Kanji Tatsumi

Kanji Tatsumi is a high school delinquent and yakuza lackey from Terra's Chinatown.

Appearance
Standing at 6 feet (183 cm) tall, Kanji has a rather imposing figure for his young age. His build is trim but it's sculpted with muscle, particularly in his chest and arms. He has an all-around rough look to him, his skin covered in scars gained from street fights (an especially notable one at his left temple), numerous piercings, and a tattoo of a skull-and-crossbones on his left arm. He keeps his short hair bleached platinum blonde and swept back away from his face. His expression is typically frozen in what seems to be a permanent scowl. He makes his own clothes, which means they're usually covered in metal spikes and generally more badass than anything most kids would wear around Terra.

Personality
Outwardly, Kanji isn't all that different from your typical hooligan. He's loud, abrasive, hot-tempered, violent, and not all that bright. He's used to solving all of his problems with his fists and has a hard time behaving himself even in the best of times. This offensive (or is it really defensive?) attitude serves to desperately conceal a softer side to Kanji. In reality he has a kind heart and wants nothing more than to protect his friends and family. Beyond that, he has some rather "effeminate" traits which he's terrified of revealing to the world. Namely that he's actually very artistic and loves to sew, and also that he finds himself attracted to some men, leading to a suppressed suspicion that he might be gay. He buries that side of himself and refuses to acknowledge it, to the point of overcompensating. He's obsessed with being a "real man".

Abilities
Physically, Kanji is very strong. He's had years of practice beating the crap out of gang members, and when he's not using his bare hands, he loves to pound the shit out of people and/or monsters with large blunt objects such as (seriously) school desks. Inside the TV, Kanji also commands Take-Mikazuchi, his Persona, with an affinity for lightning-based and physical attacks. However in NeoGenesis, his Persona is once again locked within his subconscious and cannot currently be used.

Combat aside, Kanji is extremely artsy and creative, although most people never learn this about him. He's an expert tailor and also very skilled at knitting. He's good with his hands in general, really. His work can often be very meticulous and detailed, and he dabbles in all sorts of crafts.

Canon History
Kanji was born in the small town of Inaba, Japan, on January 19th, 1996. His parents owned and operated a textile store in the town's shopping district, and from them Kanji inherited a love of fabrics and sewing which would lead to future torment and mockery by his peers at school. Even Kanji's father seemed to think his hobbies were too effeminate. Shortly before he died, Kanji's father told him to "be a real man". He was insulted by those words at the time, since he believed it to be a criticism, but they haunted him for years to come.

After his father's death, both Kanji's personality and appearance changed. He focused on making himself as masculine as possible and pushed back any habits or desires which might be considered even remotely girly. He became notorious for getting into fights when he was in middle school and was well-acquainted with the local police by the time he got into high school.

Kanji's name became associated with gang violence when he started beating up the town's biker gangs because the noise they made disturbed his mother's sleep. Nearly everyone mistakenly believed he was a member of one of these gangs, and he was even featured on a news special about them.His fifteen minutes of fame on TV led to his being targeted by the serial killer behind the mysterious murders in Inaba during his freshman year of high school. Kanji was kidnapped and thrown into the TV world, where he was confronted by his Shadow. With all of his repressed insecurities broadcast on the Midnight Channel, he refused to accept the part of him that was sensitive, effeminate, and homosexual. Because he denied it, the Shadow turned on him and attacked. If not for the intervention of Souji Seta and the rest of the investigation team, Kanji would have been killed. When the battle was over, Kanji finally understood that he had to face that part of himself. He accepted the Shadow in his heart, and from it his Persona was born.

After his rescue, Kanji expressed interest in joining his senpai in their quest to hunt down the serial killer. He was welcomed into the investigation team and throughout the rest of the year aided in several rescue missions.

False Memories
Kanji's life in NeoGenesis greatly resembles his life in Inaba up to the point of his kidnapping. His widowed mother runs a traditional Japanese textile shop in Terra's Chinatown and Kanji attends high school sometimes and tangles with the law constantly. However, rather than fighting gangs, Kanji has actually joined up with Kyouya Hibari's yakuza as a low-ranking thug, as a way to help his mother pay the bills and avoid having to pay yakuza tributes for protection. Kanji has no memory of confronting his Shadow, thus he does not have access to his Persona at this time.

Memory Events

 * (April Fools 2009) Remembered playing King's Game with Teddie.


 * (Mid-June 2009) Saw Yosuke call him gay on television.

Logs

 * It's just an ordinary day in the Abyss but Kanji has to be a hero.


 * Getting shitfaced, sake and lots of singing.


 * Does Yoh always steal from his friends? Probably.


 * Breaking other people's bones, what else?


 * A little detention never hurt no one.


 * Kanji touched the quicksilver flakes. Don't drop the soap.


 * Orders will be given and a notice.


 * Kanji and Gawain do their respective, shitty criminal jobs.


 * Two mafia and a swordsman eating out.


 * In which our heroes learn of their plight.


 * The game begins.

Relationships

 * Hidan
 * Kyouya Hibari
 * Deidara
 * Souji Kazama
 * Yoh Takami
 * Mikazuki Shinonome
 * Nagi Kengamine
 * Nishi Jouichirou
 * Belial