Tatsumi

Tatsumi is the main protagonist of Akame Ga Kill!. A young fighter who had set out along with two childhood friends to make a name for himself and earn money for his village, Tatsumi is a kind-hearted person who wants everyone to live happily, but has no problem with becoming violent if his friends or his ideals are threatened.

After learning of the corruption and evil of the The Empire, and witnessing the deaths of his friends, Tatsumi was invited to join Night Raid, a group of assassins that are affiliated with the Revolutionary Army currently at war with the Empire. He eventually accepts the invitation and slowly begins to accept his new life and trade, while still grieving over the loss of his friends and beginning to learn about his new ones.

Appearance
Tatsumi is a young man of average height with medium length brown hair and green eyes. He is usually seen wearing a white, high collar jacket over a tan sweater vest, a pair of black pants and combat boot. On his back, he carries Incursio's key, a short sword with a chain link tassel at the hilt, in its sheath.



Having been trained in the way of the sword and hand-to-hand combat since he was young, Tatsumi has had a fairly lean muscular physique. After training for one month while the Night Raid base was being relocated, he seems to have bulked up enough for Esdese to notice and comment upon the change.

Upon activating his Teigu, Tatsumi is covered in armor similar to the one his late teacher used to wear. However, Tatsumi's armor is far more lean to suit his battle-style, but the long cape has not changed.

Personality
Tatsumi gives off a kind, generous, level-headed and friendly vibe. He was shown to be a bit arrogant and naive in the early chapters, when in his first appearance he believed he could be given an immediate rank of Captain in the armed forces. He displays a great displeasure of killing, unless provoked as shown from finding his friends tortured to death. He shows great admiration for Braht, though he doesn't agree to Braht's displays of affection. Overall he displays great comradeship and great promise of being a skilled fighter.

Bio
Tatsumi spent his whole childhood in a small village where he became close friends with Sayo and Ieyasu. It appears that he was well respected in his village as the elder gave him a unique idol of their god. Tatsumi also trained under the tutelage of a retired soldier, learning the art of swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, and blacksmithing. After Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu set off on their journey, they become seperated when attacked by bandits, leaving Tatsumi alone. In the opening chapter of the story, Tatsumi is first revealed fighting an Earth dragon. Using his skills in combat, he defeats the danger beast with ease. Later, he enters one of the Empire's cities, where he meets a young lady who offers him military connections in exchange for money, conning him out of all of his savings. He is later taken in off the streets by a wealthy girl named Aria. Soon, the mansion is attacked by a group of assassins known as "Night Raid", and after a struggle, the girl who conned Tatsumi out of his money earlier shows up, and is revealed to be a member of Night Raid herself. She interrupts the fight between Tatsumi and Akame, and reveals that Aria is actually a sadist who tortures innocent people, including Tatsumi's friends he left the village with. Knowing the truth, and furious at the death of his friends, Tatsumi slays Aria himself. Night Raid and particularly Leone(the con girl) are impressed by his potential and officially invite him to join their group of assassins. Tatsumi leaves with the group(being carried off by them), and they head back to the hideout.

Still devastated over the death of his childhood friends, Tatsumi was hesitant to accept Leones' offer to join at first. Leone shows him around the hide-out and introduces him to the other members of Night Raid: Akame, Braht, Schere, Mein, Rabac and then Boss. Suspicious that they will kill him if he refuses, he asks what will become of him. Boss assures him that they will not kill him should he refuse, but tells him he would not be allowed to leave, and that he would be able to work for Night Raid as a laborer, earning money to send back to his village should he wish. She explains Night Raid's purpose and goals, and Tatsumi finally accepts the offer to join the Assassin's guild.

He is first paired up with Akame to be trained by her and also share her duties as well(cooking). While working with her, the two bond as they learn more about each other. Soon, he is given his first official mission to assassinate Ogre the Demon, while Leone and Akame deal with a corrupt merchant named Gamal. Tatsumi deceives Ogre and lures him into an abandoned alley, where he tells him he wants to join the Imperial Guard, but once Ogre turns his back on Tatsumi, he attacks. During the fight, Ogre threatens to kill the client who hired Night Raid, as well as the rest of her family in revenge. A very angry Tatsumi is then able to overpower Ogre and ultimately kill the corrupted Imperial. Afterwards he states that he didn't take any wounds at all. Upon returning to the hideout, Akame promptly strips him to see if he was lying to save his pride, and is greatly relieved when she found that he was not lying, saying that she has lost many friends from poison, because they didn't report their wounds.

