Ken Kaneki

Ken Kaneki is the main protagonist of the Tokyo Ghoul series.

Ken is currently Touka Kirishima's husband. Previously, he was a student who studied Japanese literature at Kamii University, living a relatively normal life. However, this quickly changed after Rize Kamishiro's kakuhou was transplanted into him and transformed him into a one-eyed ghoul. After joining Anteiku as a part-time waiter, he learns how to live as a ghoul and eventually becomes known as Eyepatch (Gantai).

After being captured by Aogiri Tree, he underwent a drastic personality change and after escaping, formed a group with the goal of protecting those precious to him and exterminating individuals threatening his place of belonging. His kakuja form's distinct appearance earned him the alias Centipede (Mukade).

Two years following his defeat against Kishou Arima, he lived under the identity of Haise Sasaki (Sasaki Haise), a Rank 1 Ghoul Investigator who served as the mentor of the CCG's Quinx Squad. His memories were initially lost to him, but regained during the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation. Six months after the operation, ghouls came to know him by the moniker of the Black Reaper (Kuroi Shinigami).

After defeating Arima and Eto having unveiled their joint plan to raise a one-eyed ghoul who could stand as the hope for all ghouls, he calls himself the One-Eyed King (Sekigan no Ō). Kaneki has since then formed the organization he named Goat.

As a result of an orchestrated plan carried out by Nimura Furuta, Kaneki morphed into the Dragon (Ryū), a huge, uncontrollable kagune that destroyed Tokyo. He was later extracted from the monstrous appendage by a collaboration between the remaining members of Goat and the CCG. When the remnants of Dragon began releasing a toxin that threatened humans and ghouls alike, Kaneki ventured down into the depths of the oviduct and nullified the threat after a fierce battle with Kichimura Washuu and Dragon.

After the Defense of Tokyo, Kaneki and Touka currently live happily married, with a daughter and another child coming, with humans and ghouls finally united together.

Appearance
As a child, Kaneki had all the same features he has now as an adult with black hair. As a normal university student, Kaneki was a somewhat short and scrawny young man with little to no athletic background and preferred to read books. After the steel beam incident, Kaneki bears a scar from the transplant operation on the right side of his abdomen not far from his navel. In his free time, he wore casual clothes.

At work, he wore the standard Anteiku waiter uniform, consisting of black trousers and a gray waistcoat over a white dress shirt and a black necktie (brown cravat in the anime). Because he could not yet properly control his single kakugan that manifests in his left eye, he wore a medical eye patch to cover it.

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 he developed a more muscular physique. He began to favor monochrome clothing and wore a form-fitting black bodysuit with cutouts when going into battle.

In the years since adopting the identity of Haise Sasaki, his hair began to develop black streaks growing out from the crown. He wore the standard business attire of a ghoul investigator, favoring black dress shirts and pinstripe pants with a knee-length white trench coat. He also wears a pair of round eyeglasses when reading. After the events of the Auction Mopping-up Operation, his hair slowly began to revert back to its original color with almost no white remaining.

After the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation, his appearance changed drastically again. His hair had completely reverted to its original black color, and he started wearing his glasses at all times. He wore a black version of the Arima Squad uniform, pairing a black dress shirt with black slacks and a long, black trench coat. In contrast, he wore a pair of red gloves (black gloves in the anime) that disguised his right hand which was covered in reptilian scales. In his second battle with Arima, Sasaki wore a form-fitting black bodysuit underneath his uniform.

Upon regaining his identity as Ken Kaneki, his hair turned completely white again after having his limbs cut off repeatedly by Arima. Unable to heal properly from the incident, both of his arms are covered in reptile-like scales. As a result he continues to wear gloves to cover them with black turtleneck shirts with a pair of white pants. Around his neck, he keeps Touka's parents' ring on a chain, and after their marriage, the scar from her bite mark on his right shoulder. For a time, Kaneki wore a collared black coat over his new sleeveless battle suit with dark gloves reaching past his elbows.

After becoming immobilized inside Dragon, Kaneki took on the form of a beast big enough to wrap around skyscrapers, with many huge kakugan protruding from large, black limbs. Kaneki was uncontrollable in this state and kept expanding. He had already completely destroyed a large sector of the 23rd ward and presumably completely collapsed the 24th ward.

