● abilities: (I'm sorry for the tl;dr, but "ghoul" is a species specific to canon with a lot of information, details and abilities, and it's hard to make sense out of it with just a quick explanation).
GHOUL Ghouls are creatures that predate exclusively on humans. They resemble humans, being difficult to tell the two apart under normal circumstances, and although these are two separate species with different biology, physiology, diet and mentality they are similar enough to have offspring together (this is an extremely rare situation) or have ghoul organs transplanted onto humans. Ghoul organs were transplanted into Kaneki and thus he became a half-ghoul, half-human, retaining mostly ghoul characteristics.
>> biology . In Tokyo Ghoul manga there is a specific type of cell that exists in both humans and ghouls called “Red Child cells”. A difference between the two species is that humans have a lower count of RC cells raging from 200-500, while a ghoul has an RC factor of about 1000-8000 and they can store these cells, unlike humans. These cells are stored in an organ called Kakuhou, and they travel through the body through specialized Rc cell vessels that spread from the Kakuhou to all of the body.
The RC cells flow through the body like blood and when they bind together they can become as solid, which is the reason why some would call them "liquid muscles"; they are the reason for every ghoul's ability, and specially form a predatory organ named Kagune. A ghoul gains these cells by consuming humans, and after they enter the bloodstream and then they move to and are stored in the Kakuhou, from where many RC Cell vessels spread out through the whole body.
Kakuhou It's a sac-like internal organ that stores and concentrates RC cells, located on the on the back of the ghoul. According to the specific location the back, the kagune formed from there is given a specific name: shoulder area (called ukaku-type), below the shoulder blade (koukaku-type), by the waist (rinkaku-type) or at the tailbone (bikaku-type). It’s also possible for a ghoul to have more than one Kakuhou. Kaneki’s kahuhou is located by the waist, so he is a rinkaku-type.
Kagune It's a predatory organ, however it's not always formed. It takes shape thanks to the RC cells stored at the Kakuhou: whenever the ghoul needs this organ, they bind together, harden and then pierce through the Kakuhou and skin and become external. The ghoul may decide if they wish for the kagune to remain softened (sort of like a flame or water) or hardened (an actual physical form usually very sturdy). Generally speaking (with some exceptions, which I will mention specifically about rinkaku kagunes), kagunes can't be cut/destroyed by anything other than kagunes and one type of kagune can be defeated by another specific kagune type.
Kagunes are used as defense and offense. As they are physical "limbs" that can virtually cut through most materials, ghouls can use it to fight each other, fight Ghoul Investigators and of course kill their victims. Depending on the kagune's shape, they can use it as extra limbs (hands or legs) or as shields. Imagine a weird shaped sword that comes out of someone's back and it has amazing mobility (the whole "liquid muscle" thing), and it can kill you. Kagunes are capable of changing form and size according to the user's strength and imagination, which called kagune manipulation. As Kaneki is unable to even control his kagune, he is NOT able to manipulate his.
Kagunes can have special abilities (such as creating electricity or fire, detaching themselves, being reshaped into weird forms) and what each can do will depend on each kagune's form. Kaneki's kagune can grip things while Touka's can't, but Touka can form projectiles from her kagune, while Kaneki's can't.
Kaneki’s rinkaku looks like three red scaled tentacles with a scary striking power (it excels at brute strength), which makes it capable of winning against the defensive power of the koukaku thanks to the force of its strikes, but it’s weak against bikaku, that also has great strength but it’s less breakable. Indeed, while a rinakku's has extreme strength and the RC cells bind together with much ease, the binding force among them is weak and that makes the kagune fragile; that means enough force can indeed break Kaneki's kagune (a punch will not, but metal beams falling on it will).
Kakugan When a ghoul’s RC cells react (even if the kagune isn’t released; it could be excitement, hunger or just threatening), the ghoul's eye turn red, the sclera turns black and red veins across the eye and into the skin around the eye. Kaneki only has one reactive eye because he is a half-ghoul.
RC cells pathways cells travel through a ghoul's body using specialized vessels; when born, a ghoul contains a specific hereditary map of these vessels which allow the RC cells to travel through the body of a ghoul and in some cases, these vessels can be blocked or are simply too few, which doesn't allow the ghoul to use their kagune properly (for example, Gagi and Guge. To some extent, Banjo). However, half-ghouls are not born with any vessels at all and as such, they create it as they get hurt and/or the body requires RC cells. Kaneki's strength comes, not only from his own training, but also from any strong hit he endures -and that allows him to create more and more RC cell pathways every time a part of his body is mangled. This means every time Kaneki gets physically hurt, new pathways form, and thus stronger he becomes and faster his regeneration ability is.