He is next put under Mein who pulls rank over him the whole time he is paired with her. He learns more about the Empire and the other Night Raid members and begins to form a friendship with her, although she still often teases him. He remains paired with her when they go on their next mission: to kill a relative of the Prime Minister; Iwokura. While Mein kills Iwokura with one shot the remaining members of Night Raid are left to deal with his bodyguards. Tatsumi and Mein retreat as her job is done and Tatsumi is not strong enough to face the bodyguards. While leaving he learns why Mein fights against the Empire. One of the Guards however escapes and attacks Mein, and Tatsumi latches on to the attacker, telling Mein to take the shot(at close range). When she starts to object, he tells her he has faith in her. Mein kills the attacker, and is about to accept Tatsumi before he hits her on the forehead, complaining that she nearly killed him as well. The two return to the hideout, having grown a bit closer after this experience.

Tatsumi is then paired with Akame and ordered to recover a Teigu from the serial killer Zank The Beheader. He learns from Akame about the weapon relics known as "Teigu". He is then tricked by Zank who creates an illusion of Sayo to lure Tatsumi to him, and he is separated from Akame in the process. While Tatsumi holds his ground against Zank, the serial killer uses his Teigu Spectator to give him the upper hand, and he proves too much for Tatsumi, Akame however arrives just in time to save Tatsumi, and defeats Zank with her superior speed and will. The pair return with the Teigu to the hideout. Still unable to accept the death of his friends, Tatsumi is found at his friends' gravesite by Akame, who tells him to help her get dinner ready.

He then is placed under Schere, who at first disliked him but is unable to recall why. She trains him by making him swim in heavy armor. He learns why she fights against the Empire and why she is in charge of training (he enjoys the last reason). Later at a Night Raid meeting, Boss had him to try on Spectator, and the Teigu rejects him as a user, but not before Tatsumi uses its special ability to see Schere, Mein, and Akame in their underwear. He asks if there is Teigu that can bring the dead back to life and is deeply hurt when the other Night Raid members tell him that there is no such Teigu. Schere notices that there is deeper reason to this and finds him at the graves of his friends, trying to hold back tears, stating that he had hoped there was a Teigu able to bring the dead back. She hugs him and tells him that it is okay to cry. Schere comforts him, holding him in her arms. He thanks her for her kindness, and from that point the two become closer. He is finally able to let go of his friends and accepts their deaths. Next, Tatsumi is placed with Leone and sent with her to the Capital to complete a mission. He learns that she is very popular in her home district. The two are separated when a gang of men she had swindled out of coin come after her. He then meets Seryuu, who helps him find the bar he was ordered to find, and reunites with Leone there. They enter the targeted building and witness a gang kill a drugged prostitute, a girl that Leone knew from the streets. Together, they eliminate all the gangsters in the building. When he asks Leone what will happen to the girls, she replies that it isn't their problem, but then tells him that she knows a doctor who will look after the wounded girls if she asks him to. Tatsumi notes her kindness with a smile and she "marks him" as hers. Tatsumi wonders how the other team (Schere and Mein) are doing.

Mein returns to the hideout, sharing the bad news of Schere's demise at the hands of Seryuu Yubikitas. Tatsumi and the rest of Night Raid are devastated and enraged. Tatsumi begins to leave to get revenge on Seryuu, but is stopped by Braht, who tells him to stop acting childish. He is told to help Akame with cooking dinner while Mein recovers. Still in distress himself, Tatsumi wonders how Akame can stay calm and collected when one of their comrades has been killed.