Upon being recovered from dragon by Touka Kirishima and the Q's squad, Kaneki lost much of his muscular mass, and is confirmed to have gained new unidentified organs after his transformation. His entire body from the neck down was covered in Kagune-like tissue, along with several black growths running down the front of his upper torso, and his hands possessed three misshapen fingers. His hair was lengthier and hung down below the chin. There appeared to be flesh patterns decorating his neck and lower eyelids. However, upon releasing his new Kagune, his body appears to have returned to normal, with his hands once again possessing five fingers and being without the previous scales.

Following the six-year timeskip at the end of :re, Kaneki trimmed his hair back to its original length, and the flesh patterns under his eyes have faded slightly. Along with this, he possesses a large scar running from under his left eye all the way down the left side of his face.

Pre-Aogiri
Kaneki was a shy and reserved person, with Hide being his only close friend. He usually spent most of his time reading books, mostly novels. He was extremely gentle and appeared to be optimistic most of the time. Influenced by his mother and a true testament of modesty, he willingly took blame and punishment from others so that he can be someone who does not hurt people, but rather absorb the torment. However, this lack of assertiveness normally got him bullied and taken advantage of.

However, beneath his altruistic and gentle nature was an underlying fear of being alone that was aggravated by his mother's death. He despised the idea of solitude, hence he tried to protect those dear to him so he would not have to face his fear of being alone in the world.

This was perhaps his greatest weakness. Since Kaneki was always trying to protect others, he was essentially trying to protect himself from ever being alone again. Therefore, to escape that scenario, he would shoulder the task of protecting others onto himself, without relying on anyone else. This was also why Kaneki rejected the notion of "living," because watching others die reminded him of those lonely days without anyone beside him.

After he was turned into a half-ghoul, he clung to his human side. To keep living in the human world, he began to work at Anteiku and established relationships with the ghouls there. He started to develop an interest in becoming stronger and began reading martial art books so he could protect those closest to him. However, he was still troubled with the fact that he was a half-ghoul and wanted to search for a place where he could belong. As much as he treasured his life, if people close to him were threatened, he would not hesitate to put his life on the line.

Post-Aogiri
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. In his subconscious, Kaneki ate "Rize," the image of his ghoul self. This displayed that he accepted the "ghoul" within him; instead of being influenced by it, he appeared to have become the one to surpass it. Kaneki became ruthless, cruel, and brutal in order to protect his friends, yet he managed to maintain complete composure. He no longer feared his ghoul side and was more violent during battles, such as when he cannibalized Yamori's kagune in order to strengthen himself, and mercilessly broke 103 of Ayato's bones.[20] By embracing his ghoul nature wholeheartedly, Kaneki gave up on being "human."

Kaneki was still capable of showing his gentle nature in front of people he cared about, but instantly turned merciless against his enemies. He yearned for strength and power, therefore becoming more power-hungry and superficially arrogant. His new creed—that as "the strong" he had the right to "devour the weak"—was originally an ideology held by Yamori. Banjou assumed that Kaneki developed some form of mental instability during his torture in the 11th Ward, and that this would gradually wear him down.

Whenever he was near starvation and losing control of his kagune (or half-kakuja), he behaved in a way that emulated another's, such as Rize or Yamori. He would speak in a crazed disorganized manner, further implying his mental instability during these periods.

After raiding Kanou's lab and attacking Banjou, Kaneki reverted back to his pre-Aogiri personality. He entered a period of soul-searching. He wished to reclaim his lost "human" side and became uncertain about the path he had taken to become stronger. He started to question and seek answers from individuals such as Uta, Yomo, and Yoshimura in order to understand the incidents that have happened around him since he turned into a ghoul.

Auction
While living under his new identity as Haise Sasaki, he was a self-contained and good-natured individual. He was loyal, devoted, and possessed a good work ethic. Sasaki was very cooperative, as he preferred working in a group rather than working alone. He also showed mercy, as he believed that an investigator should not annihilate ghouls unnecessarily. Sasaki enjoyed reading books in his free time and had a habit of using puns, shown by his conversation with Akira Mado in the curry restaurant. He tended to scratch the back of his head when he was thinking hard or feeling uneasy. He still had his old habit of scratching or rubbing his chin whenever he was hiding something or lying from his days as Kaneki.

He showed appropriate respect and great concern for his colleagues, especially his underlings. He complied with orders assigned by his seniors and carried them out without hesitation. However, Sasaki's gentle nature often led his subordinates to constantly disobey him, rendering him ineffective in controlling their actions; he was left to worry about their safety.

