Kousuke Houji

Tall and carrying himself with quiet dignity, Houji kept his black hair short and tidily combed. He dressed sharply at all times and gave off a commanding presence wherever he went.

Composure defined Houji. He treated others with courtesy and spoke in an even, unhurried voice, and those around him often described him as a genuinely decent man. The reported death of his partner clearly grieved him. Even so, he could be resolute to the point of ruthlessness: he did not flinch from ordering Takizawa's execution, though the artificial ghoul later insisted Houji should not have lost to him, hinting that Houji had never truly been able to bring himself to kill the man he once mentored.

Houji rose through the ranks partnered with Kureo Mado, then joined the fight against the Clowns alongside Kishou Arima and Take Hirako before being chosen for an investigative campaign in China, where he battled the ghoul organization Chi She Lian. He first appears in the present timeline mourning at Mado's funeral. During the Aogiri period he is deployed to the 20th Ward with Yukinori Shinohara and Seidou Takizawa to shore up a branch left vulnerable after the collapse of the 11th Ward office.

In the Owl Suppression Operation, Houji faces the Owl directly, supporting the frontline fighters before unveiling a massive koukaku quinque to land the decisive blow that fells the creature. The victory is brief, as the true One-Eyed Owl ambushes them and knocks him unconscious, leaving Koori Ui to fight on with Houji's own heavy weapon. Later, during the Rushima Landing Operation, he leads Squad 1 with Akira Mado as his assistant, cutting a beachhead with his quinque Hollow while working in concert with Ui.

The operation brings him face to face with Tatara, a ghoul who nursed a grudge stemming from Houji's past campaigns in China. Houji engages him with the quinque Iitsuu and calls for Chi She, but the confrontation shifts when Takizawa intervenes and overwhelms Tatara, killing him. When Takizawa turns to the CCG expecting praise, Houji, with tears in his eyes, orders his men to attack, meaning it as a final mercy for his former subordinate. Enraged, Takizawa cuts down the troops and beheads Houji. Across his career he mastered heavy quinque such as the ukaku Hollow, whose explosive barbs burst on impact, the massive-bladed koukaku Chi She, and the bladed gauntlets Iitsuu, strong enough to pierce Tatara's kakuja.