(A: When two weird people meet, a theory might be born. Be careful with unwanted babies.)
The thing about Tokyo Ghoul is that Ishida hasn’t give us much information on the biology and science of half-ghouls. @absolutetimeandspace and I decide to work together and specifically look into this. What we’ve up come with is a weird (and hard to follow) crack theory. We’ll try to put down our thoughts as best we can.
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In chapter 99 of TG we learn that Kaneki is Dr. Kanou’s greatest successful experiment. Fast forward to chapter 44 of TG:re he says that Kaneki unintentionally developed into a complete experiment, a growing perfection that surpasses the other Rize-based cases, going on to stand on equal footing vs. an Owl-based half-ghoul – one with an Rc count over 3 times higher than his. This made us question how and why that happened.
We know that the main objective in using the Owl’s kakuhou was to create a powerful half-ghoul, yet why is Kaneki, who has an inferior kakuhou, still stronger than Takizawa? What makes Kaneki so special? (A:besides his tights?)
Other questions that came up along the way: Why do humans taste better to ghouls when ghouls are the ones with more Rc cells? Why do some humans taste and smell better than others?
The answers to all this might lie in the Rc count.
After looking into the key differences between the two breeds, we think that the Rc level and Rc ‘type’ (quality + age) is playing a big role on a half-ghoul’s strength. Our theory states that the lower the human’s starting Rc count, the stronger the resulting half-ghoul, while the higher it is the weaker and more likely the half-ghoul surgery will fail.
[ TG chapter 29 ]
Before jumping into everything we need to remember that the normal Rc count for a healthy human ranges from 200 – 500, compared to 1000 – 8000 for ghouls.
Rc Count + Quantity
Thankfully Ishida provided us with the Rc counts before and after the surgeries for most half-ghouls.
[ TG chapter 30 ] While Kaneki assumed that his count may be the same level as a human’s, we now know that during this time the number was at 911. This is much too high for a human, but also too low for a ghoul.
Coincidentally all of these people share the same trait: A below average Rc count. As a human, Takizawa barely staying in the normal range, while the twins and Kaneki’s were too low to even be considered healthy levels for any human.
The fact that these 4 successfully transitioned into half-ghouls might have something to do with the surgery working better for individuals with lower Rc levels, while higher Rc runs the risk of the subjects becoming floppies(such as Amon) and/or developing the “nameless” syndrome seen in Dr. Kanou’s failed experiments.
Rc Quality
[ TG:re chapter 43 ] Creativity + Intelligence = kagune shape Quality + Quantity = kagune size All of these are factored in to equal a ghoul’s strength and potential.
Using the Rc count we can guess the quality of a human’s Rc cells. This is important in predicting the resulting half-ghoul’s strength since a lower Rc indicates higher Rc quality.
For example, logically speaking if the average human body were to put aside 500 calories for Rc production and you were to take three humans – one producing low quality Rc cells, the second normal quality, and the last the highest – you’ll see that the Rc count will continue to decrease as quality increases. (N: I mean it’s only fair.)
This would have to do with higher quality Rc cells requiring more energy for production.
Diagram is hypothetical and is only being used to illustrate that higher quality Rc needs more energy per cell to produce.
Rc Production in Half-ghouls
Now going back to Kaneki and why he’s the special little hot shit that he is.
We know that his count was 170 while human, meaning he has the highest quality Rc that we’ve seen so far. This is still relevant information for after the surgery because half-ghouls should be producing their own Rc cells just like they did as humans.
The misunderstanding that they lose this ability may come from people being under the impression that transitioning from human to half-ghoul will simply change the body to having all of the same characteristics of a ghoul’s. The reason why this is incorrect is because the presence of a kakuhou does not directly result in the loss of Rc production, rather ghouls are born without the necessary functions required to make their own Rc cells. Half-ghouls, on the other hand, should have no issue with an already built in system.
This means that every human turned ghoul is still producing a small amount of their own Rc (does not mean they can live off that supply, as a ghoul’s body has a faster metabolism, immune system, and regeneration, which requires a massive amount of energy to maintain).