In contrast to before his memory loss, Sasaki rejected his ghoul side and was afraid of it. When analyzed by Arima after his capture, Sasaki appeared to retain his introverted nature and lack of assertiveness as Kaneki, along with his yearning for a motherly figure.

However, Sasaki was still prone to losing control, as shown when he fought the Serpent, where he also cracked his fingers during the fight—a habit that he had originally developed as Kaneki in the past. Donato Porpora noted that Sasaki was curious about his memories but also afraid of them, as he worried he could no longer keep his current life in the CCG should he ever recover his memories. Sasaki feared that relying on his ghoul side would make him disappear. After being rescued from Takizawa by Hinami, Sasaki's perspective on his ghoul nature changed. He concluded that the Kaneki of the past must have been a good person because Hinami cared for him a lot, even though he did not remember. He eventually accepted this ghoul side in order to protect Hinami and Saiko, with the risk of his personality disappearing. He learned about Kaneki, who appeared in his subconscious as a mental construct where "Kaneki" admitted that he was also scared and asked Sasaki to not erase him.

After the auction, Sasaki was friendlier towards his ghoul side. However, "Kaneki" said the relationship could not last forever, as they were two beings fighting for one body. Sasaki was told to "not erase him" but misheard it as "disappear." He then remained conflicted about his past, actively searching for information about himself.

Post-Rose Extermination
During the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation, Sasaki recalled a memory of his past as Ken Kaneki where he had been physically abused by his mother. He also realized that he unconsciously wished to die and had been glad to see Arima during the Owl Suppression Operation. However, that failed, so he believed that burying his past was his salvation, so he chose to forget and live as Haise Sasaki. Upon realizing this, Sasaki accepted his past, resolving to stop "dreaming."

After regaining his memories, in sharp contrast to his previously gentle personality, Sasaki became colder and much more violent. He fought with more brutal force and was willing to put Tsukiyama's life at risk, despite already remembering his old acquaintance. He did, however, ensure that Kanae would rescue Tsukiyama before throwing the ghoul off the building. He displayed his cold nature to Urie when the latter blamed him for Shirazu's death, calmly telling him that it was his fault as he was the one fighting beside Shirazu. He then mourned together with Mutsuki and Saiko, showing that despite his cold demeanor, he still felt sad about Shirazu's death.

Third Cochlea Raid
During the Cochlea attack, Sasaki displays his deep unhappiness for his own existence, constantly engaged in inner monologue. As he rescues Hinami from her cell, he reveals his own motives that have not changed since the Tsukiyama Investigation. That he wanted to "go out in style." Meaning to act as a sacrificial pawn with no care for his own life, Sasaki displays regret when Touka tells him to see her later, stating that it is all so unfair and that Touka is a cruel one.

While being torn apart by Arima, Sasaki gives up on living altogether, stating his task was completed. He is interrupted by a projection of "Hide" who tells him to stop being a fool and to listen for once. Once Sasaki realizes what Hide actually meant back in V14, his hair turns white once more due to the stress of being ripped apart by Arima and rises with a newfound will to live wearing a smile on his face.

Goat Wipeout Operation
During his reign as king, Kaneki displays his growing maturity upon taking up the mantle of the "One Eyed King". When meeting with the soon-to-be members of Goat, he addresses all of their concerns, even persuading Naki to join him after a brief scuffle. When dealing with the Clown's attack on the CCG, Kaneki shows his ability to direct his forces, doing so in a calm and orderly fashion, while at the same time, selecting members to join him in their attempt to obtain the RC suppressants needed to heal Akira. After Goat was forced to move underground as a result of Furuta's oppressive plan to eradicate the population of ghouls in Tokyo, Kaneki has become more morose. He's more driven and has a tunnel-vision mentality of wanting to protect the ghouls on his lonesome. This comes back to bite him as he returns to the base by himself in an effort to stop Furuta, only to be beaten in a fierce battle by Juuzou and Abara.

Dragon Arc
While trapped inside the massive appendage known as the Dragon, Kaneki experienced a mental simulation of himself trapped inside a temple, accompanied by an emulation of Rize. She taunted him for being responsible for the deaths of so many civilians, along with being so responsible for the hunting of so many ghouls. She mocks his idea of trying to get the CCG to cooperate, stating that people keep dying because Kaneki keeps doing things, despite him saying that he's never able to do anything.