This is also permanent and the pathways remain after created. The big downside for this is that Kaneki must be fed (without RC cells that he gains from human flesh, he can't do any of this, naturally) and that this "boost" is not immediate (the body needs time to adjust). As I'm taking Kaneki from a very early point in time, his pathways aren't very developed (only around the waist and kidney area thanks to his accident and the location of the Kakuhou) and he's still considered weak for many ghouls (except Banjou, who is even weaker).
Although pathways may not be created yet, it's heavily implied they slowly form themselves and can be trained. This is the reason why Kaneki still had ghoul strength even though he hadn't been hurt in certain places at the time. Physical injury simply allows a faster way for this to happen. The same can be seen for actual ghouls; Gagi and Guge had clotted pathways and could not use their kagune, and yet they still had much strength, could originate a kakugan, and had physical enhancement like every ghoul. Banjo, for example, was never able to use his kagune before, but with time was able to start using it.
>> diet . A ghoul can only eat and digest humans due to an enzyme their body produces. In other words, anything coming from a human is used as nutrients, but nothing else can, leaving ghouls with little choice of diet habits. Thanks to their taste buds, anything that doesn't come from humans will taste really bad to a ghoul, enough that they'll have the urge to vomit, and can even make a ghoul ill if often consumed. The only exception to this is coffee (either brewed or not), however it's still unknown why.
A ghoul doesn't have to consume food as often as humans. One body is enough for a ghoul for about one-two months, however, many ghouls find pleasure in hunting and killing, thus they become avid eaters with no regards for human life. In return, starvation is hell, and it can drive one mad and take all of their reason away. A hungry ghoul might even feast on their friends and they rely simply on their instinct to find food and eat it; indeed, cannibalism can also occur.
While the flesh of another ghoul will taste awful (just like any non-human nutrient), they are able to digest it without the downside of human food. By cannibalizing another ghoul, they absorb the victim’s RC cells and it increases the concentration of them within the attacker. If repeated often, this eventually leads to mutate the RC cells of the attack and the kagune takes a new shape with increased power. The ghouls with a mutate kagune as result of cannibalism are called kakujas; Kaneki does NOT have a kakuja yet.
>> enhanced physical condition . Physically speaking, a ghoul is much stronger than a human, able to send them flying if hit with enough strength. By using their bare hands, a ghoul can penetrate the human body, and with just a bite – even through the clothes – they are able to rip out the human flesh just as easily. However, an extremely strong human can still face off a ghoul as long the ghoul isn’t using their kagune. Roughly, a ghoul can be compared to the strength of about 9-10 men. Kaneki isn't extremely strong yet, but he can definitively handle fighting a regular-kind-of-weak ghoul.
Speed and reflexes are also enhanced. While Ukakus are known for their extra speed, the other ghouls can still be must faster, jump much higher, and havemuch more balance than a regular human. With their agility and muscle strength, they can jump several meters high, as well as land from a big fall without much of a problem. Kaneki has this, but he is still training himself.
Endurance depends on a ghoul, but they are much more resilient. Ghouls can take critical hits and still survive and some even keep going. kaneki is known for his endurance and ability to withstand a lot of pain and torture, but in the canon point I'm taking him from, he still hasn't gone through anything like that.
It's thanks to their regeneration, also strength, and of course the RC cells, a ghoul's skin cannot be pierce by much; a gunshot to the head will not work. Ghouls have a tougher body than most regular solid materials and are capable to withstand them. Knives cannot piece their body, for example. Only stronger materials can do so, or a strong enough force (like metal bars falling on top of a ghoul from huge heights, yeah that can kill them). Membranes, however – such as the eyes, lips, nostrils (and the rest…) can be easily pierced and there are even laboratory-created products that can block the RC cells binding, which renders the ghoul's abilities null.