Tatsumi is sent Leone to kill the Kobores Brothers under orders from the Revolutionary Army HQ. The two complete their mission, slaughtering the brothers, and as they are leaving, Tatsumi hears a child's voice calling for his father, who was one of the brothers. Angry at himself, Tatsumi leaves quickly. The next morning, Tatsumi attempts to clean the bloodstain from his sword while thinking about how the boy only saw the Kobores brother as a good father, instead of the villain he actually was. Leone shows up and tells him that he could scrub the sword for his entire life, but the stain of blood would never fade. While she tries to cheer him up, he asks where she got her Teigu and why she fights the Empire. While he finds that her reasons give him strength, he is still troubled. Later that night as he goes to eat, he witnesses Akame preparing Schere's favorite food to offer to her grave, and Tatsumi tells her that he admires the way she can remain so unaffected, and that losing a friend is something that he will have to get used to like her. Akame grabs Tatsumi, and tearfully tells him that she will never get used to losing her friends. Tatsumi realizes that she was just as affected as he was, and swears to her that he will never put her through the pain of losing him.

He begins training with Akame with a new determination, unwilling to stop until he becomes strong enough to live up to his promise with her. He is interrupted by Braht, who offers to train Tatsumi so he can become stronger, Tatsumi accepts and goes with Braht to Mt.Fake, where he and Braht fight against tree beasts as part of his training. The two bond as they put their lives on the line battling the danger beasts of the mountain. When the two return to the hideout, Night Raid has a meeting to discuss the Prime Minister, who has begun to order his political enemies to be killed, simultaneously using Night Raid as a scapegoat and blaming them for the assassinations. Boss also notes that Esdese has returned to the Capital, having finished with her campaign against the Northern Tribes. Lastly, Boss notes that she has lost contact with the Night Raid away team, and worries that they have been wiped out. Braht and Tatsumi are then assigned the task of protecting another of the Prime Minister's political enemies, who is aboard the cruise ship, "Ryuusen".

Tatsumi and Braht arrive at the luxury liner and board, Braht uses Incursio's stealth ability to scout out the area for potential attackers. The Three Beasts arrive at the same time and begin to search for their target. Tatsumi learns of Braht's past, and the reason why he fights the Empire. Braht then must retreat to the interior of the ship as the time limit on Incursio's stealth ability had been reached. Braht then leaves for the interior of the ship, leaving Tatsumi in charge of watching for the assassins. While he is gone, Tatsumi is weakened by the Teigu Scream's music, and the crew and most of the guests are put to sleep. Tatsumi is attacked by Daidara, whose Teigu gives him a major advantage, but Tatsumi is able to hold his own until Braht shows up. Braht tells Tatsumi to watch his battle closely and memorize his movements, as the other members of the Three Beasts arrive. Braht evades their attacks, leaping high into the air, knocking out Nyau, and quickly uses Neuntote to cut Daidara in half, killing him instantly. He then begins to fight with River, his former superior from his days with the Empire. Still able to fight, Nyau attempts to play Scream to give River an advantage but is stopped by Tatsumi. While Braht fights River, Tatsumi keeps Nyau from interfering but is unable to keep him occupied for the whole fight and Nyau defeats him, stopping Braht from landing the killing blow on River. While Braht ends up defeating River, he is poisoned and wounded. Tatsumi grabs Braht and attempts to escape with him, but is stopped by Nyau who uses his trump card, growing to full adult size. Braht entrusts Tatsumi with his sword, saying that it is Incursio's key and to use it. Tatsumi's will is so strong that the Teigu's core evolves to match him. With this new power, Tatsumi kills Nyau in one punch. Braht succumbs due to his wounds and the deadly poison that River used in their fight. Tatsumi sobs as his friend and mentor passes away before him. He then takes the rest of the Teigu along with him back to the Night Raid hideout.

Some time after this event, Meins injures were completely healed, and she immediately began to train in order to become stronger and avenge Schere. She finds both Akame and Leone helping Tatsumi and Rabac train, sitting on their backs as they do pushups. Tatsumi tells her that he is training so he can use Incursio more effectively, and to be able to use its stealth ability for a longer period of time. Rabac adds that he and Tatsumi are now the only men left in Night Raid, so he better start getting serious. Boss arrives to tell everyone that she is leaving for The Revolutionary Army HQ, in order to hand over the Teigu that Tatsumi gathered. Before leaving, she places Akame in charge, and offers Tatsumi some words of comfort, telling him that he is strong. Leone tells Tatsumi that Braht had faith in his abilities, and was sure that he would someday become extremely powerful.