It became clear that while Kaneki convinced himself that he wanted to live for others, he only wanted to die a beautiful and fulfilled death. He stated that if he kept on fighting, he would feel needed, and yet never considered the death which would come from it. Upon recognizing these flaws, Kaneki states that despite all of the death that he's caused, both directly and indirectly, he'll continue on his path and try to bear the weight of them.

When he's released from Dragon, Kaneki is regretful upon seeing the damage that he did to both Tokyo and Hide. Despite this, he remains determined to stop Furuta and save both ghouls and humans. However, after losing to Juuzou and Abara and being shown his flaws by Furuta, Kaneki has decided that he'll do so with the help and support of his friends and family, rather than tackling the issue by himself.

During his final confrontation with Rize, Kaneki reflects on his life. He recognizes that everyone is their own protagonist, and that his tragedy doesn't make him anymore special than anyone else. He knows that the world is a harsh and unforgiving place, but despite it all, people will still strive to be loved and chosen by those around them. As a result, he'll carry on and choose and be chosen, nothing more, nothing less.

Abilities
Ghoul Physiology: After inheriting Rize Kamishiro's kakuhou, Kaneki has displayed a unique healing factor, as well as a rinkaku kagune consisting of tentacles and increased physical power. Due to the hybrid vigor, Kaneki's abilities are said to be more potent than those of a natural-born ghoul. Swordsmanship: Using his quinque, Sasaki has been described to have movements as swift as water, being able slice through a ghoul's kagune and also use it efficiently with his own kagune. Keen Intellect: When facing adversaries, Kaneki often used his intellect and careful planning to quickly and efficiently take out his foe. Kaneki comprehends Takatsuki's in-depth work, and also understands martial arts moves and styles just by reading about them in a book.
 * Rinkaku Kagune: Kaneki's kagune is portrayed in the anime as bright red, becoming a darker shade as it neared the tips. In the :re anime, it has changed to a red-violet colour. Kaneki initially displayed his kagune in his fight against Koutarou Amon, possessing three tentacles and having little control over them. After his torture, Kaneki was able to produce four tentacles in his battle with Yamori, which were capable of pinning down and overwhelming an incomplete kakuja. During the raid on Kanou's lab, Kaneki's kagune further developed into six tentacles, albeit in an unstable mental state, and while he fought Kishou Arima, Kaneki was able to manifest eight tentacles which are able to be shaped into small hands, which have an enormous range and destructive force enough to damage V14's pillars. As Haise Sasaki, he is able to control and manipulate the shape of his kagune at will, and command the tentacles to process different tasks at once. He is also noted to have a better control over his kagune than natural-born ghouls. In his fight with Karren von Rosewald and Eto Yoshimura, Sasaki was able to shape his kagune into more intricate forms, and his kagune is greatly larger, with the potency of neutralizing Owl's kakuja. After devouring Eto's kakuja, his kagune is able to form multiple eyes and mouths. By the time of his final confrontation with Furuta, Kaneki's kagune had grown to a massive size, it's thickness dwarfing that of a human being, in addition to it's length growing as well.
 * Rinkaku Kakuja: After constant cannibalization, Kaneki has developed into an incomplete kakuja. In this form, Kaneki was able to easily overwhelm Yukinori Shinohara, who wielded the Arata armor, and to fight on par with Koutarou Amon while the latter was armed with Arata proto, as well as fatally injure him by ripping his arm off. While using his kakuja, Kaneki goes into a mindless state, losing all aspects of his personality. His fighting style becomes that of a berserker, fighting without any regards to personal injury. In his last confrontation with Kishou Arima, Sasaki's kakuja was capable of completely destroying IXA and Owl, while maintaining his personality and sanity. In the fight against Suzuya and Abara both clad with Arata armors, he was still able to inflict extensive damage on both investigators, requiring Abara to execute a suicide attack in order to create an opening against Kaneki. When fighting Furuta, Kaneki's kakuja is able to turn the fight on its head and overwhelm Furuta, who only a few moments before, was beating him in a one-sided brawl, forcing him to activate his own kakuja. Kaneki's first kakuja takes the form of two large tentacles resembling centipedes and a beak-like structure on his head. His second kakuja forms a carapace covering on his whole face, and a kagune-like claw where his hand is. His third kakuja encases his upper half and forms a koukaku-like blade. The fourth version of his kakuja manifests as bulkier body armor with claws, and the carapace covering his face becomes similar to a one-eyed dragon with a fully fanged jaw. Upon being rescued from Dragon, Kaneki's kakuja takes the form of a more form-fitting body armor, with intricate designs decorating it, in addition wing-like structures on his back. He also has massive cross-shaped blades attached to them that he can swing around as close range weapons or extend long distances. In addition, he can use these as shields to defend against even the strongest of attacks. Their defensive power are great enough to withstand an attack from Dragon with Kaneki sustaining little to no damage.
