Who was the One-Eyed King in Tokyo Ghoul? (2024)

Tokyo Ghoul is a manga series written and drawn by mangaka Sui Ishida. Tokyo Ghoul follows the life of Ken Kaneki as he is transformed into a one-eyed ghoul in an unexpected surgical procedure.

Throughout his interactions with other ghouls and members of the mysterious organization Aogiri Tree, Kaneki hears whispers of the existence of a one-eyed ghoul known only as the "One-Eyed King." Although one would expect the king to be the mysterious half-ghoul born of Yoshimura and a human, the King's true identity is more complicated.

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Eto Yoshimura was born as a one-eyed ghoul; half-ghoul and half-human. Her father, Yoshimura, had to give her up at a young age to protect her from the corrupt CCG and their ghoul investigators. Yoshimura entrusted Eto to the enigmatic ghoul known as Noroi, raising her in the labyrinthian 24th ward. Eto grew to have a deep disdain for the entire world around her; much like Kaneki and Amon, she knew the world was wrong in their relationship with ghouls. She would go on to create a name for herself at the CCG by killing numerous high-ranking investigators and breaking into Cochlea. During a confrontation with Kishio Arima, the strongest ghoul investigator, Eto expressed her hatred of the world around her and declared that the ghoul who killed Arima would prove to be a beacon of hope for her entire race. To the surprise of Eto, Arima was pleased with this idea and began collaborating with her in secrecy to create a ghoul that could bring hope to the world.

Following this, Eto adopted a human persona; from a disheveled appearance to a chronic habit of oversleeping, Eto would act out life as a human author named Sen Takatsuki. She released a total of ten books before being caught and captured by the CCG. According to the analysis done by Haise Sasaki, it was correctly inferred that Eto is a young woman who lost hope in the world long ago. Of the ten books she released, her last, "King Bileygr," had the largest impact and would serve to shine more light on the identity of the "One-Eyed King." In the novel, a one-eyed ghoul referred to only by "Nameless," leads a revolution to overthrow the oppressive and corrupt human organization that is secretly cooperating with ghouls to control the world. Obviously, Takatsuki's goal was not only to inspire the One-Eyed King but also to shine the spotlight on the shady ghoulish backroom dealings taking place under the authority of the Washuu Clan. The Washuu Clan was commonly known as the head of the CCG and had even more authority than the Prime Minister at times. Following the whistleblowing in Takatsuki's book, numerous ghoul rights groups were formed, and many began to question the legitimacy of the Washuu clan.

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To understand more about King Bileygr, it is imperative to have an understanding of the Norse god Odin. Sitting on his throne, Hlidskjalf, Odin looked upon the world and felt the insatiable urge to know more, especially knowledge that was hidden from him. Despite being the king of the gods, Odin feared his own end, which was foretold to happen during Ragnarok, where he would be swallowed by Fenrir, the giant wolf. Despite knowing how he would die, Odin did not know when and this terrified him. In the Prose Edda, Odin traveled to the world tree, Yggdrasil, and stopped at one of three giant roots. Under this one giant root is a well belonging to Mimir, the god of wisdom, that bestows profound wisdom on whoever takes a drink. In a bid to acquire that knowledge, Odin sacrificed one of his eyes by placing it into the well in exchange for a drink of it. This act of sacrifice would serve to give him the moniker "the one-eyed god."

To get a better idea of just how far Odin will go to quench his thirst for knowledge, it is also necessary to understand how the runes of ancient Norse were discovered. In order to gain even more knowledge, Odin performed a horrific ritual of self-sacrifice. In the Elder Adda, Odin pierced himself with his own spear, Gungnir, then hanged himself from Yggdrasil for nine nights until he envisioned a set of 18 magical runes. After seeing these ruins, he fell from the tree and began using them for magical purposes. The themes of losing an eye in gain of something else and self-sacrifice are shared with the One-Eyed king(s) of Tokyo Ghoul.

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Originally the mantle of the One-Eyed King belonged to Hishio Arima. In a surprising twist, Arima reveals that he has been experimented upon by the CCG. As a result, his aging process, his reflexes, and his thinking have all been accelerated. This means that although he may look young, he has actually aged rapidly and is close to succumbing to the Hayflick limit, a.k.a. aging. This accelerated aging noticeably manifested in the form of glaucoma and subsequent blindness in one of his eyes. This blindness served as the inspiration behind the King Bilegyr story and served to connect Arima to Odin. He reveals to Sasaki that he is actually the leader of Aogiri Tree along with Eto, and his goal has been to manufacture a ghoul that could surpass him, kill him, and inspire hope for other ghouls. As a result of the necessity to gain notoriety at the CCG, Arima had to slaughter countless ghouls despite himself being a gentle and kind soul. This self-sacrifice also reinforces the link between Arima and Odin. Although Arima is the One-Eyed King, he was never meant to hold the mantle. The true One-Eyed King would be Arima's successor, who managed to surpass and defeat him, thus finally inspiring hope for ghouls.

After witnessing Kaneki's level of self-sacrifice in his attempts to protect his friends during the Anteiku Raid in the last volume of Tokyo Ghoul, Arima would go on to guarantee his safety and security in Cochlea while he prepares to groom him into a suitable successor in the first few volumes of Tokyo Ghoul:re. The fact that Kaneki only had one kakugan served to make the One-Eyed Odin connection and his role as "One-Eyed King" purely coincidental. When Kaneki made it clear that he would never kill Arima, Hishio took his own life, explaining that he was dying of accelerated aging and needed a successor to take the mantle of One-Eyed King for the sake of the ghouls and humanity at large. Thus Kaneki was forced into adopting the mantle of One-Eyed King and would serve to be Arima's successor. Therefore, the true identity of the One-Eyed King was not Eto Yoshimuro but rather it was Hishio Arima. Once Arima died, the title was passed on to Kaneki.