Tatsumi heads to the capital hide-out, which is disguised as a bookstore owned by Rabac. The two head down the stairway to the secret room to find an intoxicated Leone already there. Rabac informs him that Mein's face has been put up on wanted posters, meaning that they are now the only ones left who can walk though the streets of the capital by day. Tatsumi asks about the new police group formed called the "Jaegers", and their leader Esdese. Rabac tells him that a few years ago there was a group of savage tribes in the south-west of the Empire that rose up in rebellion. Many thought that the Empire would win due to the fact that the tribe only had 10,000 soldiers while the Emperial military sent 120,000. However, the environment proved the tribes' greatest weapon, as the outskirts of the Empire were a harsh environment, and the soldiers were born near the capital, with no experience of such unforgiving terrain. When all seemed lost, the Empire sent General Najenda and Esdese to reinforce the army. Esdese froze a lake that had effectively cut off the army from the tribes' main village, and using the frozen surface as a bridge, the forces crossed over and defeated the tribe. Esdese then took the captured leaders, and forced them to watch while she had her forces perform mass rape and murder of the tribes civilians, to discourage rebellion in the future. Tatsumi however was confused by this, and stated that the incident would only create future rebellion, Rabac tells him that future rebellion is exactly what Esdese wanted.

Rabac tells Tatsumi that the Empire is holding a tournament, in which the winner will obtain a large cash reward, and that he should enter so he can send the money back to his home village. Esdese oversees the Tournament personally, which the Empire had staged in order to find a new user for the Teigu Ecstasy. Tatsumi enters the Tournament under the guise of a blacksmith from the countryside, and wins the tournament, showing his great skill, fearlessness and confident smile. Unknowingly fulfilling all of Esdese's requirements and capturing her heart.

Esdese herself came down to meet Tatsumi and give him his reward. She places a collar around his neck to the shock of everyone present, and drags him off (before knocking him out) to the Jaegers' headquarters.

At Jaeger's headquarters, Esdese informs the rest of the group that Tatsumi will be a new member and her partner in love. Wave and Ran however question why he is chained and wearing a collar, to which she replies that it is to show people that he is her lover, Esdese is convinced to take the collar off, and Tatsumi tells her he has no interest in working for the Empire. Esdese however shrugs this off and tells him that she will make him obedient in time. Seryuu then interrupts, telling them that it is a lot to take in, Tatsumi feels a flash of anger but holds him emotions in line to not blow his cover. A messenger arrives to tell Esdese that they have located the hideout of a group of Bandits.

While the rest of Jaeger attack the bandit camp, Esdese and Tatsumi watch from a nearby cliff, Tatsumi thinks of escape but Esdese holds his hand, making it impossible. After the fight concludes, she tells him that he will sleep with her in her room. Tatsumi decides he will try to persuade Esdese to side with him and the Revolutionary Army, however this fails as she insists on serving the Empire. Esdese sternly retorts that it is she who will change and control him and not vice-versa and uses him as a human pillow for the rest of the night, making him so nervous he couldn't sleep.

In the morning, Wave notes that he must have had a rough night, Tatsumi tells him that he was so nervous he couldn't rest. He notices Kurome eating her candy, and is reminded of Akame. He tells her she looks similar to the girl on the wanted posters. She explains that the two are sisters and vows that she will kill her. Tatsumi, Esdese, Wave, and Kurome then head to Mt.Fake to hunt Danger Beasts, Wave and Tatsumi are paired up. While walking along a mountain path, Tatsumi silently remembers the times he spent with Braht on this very mountain. Wave tells Tatsumi that they seem to have alot in common, and seem to deal with the same type of comrades. The two then encounter a group of tree beasts and begin to fight them. Using the confusion of battle, Tatsumi manages to activate Incursio and slips away. After dispatching the last of the Tree Beasts, Wave notices Tatsumi's absence, and fearfully imagines the punishment in store for him if Esdese finds out he let Tatsumi escape. Wave activates Grand Chariot and begins to search for Tatsumi. The two encounter each other, but are each unable to recognize the other due to their armor Teigu. Wave recognizes Incursio as a Teigu in the possession of Night Raid, and attacks. Tatsumi is unwilling to fight Wave, and instead focuses on attempting to escape. Wave taunts Tatsumi, telling him that he's heard of Night Raid, and that they are villains who murder innocent people, which Tatsumi angrily denies. Wave attacks Tatsumi, sending him flying into a river. Tatsumi uses this chance to activate Incursio's stealth ability, fooling Wave into thinking that her had floating downriver to escape, when he was actually on the river's bank. Tatsumi encounters a danger beast but is too wounded to fight back, but he is saved by Akame who tells him she waited at the cities' main gates and followed him secretly after he left, the two become close but are interrupted by Rabac, who notes that his death wouldn't have been so bad as he would have been the only man left. Akame, however, tells Tatsumi that he was actually very worried.