 * Dragon Form: After consuming the entire Oggai squad and the nucleus embedded in Furuta's body, Kaneki undergoes a large-scale transformation where his body expands into a ever growing mass of flesh, teeth and eyes that consumes everything in its path. Eventually this mass grows to such an extent that it erupts from the underground 24th ward and overflows into the streets of Tokyo, where it consumes scores of people and destroys everything in its path. Eventually the mass assumes a centipede-like shape with an armored shell, multiple eyes and a head that vaguely resembles a dragon. At this point, its size is big enough to coil around a skyscraper. In this form, Kaneki can generate kagune tentacles that can cut through tanks and upturn portions of concrete. Its armored shell is durable enough to resist artillery fire. It can also generate lifeless husks from its body, which is apparently a trait shared with the King of the Underground at the height of his power. Among other countermeasures, Kaneki can produce golems out of his body in order to defend himself against foes while he is stationary. These golems are capable of killing investigators and ghouls alike, as well as pressure even the most experienced fighters with their large numbers.
 * Superhuman Strength: As Banjou paid a visit to Anteiku, Kaneki accidentally knocked him unconscious with an elbow kick. Kaneki was able to rip a lamp post from asphalt and strike one of the Bin brothers with it. When fighting Ayato Kirishima, Kaneki forcibly smashed Ayato through multiple floors of the 11th ward building. During his sparring sessions with Banjou, Kaneki threw the ghoul around without much effort.
 * Superhuman Speed: Kaneki was capable of evading Narukami's condensed projectiles, while assaulting Arima. While he engaged Yukinori Shinohara in a fight, Kaneki was traveling at immense speed, quick enough for Shinohara not being able to track his location. In his fight with Karren, Sasaki was able to maneuver and dodge her rapid kagune attacks, swiftly approaching her from behind towards the end of the motion. Sasaki has also shown the ability to parry Arima's numerous Owl attacks while facing him in Cochlea. On his way to meet with Takizawa, Ayato, and Kurona for their infiltration of the CCG laboratory, Kaneki was pursued by V agents and he dodged their attacks with extreme ease and swiftness while making his escape at the same time. In his conflict with Naki, Kaneki effortlessly dodged Naki's attempts to assault him.
 * Superhuman Endurance: During his second encounter with Nishiki, Kaneki was able to endure multiple blows from the ghoul in his weakened, starving state. When he was fighting Shachi, Kaneki maintained consciousness after being smashed through the floor and walls of Kanou's Underground Laboratory. After being pierced through the abdomen by Amon, Kaneki was still able to survive and recover from his injuries. During his encounter with Arima at V14, Kaneki continued fighting despite his critical head injures, which would be fatal even to a ghoul. As Sasaki, he survived being pierced by Serpent's kagune, and eventually overpowered the ghoul despite being grievously wounded. Sasaki overpowered Karren von Rosewald and Eto with a severed hand, gradually using his kagune as replacement. He seemed unfazed when Kishou Arima stabbed him multiple times through the abdomen, as he also took countless severe cuts to his body in his fight with Owl and was still able to keep fighting. Even after prolonged fight against Suzuya and Abara which saw Kaneki taking critical damage, getting dismembered and losing his healing factor, he was still able to manifest his kagune and killing Hajime Hazuki and after that, slaughter the rest of the Oggai squad. Later on, Kaneki was able to withstand the onslaught of Furuta and Rize in two consecutive fights.
 * Superhuman Regeneration: During his torture at the hands of Yakumo Oomori, he continously regenerated his fingers and toes for ten days. He easily recuperated from the injuries inflicted by Shachi, and recovered from a hole he received upon fighting Amon. He survives his fight with Arima, and heals his injuries, albeit with the cost of losing his memory. In :re, he recovers from being consecutively pierced by Nishiki's kagune, as well as surviving an attack from Takizawa. In his final battle with Arima, he had rapidly regenerated his many fatal wounds whilst fighting the investigator. By the end of the Dragon Arc, Kaneki was able to regenerate wounds from Furuta's kakuja, and later on heal his wounds from Dragon in rapid succession, allowing him to continue on fighting.
 * Kagune Manipulation: After his confrontation with Eto, Sasaki is able to manifest his kagune as the form of his hand, controlling it willingly. During his fight with Arima, Kaneki was using his kagune as replacements for his arms and legs in order to recover more quickly to counter the investigator. He also can create complex structures involving traps and nets, and command his kagune to speak as well. He was also able to form a quinque from his kagune and use it to fight against Kichimura Washuu. In addition to forming a Rinkaku kagune, he has also been seen using his kagune to mimic the characteristics and abilities of an Ukaku, Bikaku, and Koukaku in his fight against Dragon.
 * Immense Pain Tolerance: Kaneki possesses great tolerance to pain, evident during his fight with Naki when he twists and breaks his own leg in order to land a kick, his only reaction being a faint smile.[49] He is even able to power on through losing all of his limbs and devour the Oggai. When fighting Dragon, despite his prior battle to the death with Furuta, as well as being overwhelmed by Dragon's defenses and nearly dying, Kaneki was able to push through the pain and end the threat of Dragon.
 * Ghoulification Toxin Immunity: After being extracted from Dragon's body, Kaneki has shown an extreme resistance, if not outright immunity, to the ghoulifying toxin carried by the creatures spawned from Dragon's oviducts. It is theorized by Kimi Nishino that this is a result of the multiple new organs Kaneki has displayed since his rescue.
 * Yukimura 1/3: A B-rate koukaku quinque passed down from Arima to Sasaki, having a considerably long blade which can easily slice through objects.