Ghouls also have regeneration abilities thanks to their RC cells as well, that travel from the Kakuhou to the wound through the pathways (or, in a half-ghoul's case, new pathways are created as they pass through the body). Small wounds and fractures heal in a matter of hours to a day and grave wounds heal after a few days, as long as a ghoul has adequate food supply. However, wounds caused by kagunes take much longer to heal and may eventually be fatal; the same goes for a ghoul bite. Kaneki has a huge regenerative ability due to his kagune type; rinkakus rely greatly on their regenerative abilities thanks to Rc cells that easily bind together. However, once again, his regeneration also comes from the RC pathways, as they are continuously being created whenever he gets hurt.
Finally, they have heighten senses. Kaneki not so much (specially not from the canon point I took him from), but many ghouls are seen capable of smelling people from big distances, hearing them to the point of being able to pinpoint details such as size and exact location, or even see better at night. While kaneki can certainly smell everything better than a human (since most things smell awful to him, thanks to not being able to eat most thing - except humans), he still needs to train everything else. And yes, it can be trained.
● strengths: Gentle - Kaneki is softly-spoken, polite and smiles a lot when talking to others. He is generally pleasant and rarely gives the impression he dislikes someone and avoids showing how uncomfortable he might be. He is kind and tries to act morally; he tries to do the right thing and to make people feel good when interacting with him, regardless of what he is feeling. Kindness (and also trust) towards others is one of his biggest traits, which is thanks to his mother’s words “A kind person only needs love and kindness to be happy”.
Self-sacrificing - Kaneki strongly believes and tries to follow his mother’s philosophy: “instead of a person who hurts others, become the person who gets hurt”. This might be a bad trait to some, but it shows how much Kaneki cares for another. He often forgets himself and would rather be the one suffering, so other people won’t. People he cares for and people that matter to him are often the main focus of these actions: for them, he is the kind of person to think of their safety first and then of himself.
Adaptable - Kaneki was put in very difficult situations and though he is terrified of them and what he became, he still adapted to every single thing thrown at his face. He very smart and resourceful, and this allows him to adapt to his new reality, no matter how insane it sounds (being turned into a ghoul). He gets better at everything he does very fast and he is quite driven when he sets his mind to do something, so he overcomes obstacles quicker than expected, even if he looks like he is absolutely freaking out most of the time.
Ken Kaneki || Tokyo Ghoul || Reserved
● name: Juu
● age: 28
● contact: vilani @ plurk
● other characters: N/a
character information
● name: Ken Kaneki
● canon: Tokyo Ghoul
● canon point: Chapter 52 (after he is knocked unconscious)
● age: 18
● background: Ken Kaneki
● abilities: (I'm sorry for the tl;dr, but "ghoul" is a species specific to canon with a lot of information, details and abilities, and it's hard to make sense out of it with just a quick explanation).
GHOUL
Ghouls are creatures that predate exclusively on humans. They resemble humans, being difficult to tell the two apart under normal circumstances, and although these are two separate species with different biology, physiology, diet and mentality they are similar enough to have offspring together (this is an extremely rare situation) or have ghoul organs transplanted onto humans. Ghoul organs were transplanted into Kaneki and thus he became a half-ghoul, half-human, retaining mostly ghoul characteristics.
>> biology .
In Tokyo Ghoul manga there is a specific type of cell that exists in both humans and ghouls called “Red Child cells”. A difference between the two species is that humans have a lower count of RC cells raging from 200-500, while a ghoul has an RC factor of about 1000-8000 and they can store these cells, unlike humans. These cells are stored in an organ called Kakuhou, and they travel through the body through specialized Rc cell vessels that spread from the Kakuhou to all of the body.
The RC cells flow through the body like blood and when they bind together they can become as solid, which is the reason why some would call them "liquid muscles"; they are the reason for every ghoul's ability, and specially form a predatory organ named Kagune. A ghoul gains these cells by consuming humans, and after they enter the bloodstream and then they move to and are stored in the Kakuhou, from where many RC Cell vessels spread out through the whole body.
It's a sac-like internal organ that stores and concentrates RC cells, located on the on the back of the ghoul. According to the specific location the back, the kagune formed from there is given a specific name: shoulder area (called ukaku-type), below the shoulder blade (koukaku-type), by the waist (rinkaku-type) or at the tailbone (bikaku-type). It’s also possible for a ghoul to have more than one Kakuhou. Kaneki’s kahuhou is located by the waist, so he is a rinkaku-type.
