Ken Kaneki

Appearance

His ghoul mask resembles a leather gimp mask with an eye patch. It bears a lipless mouth with large, gnashing teeth, much like a restrained asylum monster. The bolts sticking out of his neck and the fact that he is an artificial ghoul invoke a Frankenstein-like theme. After being tortured by Yamori, his appearance changed drastically. His hair became completely white, his nails were blackened, and developed a more muscular physique. He began to favor monochrome clothing and wore a form-fitting black bodysuit with cutouts when going into battle. Upon regaining his identity as Ken Kaneki, his hair turned completely white again after having his limbs cut off repeatedly by Arima. He again wears the same medical patch over his left eye when going into public, and both of his arms are covered in reptile-like scales. As the One-Eyed King and leader of Goat, Kaneki wears a collared black coat over his new sleeveless battle suit with dark gloves reaching past his elbows.

Personality

Kaneki's mental state undergoes extreme changes over the course of the series. Before his torture, Kaneki would at times refer to his actions as "we" or "us," albeit mostly while in a stressed state. Kaneki personifies his feelings to an extent that they take the form of people existing within his mind. When meeting these mental constructs, Kaneki enters a limbo-like state where he converses with them. Kaneki initially only entered this state when he was under extreme duress or near-death and later included during calm settings for conversation. During his torture at the hands of Yamori, Kaneki embraces a more brutal view of the world and accepts his ghoul powers. After being held captive and undergoing intense torture at the hands of Yamori, Kaneki's personality changed drastically. He trashed his previous ideology of "being hurt rather than hurting others," pledging to crush those who dared threaten his place of belonging. He adopted the habit of cracking his knuckles from his torturer, Yamori.