretly hunts down ghouls and investigators alike in revenge, all while keeping it hidden from his children.

Arata marries Hikari and raises two children with her, until Kishou Arima takes her life. A grief-stricken Renji Yomo, Hikari's brother, blames him for failing to protect her, and the guilt pushes Arata to seek strength by feeding on the corpses of humans and ghouls. He settles his family in the 20th ward for a fresh start, teaching Touka and Ayato that survival across both worlds means enduring hardship. He brings them to the library, lets them keep birds, and coaxes them into trying human food, and each time he leaves to gather corpses he goes alone. On the last night before he vanishes, he makes the two of them swear to watch over each other.

His trail is eventually picked up by Kureo Mado and Yukinori Shinohara, who track him through the signs left by his kakuja. A desperate fight with the CCG ends in his capture, after which his kakuhou is harvested to forge the armored quinque that bears his name, a weapon strong enough to let investigators stand against SS and SSS-rated ghouls. Born a ghoul, Arata fights with a koukaku kagune, and his years of cannibalizing corpses eventually clad his whole body in kakuja armor.