Kagune
It's a predatory organ, however it's not always formed. It takes shape thanks to the RC cells stored at the Kakuhou: whenever the ghoul needs this organ, they bind together, harden and then pierce through the Kakuhou and skin and become external. The ghoul may decide if they wish for the kagune to remain softened (sort of like a flame or water) or hardened (an actual physical form usually very sturdy). Generally speaking (with some exceptions, which I will mention specifically about rinkaku kagunes), kagunes can't be cut/destroyed by anything other than kagunes and one type of kagune can be defeated by another specific kagune type.
Kagunes are used as defense and offense. As they are physical "limbs" that can virtually cut through most materials, ghouls can use it to fight each other, fight Ghoul Investigators and of course kill their victims. Depending on the kagune's shape, they can use it as extra limbs (hands or legs) or as shields. Imagine a weird shaped sword that comes out of someone's back and it has amazing mobility (the whole "liquid muscle" thing), and it can kill you. Kagunes are capable of changing form and size according to the user's strength and imagination, which called kagune manipulation. As Kaneki is unable to even control his kagune, he is NOT able to manipulate his.
Kagunes can have special abilities (such as creating electricity or fire, detaching themselves, being reshaped into weird forms) and what each can do will depend on each kagune's form. Kaneki's kagune can grip things while Touka's can't, but Touka can form projectiles from her kagune, while Kaneki's can't.
Kaneki’s rinkaku looks like three red scaled tentacles with a scary striking power (it excels at brute strength), which makes it capable of winning against the defensive power of the koukaku thanks to the force of its strikes, but it’s weak against bikaku, that also has great strength but it’s less breakable. Indeed, while a rinakku's has extreme strength and the RC cells bind together with much ease, the binding force among them is weak and that makes the kagune fragile; that means enough force can indeed break Kaneki's kagune (a punch will not, but metal beams falling on it will).
Kakugan
When a ghoul’s RC cells react (even if the kagune isn’t released; it could be excitement, hunger or just threatening), the ghoul's eye turn red, the sclera turns black and red veins across the eye and into the skin around the eye. Kaneki only has one reactive eye because he is a half-ghoul.
RC cells pathways
cells travel through a ghoul's body using specialized vessels; when born, a ghoul contains a specific hereditary map of these vessels which allow the RC cells to travel through the body of a ghoul and in some cases, these vessels can be blocked or are simply too few, which doesn't allow the ghoul to use their kagune properly (for example, Gagi and Guge. To some extent, Banjo). However, half-ghouls are not born with any vessels at all and as such, they create it as they get hurt and/or the body requires RC cells. Kaneki's strength comes, not only from his own training, but also from any strong hit he endures -and that allows him to create more and more RC cell pathways every time a part of his body is mangled. This means every time Kaneki gets physically hurt, new pathways form, and thus stronger he becomes and faster his regeneration ability is.
This is also permanent and the pathways remain after created. The big downside for this is that Kaneki must be fed (without RC cells that he gains from human flesh, he can't do any of this, naturally) and that this "boost" is not immediate (the body needs time to adjust). As I'm taking Kaneki from a very early point in time, his pathways aren't very developed (only around the waist and kidney area thanks to his accident and the location of the Kakuhou) and he's still considered weak for many ghouls (except Banjou, who is even weaker).
Although pathways may not be created yet, it's heavily implied they slowly form themselves and can be trained. This is the reason why Kaneki still had ghoul strength even though he hadn't been hurt in certain places at the time. Physical injury simply allows a faster way for this to happen. The same can be seen for actual ghouls; Gagi and Guge had clotted pathways and could not use their kagune, and yet they still had much strength, could originate a kakugan, and had physical enhancement like every ghoul. Banjo, for example, was never able to use his kagune before, but with time was able to start using it.
>> diet .
A ghoul can only eat and digest humans due to an enzyme their body produces. In other words, anything coming from a human is used as nutrients, but nothing else can, leaving ghouls with little choice of diet habits. Thanks to their taste buds, anything that doesn't come from humans will taste really bad to a ghoul, enough that they'll have the urge to vomit, and can even make a ghoul ill if often consumed. The only exception to this is coffee (either brewed or not), however it's still unknown why.
A ghoul doesn't have to consume food as often as humans. One body is enough for a ghoul for about one-two months, however, many ghouls find pleasure in hunting and killing, thus they become avid eaters with no regards for human life. In return, starvation is hell, and it can drive one mad and take all of their reason away. A hungry ghoul might even feast on their friends and they rely simply on their instinct to find food and eat it; indeed, cannibalism can also occur.