Kaneki’s constant supply of new high quality Rc cells are being stored in the kakuhou, and as a result increasing the quantity of the high quality Rc cells (note Eto saying having both results in a powerful kagune). This is something that normal ghouls, who are unable to produce their own Rc, will never be able to obtain. A ghoul’s Rc count is built up on old recycled Rc cells from humans, basically diminishing the quality to average or poor.
Eto + Natural Half-ghouls
As for Eto (a born half-ghoul) and the Quinx (not ghoul or half-ghoul) I can’t say it applies to them in the same way.
However since we know more about Eto, this being her ability to eat human food and her massive amount of quality Rc cells, we can guess that she was born with the ability to efficiently produce enough Rc to sustain her ghoul body (this is based on tumblr’s assumption that her diet is mostly ghoul/human free).
This puts her at a huge advantage over the ghouls, Quinx, and artificial half-ghouls. Even if her organs produced low or normal quality Rc, the quality would still be better than any ghoul’s and at a larger quantity than any half-ghoul’s.
This means that while artificial half-ghouls are superior to ghouls, natural half-ghouls are the ones at the top of the food chain.
Now if Eto has both high quality Rc along with the quantity, then that’s a bit terrifying isn’t it?
Why do humans taste better to ghouls when ghouls are the ones with more Rc cells?
I’m sure by this point it’s self explanatory why humans taste yummy while ghouls taste like shit.
Ghouls are naturally attracted to humans because of their newly made Rc (i.e. fresh organic food)(N:
Fresh Rc is happy Rc!), and are disgusted by other ghouls because of their recycled Rc supply (i.e. rotten or stale food), because no matter how large the quantity, gross food will still taste gross.
Kaneki being the literature major that he is, described in detail what a ghoul tastes like after taking his first bite.
[ TG chapter 64 ] Basically rotten food.
This also answers the question why some humans taste better than others, and generally why the seniors have a much blander taste. Same story for half-ghouls and why Kaneki specifically is the best thing Tsukiyama has ever experienced (N: all that fresh high quality Rc mmmm).
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NOTES:
That’s basically it. There was a lot more content involving RoS, Rc Scan Gates, human Rc types, Rize, Shirazu etc. but I decided to exclude it until I have better confirmation.
Funny I say that when this is crack theory post…
Buuut one thing I can’t help but briefly mention is that Shirazu might have physical problems in the future (not RoS), and the fact that the cage around his kagune just broke in ch 53 just made it so much more likely. gl boi.
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Anyways thanks to @absolutetimeandspace for working with me on this, we became such good buddies in the process :’)
Just started up this new art blog today and decided to start it up with my collection of Tokyo Ghoul Re pieces (Haise, Ayato, Eto, Touka, Nishiki, Kaneki)
you can see more of my work on my other art pages as well 🙂
Y’know, I think Tatara was a little pissy about Kaneki’s kakugan being on the wrong side because:
The “King” and Eto have their kakugan on their right side. Kaneki has his on his left.
I wonder what’s up with that? Does the kakugan’s side really matter when it comes to the king? 😛
(Also, I’m still wondering why Aogiri wanted Rize in the first place? I don’t think it would’ve been for experiments since Kanou was using her for that very reason? And ????? Kanou IS working with Aogiri, right? If that’s the case then why were they searching for Rize if she already was with Kanou?)
I think that Kanou wanted to create a half-ghoul for his own purposes, and he knew that she had very good healing…
And I’m not sure, but maybe the location of the Kakugan depends on something important? Or maybe she wants the OEK of now to look similar to the OEK of the past?
This post is the result of a discussion with @neropet earlier today. Credit to Nero for coming up with this idea in the first place, and for talking this post over with me while I was writing it.
With chapter 61, we learned some jaw dropping information about the One-Eyed King – that the King is not what we thought. Not only is the King not Eto, but the title apparently does not refer to any person. Instead, the King is a symbolic title that refers to a one-eyed ghoul who is going to change the world. So the King does not exist – yet.
There was speculation a few months ago about Eto’s goals in her confrontation with Sasaki on the roof, and the idea that perhaps she was trying to turn him into the new King.
That idea only seemed to grow stronger when the chapter “The Second King” came out, which prominently featured the fight between Eto and Sasaki, and may imply that he is the second king.