Tatsumi later reports everything he has learned about the Jaegers. He tells the rest of Night Raid that Jaeger matches them skill for skill and as such numbered them as they are. He is also very worried about Esdese as she is very powerful, with the element of surprise with her as well as they have no idea of the limitations of her power. Akame however reassures everyone that they will kill her. With this, the Night Raid celebrate his return.

Unknown to Tatsumi however Dr. Stylish had tracked him back to the Night Raid hide-out.

Dr. Styish uses his own personal army Team Stylish to attack the Night Raid Hide-Out. During this attack Tatsumi busts out and attack the infanry head on decimating it, he notes that soldiers he is fighting belong to Doctor Stylish and that he must be working alone, then incounters Kaku. Upon seeing that he has Schere's Teigu, Ecstacy he becomes deeply anger and instead of fight Kaku he attempts to retrive the Teigu become injured as he does so. Mein arrives and kills Kaku, finally bring Schere's Teigu back to where it belongs.

He is joined by an injured and furious Leone who saves Mein and kills Trooma. Najenda soon arrives and the rest of Night Raid escape from the Headquarters, they are however affected by a poisen gas that renders them immobile with only Tatsumi being able to fight. Just as everyone is in trouble, Susanoo comes in to help everyone out. After Stylish injects himself with a drug that transforms him into a Danger Beast, he helps Akame to get close to Stylish on the Danger Beast's head where she kills him. He stands with the rest of Night Raid as Stylish lays dead on the ground.

Equipment And Skills
Teigu: Tatsumi, at first, does not have a Teigu, but later inherits one from Braht, becoming the successor of



Incursio. During Tatsumi's first activation of his Teigu, Tatsumi forces the demon armor to evolve to match his movements and battle-style. Soon after, Tatsumi disciplines himself to new extends in order to fully master his new Teigu, unlocking its abilities at a staggering rate. Thanks to Braht's training on Mt. Fake, Tatsumi is able to develop a sixth sense, becoming more aware of his surroundings. After the one month time-skip, Leone comments on how Tatsumi was getting closer and closer to Braht's level of strength and proficiency after seeing him materialize and utilize Neuntote, the spear/helberd auxillary weapon.

Even before obtaining a Teigu, Tatsumi was a force to be reckoned with due to his already honed battle skills. Having been taught swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat by an ex-military official since a young age, Tatsumi has since improved, being able to take much large and experienced opponents down with ease.

From the beginning, Tatsumi is shown wielding a short sword and is his primary choice of weaponry. Tatsumi's skill with the sword is so great that he is able to defeat opponents as dangerous Captain Ogre while also being able to hold his own against Teigu users like Zank and Nyau for a good amount of time without having a Teigu of his own. Tatsumi is also skilled enough to survive longer than most when faced against Akame in his first appearance. Tatsumi later becomes capable of using a spear to where he can split two Giant Lizard Danger Beasts in half from their mouth to the tip of their tail in a single movement.

After having donned Incursio for the first time, Tatsumi begins to rely on hand-to-hand combat more often then he used to, utilizing the devestating physical strength his armor gives him to his advantage. Upon training his body in order to master his Teigu, Tatsumi becomes able to defeat a member of the "Temple of the Imperial Fist" despite the difference in both size and experience with ease without having to use Incursio. Tatsumi's overall strength becomes so high that while using Incursio, he can easily obliterate a boulder many times his own size.

Tatsumi is an all-around fighter with a mountain load of potential that is noticed by Leone, Braht and Esdese among others. Leone is the first to notice Tatsumi's potential and recommends him as a new recruit. Braht believes that Tatsumi will someday surpass him and leave him in the dust. Esdese believes that with enough training, Tatsumi can become general-class.