While the flesh of another ghoul will taste awful (just like any non-human nutrient), they are able to digest it without the downside of human food. By cannibalizing another ghoul, they absorb the victim’s RC cells and it increases the concentration of them within the attacker. If repeated often, this eventually leads to mutate the RC cells of the attack and the kagune takes a new shape with increased power. The ghouls with a mutate kagune as result of cannibalism are called kakujas; Kaneki does NOT have a kakuja yet.
>> enhanced physical condition .
Physically speaking, a ghoul is much stronger than a human, able to send them flying if hit with enough strength. By using their bare hands, a ghoul can penetrate the human body, and with just a bite – even through the clothes – they are able to rip out the human flesh just as easily. However, an extremely strong human can still face off a ghoul as long the ghoul isn’t using their kagune. Roughly, a ghoul can be compared to the strength of about 9-10 men. Kaneki isn't extremely strong yet, but he can definitively handle fighting a regular-kind-of-weak ghoul.
Speed and reflexes are also enhanced. While Ukakus are known for their extra speed, the other ghouls can still be must faster, jump much higher, and havemuch more balance than a regular human. With their agility and muscle strength, they can jump several meters high, as well as land from a big fall without much of a problem. Kaneki has this, but he is still training himself.
Endurance depends on a ghoul, but they are much more resilient. Ghouls can take critical hits and still survive and some even keep going. kaneki is known for his endurance and ability to withstand a lot of pain and torture, but in the canon point I'm taking him from, he still hasn't gone through anything like that.
It's thanks to their regeneration, also strength, and of course the RC cells, a ghoul's skin cannot be pierce by much; a gunshot to the head will not work. Ghouls have a tougher body than most regular solid materials and are capable to withstand them. Knives cannot piece their body, for example. Only stronger materials can do so, or a strong enough force (like metal bars falling on top of a ghoul from huge heights, yeah that can kill them). Membranes, however – such as the eyes, lips, nostrils (and the rest…) can be easily pierced and there are even laboratory-created products that can block the RC cells binding, which renders the ghoul's abilities null.
Ghouls also have regeneration abilities thanks to their RC cells as well, that travel from the Kakuhou to the wound through the pathways (or, in a half-ghoul's case, new pathways are created as they pass through the body). Small wounds and fractures heal in a matter of hours to a day and grave wounds heal after a few days, as long as a ghoul has adequate food supply. However, wounds caused by kagunes take much longer to heal and may eventually be fatal; the same goes for a ghoul bite. Kaneki has a huge regenerative ability due to his kagune type; rinkakus rely greatly on their regenerative abilities thanks to Rc cells that easily bind together. However, once again, his regeneration also comes from the RC pathways, as they are continuously being created whenever he gets hurt.
Finally, they have heighten senses. Kaneki not so much (specially not from the canon point I took him from), but many ghouls are seen capable of smelling people from big distances, hearing them to the point of being able to pinpoint details such as size and exact location, or even see better at night. While kaneki can certainly smell everything better than a human (since most things smell awful to him, thanks to not being able to eat most thing - except humans), he still needs to train everything else. And yes, it can be trained.
● strengths:
Gentle - Kaneki is softly-spoken, polite and smiles a lot when talking to others. He is generally pleasant and rarely gives the impression he dislikes someone and avoids showing how uncomfortable he might be. He is kind and tries to act morally; he tries to do the right thing and to make people feel good when interacting with him, regardless of what he is feeling. Kindness (and also trust) towards others is one of his biggest traits, which is thanks to his mother’s words “A kind person only needs love and kindness to be happy”.
Self-sacrificing - Kaneki strongly believes and tries to follow his mother’s philosophy: “instead of a person who hurts others, become the person who gets hurt”. This might be a bad trait to some, but it shows how much Kaneki cares for another. He often forgets himself and would rather be the one suffering, so other people won’t. People he cares for and people that matter to him are often the main focus of these actions: for them, he is the kind of person to think of their safety first and then of himself.
Adaptable - Kaneki was put in very difficult situations and though he is terrified of them and what he became, he still adapted to every single thing thrown at his face. He very smart and resourceful, and this allows him to adapt to his new reality, no matter how insane it sounds (being turned into a ghoul). He gets better at everything he does very fast and he is quite driven when he sets his mind to do something, so he overcomes obstacles quicker than expected, even if he looks like he is absolutely freaking out most of the time.