However, I think the biggest piece of evidence came from the most recent chapter, when Eto reveals to Aogiri that she is not the King.
She trails off, telling them, “The One-Eyed King is…”
And the very next panels contain none other than Sasaki, when she finishes her sentence and concludes, “Not me.”
Also notably, on this page, Arima and Furuta are speaking about him as well, and apparently V has taken an interest in him. The last we heard of V, they were looking for Eto, the one-eyed ghoul who they believed was upsetting the balance of the world.
V may see him as another threat to this balance, which is exactly what Eto has in mind for the One-Eyed King.
So, if this is actually Eto’s plan, and she wants him to take on this title, how does she plan to convince him to do so? Why would he want to associate with her, after everything she’s done?
We know she’s already started to manipulate him, the same way she has done to her past victims, by targeting them where they are most vulnerable.
She licks his eye and tells him she likes him and they are the same, and that stuns him into inaction for a few moments:
And then when he deals a serious blow to her, cutting her body in half, she strikes again, and tells him she loves him.
We know that he wants to be loved. Eto knows that he wants to be loved. She tells him that purposefully, to get under his skin. And his reaction to her words is starkly different from the way he spoke to her during their fight, rudely and abrasively. He says that he’s honored.
It seems like Eto’s tactics were not ineffective.
Since his change on the roof during that fight, we have not seen into his thoughts the way we used to. It’s been unsettling to not know what the main character is thinking. But we have gotten one glimpse into his thoughts in this time, and it was a thought about her:
Although, certainly her manipulations were not enough alone. He has not suddenly joined her side. He has continued to target her in the six months that passed between their fight and the present day in TG:re, and is still apparently focused on eliminating her.
So why would she think that he would fulfill the role she has in mind for him, if her efforts to change him on the roof were not enough? What if she has another method up her sleeve? Another way to tie him to her more securely?
Perhaps a physical tie, like her kagune?
There’s two other people that Eto has given her kagune to, and both of those people are associated with clocks, and time:
Noro is always with Eto, and when he’s not, he’s been depicted with a clock. He watches the clock carefully, and takes action at certain times. Why is this? Perhaps this was for the Aogiri raid, when there was a raid on Cochlea going on at the same time. But the other person who was given Eto’s kagune was tortured with clocks, and this seems like too much of a coincidence.
Additionally, during the fight on the roof, Eto taunts, “We don’t have much time. You are about to meet your maker.”
There was a time limit to this fight, apparently imposed by Eto. Perhaps the same was true of Noro, and that was why he was either always with her, or watching a clock. Perhaps the powers she gifts by implanting her kagune only last so long, before they result in decay of the person she implanted it in?
We know how Noro ended up:
Perhaps this is the end result of her kagune implantation? And perhaps something similar may happen to Sasaki?
She’s given Sasaki her kagune in a similar way to what we’ve seen her do before.
When Eto first confronts Kanae/Karren, the scene ends with a black panel and a “bite” sound effect, implying someone ate something. Based on what we saw happen in future chapters, and Eto’s words leading up to that moment, I think it’s safe to say she fed Kanae an “apple”, her kagune.
And we saw her feed someone else something similar, 15 chapters later:
We also know that she intentionally left this for Sasaki, and she wonders about how he enjoyed her gift, and how his arm has regrown:
We also know that now his arm looks freaking weird:
Did she know something like this would happen?
And finally, to add onto this idea about time being connected to her kagune implantation, Sasaki is desperately searching for her, and becomes infuriated when he can’t find her. And in this panel, we see him counting down days on a calendar. We also see that the scaling on his hand extends up his arm, past his elbow, far past where his arm was severed.
Is his arm worsening? Has he realized that there is some kind of limit? Is that why he’s focused on finding her himself, without telling the CCG about the information he has on her?
tl;dr: What if a side effect of Eto’s kagune implantation is a time limit on the person, forcing them to return to Eto to minimize or postpone any ill effects? And what if this is the case with Sasaki, providing Eto with a physical tie to him in order to force him into the role she wants for him – the role of the One-Eyed King, the half ghoul who will change the world?
Relatable FE Quote or Something 