Trivia

 * The name "Haise" was created by combining the kanji from "coffee" and "world". The kanji used for "Ken" is the same one used for "to sharpen" i.e. sharpen one's fangs.
 * "Kaneki" translates as "gold tree" while "Sasaki" translates to "Helpful Wood".
 * Kaneki has a habit of touching his chin with his left hand when he is hiding something. This habit appears to be subconscious, as he still does it even after his memory loss.
 * In the first character popularity poll, Kaneki was ranked first. In the latest, he was second while Haise Sasaki came third.
 * Kaneki shares the same birthday with Kishou Arima.
 * Kaneki likes reading, beautiful language, intellectual women, and hamburgers.
 * Beginning with the Aogiri arc, Kaneki has been repeatedly associated with the number "12" in panels. This is a reference to the tarot card The Hanged Man (XII).
 * His quinque, Yukimura 1/3, has been used by both Kishou Arima, as a teenager, and Take Hirako, when he was partnered with Arima.
 * Kaneki compares himself to Gregor Samsa, the unfortunate protagonist of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. In the sequel, he briefly discusses Kafka's A Crossbreed with Arima — another story with strong parallels to his situation.
 * The sudden color changes in Kaneki's hair are caused by the suppression of his Rc cell activity which has caused temporary melanin production that causes his hair color to change.
 * His surname is a reference to novelist Osamu Dazai, who was born in Kanagi and most famous for his novel No Longer Human. When they meet at the book signing, Eto briefly discusses this with him.
 * The relationship between Sasaki and his mental projection of "Kaneki" is akin to his relationship with his projection of "Rize" in the past as Kaneki. "Rize" would often tempt Kaneki to give in to his ghoul self, while "Kaneki" tried to have Sasaki accept him. Both projections represent the ghoul side of himself.
 * Both Kaneki and Yamori went through similar torture methods and were both completely changed from their previous selves. Yamori turned into psychotic killer who killed more for fun than to eat, while Kaneki became cold and ruthless, but retained his desire to protect his friends.
 * In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, Kaneki and Sasaki are each featured as the "Ace of Hearts" and Kaneki is also featured on the "Queen of Hearts" card alongside Rize. In a redistributed version, he is also featured as a "White Joker."
 * In Tokyo Ghoul √A, according to Sui Ishida's rough drafts, Tatara insisted that Kaneki eat Taguchi to prove his loyalty to Aogiri Tree. However, Noro ate her before Kaneki and Tatara had finished arguing. This scene was cut out from the finalized work.
 * Because of Tooru Mutsuki, Ishida has stated that he often forgets over which eye he needs to put the eyepatch on Kaneki.[55]
 * In the anime, Kaneki joined Aogiri at the end of the first season, which differs greatly from the manga in which Kaneki forms a group with Banjou, Hinami and some other ghouls. In addition, the anime cuts out the scene where Tatara discards Kaneki.
 * In the official English translation of :re Volume 1, Haise Sasaki's birthday is incorrectly given as April 22nd.