Run was a member of the Jaegers and Esdeath's right-hand man. After his death, Run's corpse served as one of Kurome's puppets, up until Wave shattered Kurome's Teigu, releasing him from Yatsufusa's binds.
Appearance
Run was a young man with fair blond hair and golden eyes. He wore a white robe on top of a black shirt and pants with a brown belt, a feather pin behind his left ear and a collar-like accessory on his neck. In his first few appearances, he was seen carrying a book.
He was also shown to have a winter outfit with a white jacket and a scarf, while he also wore formal suits on several occasions. During his days as a teacher, he wore a suit with a vest and a cloak, as well as a pair of glasses.
Personality
Run was calm, collective and polite. He had never been shown to raise his voice or give in to anger, and was determined to make his goals a reality. He was not above using dishonorable methods to reach his goals, such as seducing women and deceiving his enemies to gain their trust; as seen when he was pretending to try to get into Wild Hunt by faking humbleness to its members and bribing them while in truth, he was gathering incriminating evidence to use against them.
While being merciless, if not cruel, towards his enemies, Run was willing to defend civilians, and clearly detested Wild Hunt, hiding his anger regarding the public execution of the Imperial Fist disciples. He also was very caring to his fellow Jaegers, and was present during the mourning of his fallen comrades. He grew especially close to Wave and Kurome, and was willing to risk his life to protect them. Even after his reanimation, he still showed his yearning to care for them, proving that it was one of his strongest desires.
History
Sometime before the start of the series, Run was a school teacher in a peaceful town near Joyou. One day, he returned from an errand to find all of his students had been brutally slaughtered.
However, because the town wanted to keep its reputation intact, it covered up the incident rather than investigate it. Seeing this as a problem in the Empire, Run worked his way up the military (via seducing the town's mayor) in order to start changing it, as well as to find the culprit behind the slaughter.
After his introduction as part of the Jaegers, he soon began serving as Esdeath's personal aide. He located Dr. Stylish's secret lab under Esdeath's orders. Sometime later, when the Jaegers received a report of Night Raid making a move, Run was teamed up with Esdeath and Seryu, and accompanied her on their mission to attack Najenda, who was later revealed to be a decoy.
Run and his group eventually made their way south to meet up with Wave's group. They arrived to find Bols dead and Kurome grievously injured. Run proceeded to encourage a distraught Wave that he had tried his hardest and had at least managed to protect Kurome. Once all together, Run and Esdeath contemplated Night Raid's strategy, accurately deducing that Najenda had outwitted them this time.
Run was later assigned with the rest of the Jaegers to protect the Path of Peace official Bolic. Run was tasked with reconnaissance of the surrounding area, where he encountered Akame. He engaged her briefly before deducing that her plan was to slowly lure him in and then kill him. Run opted to abandon the battle and warned Esdeath of Night Raid's location. When Night Raid began their mission to assassinate Bolic, Run attacked Mine, Akame and Lubbock's Air Manta, shooting the group down. He was injured by Mine's attack and was forced to withdraw.
A few months after the mission Run and Wave visited Bols' grave to talk to his family. When they returned to the Capital, they witnessed the mangled bodies of the Imperial Fist disciples, killed by Wild Hunt. Despite Wave's rage and his own inner anger, Run held Wave back from attacking Syura, warning him that the latter was the Prime Minister's son.
Later, after Wave won against Syura in a one-on-one fist fight and Kurome treated his injuries, Run told them about his goal to change the Empire from the inside and about his past. That night, Kurome intercepted him on his way to the Wild Hunt HQ, revealing that she was aware from the conversation that the culprit behind the slaughter was in Wild Hunt. Agreeing that the group brought no benefit to the Empire, they decided to work together to destroy it.
Run lured Champ out of the base as Kurome prevented Cosmina and Enshin from intervening. Run, with the help of Natala and Doya, managed to pierce Champ with multiple feathers including one in his eye and proceeded to brutally torture him, leaving him to die. He then rushed to the aid of Kurome who got cornered by Enshin and Cosmina; however, both got trapped in a whirlwind caused by Champ's elemental Teigu, and Run sustained a lot of damage protecting Kurome during a fire explosion. Champ used one of his orbs to try and kill Run, who deflected it with Mastema's Trump Card, redirecting the orb back at Champ, killing him.
When Night Raid arrived on the scene to fight Wild Hunt members, Run carried Kurome to safety with his remaining strength; as he accepted his imminent death with a smile, a mentally unstable Kurome rejected the thought of her comrade dying. She stabbed Run with her Teigu, killing and reanimating him as a corpse puppet. In his final thoughts, Run questioned the extent of Kurome's psyche being warped and once again lamented the corrupted state of The Empire.
Later that night, Kurome showed Run to Wave, who was greatly saddened by his friend's demise and lashed out at Kurome; despite being a mindless puppet, Run was able to intervene, stepping between the two. It was also revealed that Run successfully investigated the Danger Beast incident caused by Syura which was used by Esdeath to disband Wild Hunt.
Run was later used by Kurome on multiple occasions while fighting off the rebels. During Kurome's battle against Akame, Run shielded the former from a fatal blow despite her not giving him a command to do so. His lifeless body remained on the battlefield as Wave took control of Mastema; later, Run was buried with his feather pin placed on top of his grave.
Equipment and Skills
Run's Teigu is called "Thousand-Mile Flight: Mastema". Its basic skill gives Run a pair of wings that allow him to fly and unleash piercing feathers to strike foes. It also has a trump card, which allows him to reflect attacks.
He was shown to have quick reflexes, both while flying and in hand-to-hand combat, being able to keep pace with Esdeath's initial attacks when she comes to test the Jaegers. He had shown a certain degree of endurance as he was able to stand up, fight and fly even after being fatally injured in an explosion and falling from a great height. He was intelligent and capable of deductive reasoning on par with Esdeath; he also proved to be skilled in infiltration and intelligence gathering, as well as investigating crimes.
Trivia
- In Chapter 34, Run was depicted with green eyes.
- According to the Takahiro's postscript for volume 4 of the manga, Run's hobby was folding origami.
- Run is the only character to die in the manga, but survives in the anime.
V· T·E | Jaegers |
Faction: | The Empire |
Leader: | General Esdeath |
Members: | Run · Wave · Kurome |
Deceased: | Bols · Run · Seryu Ubiquitous · Dr. Stylish |
Teigu: | Demon's Extract · Grand Chariot · Mastema · Yatsufusa |
Lost Teigu: | Hekatonkheires · Perfector · Rubicante |
Puppets: | Apeman · Desta-Ghoul · Doya · Henter · Kaiser Frog · Natala · Rokugoh · Run · Wall |