Other than his fighting abilities, Tatsumi is capable of using the forge to repair and create weapons. Although his skills at blacksmithing are only at a beginner's level, it is still used as his cover while in the capital as shown when he is announced as 'Tatsumi the Blacksmith' during Esdese's competition. Tatsumi is also shown to be a very capable chef, having done some of the cooking for Night Raid at the beginning of his career.

Relationships
Tatsumi, as the main character of the manga, has some sort of relationship with almost every character in the manga. For that reason, only those with a profound impact on him will be listed. As of the most recent chapter, Tatsumi has not showed any romantic interest in any other character.

Leone: Tatsumi and Leone have the closest relationship among Night Raid due to the fact that Leone is the reason that Tatsumi was inaugurated in the first place. In a short time, the two of them become close friends, able to laugh and spend time together. Leone seems to develope some romantic feelings for Tatsumi, calling him "cute" on several occasions, constantly shoving him into her breasts(which could argueably be for comic relief) and at one point, Leone literally "marks" him as her future man. She has also stated that she would not lose Tatsumi to Esdese at one point.

Braht: Tatsumi sees Braht as a mentor and older brother, calling him "aniki". Soon after their first meeting, the two soon become incredibly close and although Tatsumi did not agree with Braht's attractions they form a strong "brotherly" bond. When Braht is later killed by River, Tatsumi is devastated and trains hard everyday to live up to Braht's expectations and master the Teigu entrusted to him. Braht's teachings have made a significant and permanent impact on Tatsumi as an assassin, physically and emotionally. Thanks to Braht's teachings, Tatsumi is now better able to control his emotions regardless the situation, shown when he was captured by Esdese and had to remain calm in order to keep his identity a secret.

Akame: While at first feeling very uncomfortable around Akame due to her rather distant behavior and the fact that she nearly killed him at first, Tatsumi later comes to see Akame as a close and very caring person who hates to see her friends hurt. The two become close friends over time.

Schere: Although at first offput by Schere's blunt death threat, Tatsumi quickly warms up to her and she comforts him while he was mourning the deaths of his two friends, Sayo and Ieyasu. After her death in battle, Tatsumi is overcome with rage and desires to seek revenge and is only stopped by the other members of Night Raid. Although the time they spent together was short, they developed a close friendship with Schere seemingly developed some "motherly affection".

Esdese: The sadistic ice queen discovers Tatsumi when he competes in(and wins) the fighting tournament that she had set up. Meeting the general's criteria and with a pure smile, Esdese falls in love with him at first sight. Soon after his first match, she instantly declares Tatsumi as hers and drags him off with her. After the second meeting, Tatsumi manages to escape and finally concludes that the next time they meet, they would surely be enemies.

Sayo and Ieyasu: Although only appearing briefly in the manga, most of which was in the flashbacks, it has been seen that Tatsumi is very close with his childhood friends and they have a large impact on Tatsumi's decision of whether to side with the Empire or the Revolutionary Army. The death of his friends was Tatsumi's initial drive in becoming an assassin and wanting to change the corrupted government.

Rabac: Despite having a relationship that is mostly used for comical relief in the story, such a Rabac's comical jealousy of Tatsumi being a "lady killer". Still, it is easily seen that Tatsumi and Rabac have become very close over time and worry over each others' well-being. Rabac sometimes takes advantage of Tatsumi's innocence, such as sending him to peep on Chelsea while bathing in order to assess the danger.

Chelsea: While at first feeling that Chelsea was a little harsh and cold when she said that Night Raid was too "soft" and that it led to the deaths of both Schere and Braht, Tatsumi realizes that she meant no harm and was only worried about the teams well-being. Tatsumi respects her abilities and knowledge of battle and become relatively close after a short period of time. It is hinted that Chelsea may have developed romantic feelings for Tatsumi as she notices that her attention is mostly on him (causing her to blush).

Susanoo: Although only having recently joined Night Raid, Tatsumi instantly warms up to him, referring to him as "Suu" like most of the other members. Susanoo has been seen training Tatsumi during the one month time-skip in order for Tatsumi to hone his skills.

Trivia

 * Tatsumi's name means "Sleeping Dragon". The first creature he is shown fighting is an Earth Dragon, which could be a possible reference to his name.


 * His parallel in the Jaeger is Wave.
 * Tatsumi is apparently a fan of the manga Hatsukiai, which is published in Gangan Joker, the same publication that Akame Ga Kill! appears in.