| Izaya Orihara | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Age |
23 |
|
Birthday |
May 4 |
|
Height |
175 cm (5'9") |
|
Weight |
58 kg (128 lbs) |
|
Blood Type |
O |
|
Occupation |
Information Broker |
|
Affiliation |
Hive |
|
Aliases |
Kanra, Chrome, Kufuutarou (功夫太郎), Nakura, Kwiz Kid |
|
Family |
Torakichi Orihara (paternal grandfather) Natsu Orihara (paternal grandmother) Shirou Orihara (father) Kyouko Orihara (mother) Mairu and Kururi (younger sisters) |
Izaya Orihara (折原 臨也, Orihara Izaya) is a powerful and skilled underground information broker. He usually gives information for his own enjoyment, and he claims to love the entire human race.
Character History[]
Up until middle school in Raijin Academy, Izaya was a model student: the vice president of the elementary student council, the star at sports meetings, and winning independent research awards, poetry awards, slogan awards, and participating in essay contests. This, combined with his good looks and a respectable family, made him well known, especially with his girl classmates. However, Izaya was not particularly loved or hated since he went through school life in a withdrawn state, preferring to observe everything from afar, carrying out his life philosophy to be 'neither too close nor too far' from the others.
During afternoon breaks and such, other students would talk in the classroom or play in the courtyard, but since Izaya would always be in the library, he gave people the impression that he was a loner. But Izaya enjoyed being a step away from his surroundings. He knew he was a top student, however, he didn't think the people around him were idiots and didn't look down on them. At this point, his observations were not used for ill, rather a simple hobby, but slowly it was turning more and more into an obsession. He eventually decided on creating a biology club in order to study others more closely.
When a club expo was scheduled, Izaya turned the whole club into a gambling ring with one of the other members, Nakura, serving as Izaya's business partner. One day, after making a bad bet, Nakura comes in brandishing a knife and threatens Izaya to give back all the money he lost. When Izaya refused, Nakura attacked him only to miss, this experience and he promises to make Nakura pay for as long as possible for what he did. After the incident, Izaya is taken into protective custody and, from then on, continues to create an infamous reputation.
He was later enrolled in Raijin Academy High School; although, Izaya rarely attended class. When he was first starting out as an information broker he came across Kine, a high ranking member of the Awakusu. Through Kine, Izaya met many of his first clients in the Yakuza and was his official contact with the Awakusu.
During this period, Izaya began to collect "followers" for his own purposes, most of which were traumatized teenage girls, ranging from gothic lolitas to gyarus (though the majority of them simply took Izaya to be a fortune teller of sorts) who would do whatever he said and worshiped him in an almost cult-like fashion. Most of these girls were usually depressed and/or suicidal and had all been victims of pretty severe levels of violence from their families or lovers. Those girls were lost and desperate for someone to believe in, making them especially easy to use. They weren't really in love with the families or boyfriends concerned, they simply put their faith in them. All Izaya did was shift that faith towards him. If he wanted them to die, they would probably have gone ahead and did it, even if they had doubts. Izaya's fans had conflicts between students in several Ikebukuro high schools, leading to a protracted period of unrest. One notable incident involved Mikage Sharaku, a classmate who became one of Izaya's followers due to a crush she had on him. The exact details of the event are unclear, however, Mikage took the fall for Izaya which resulted in Mikage's expulsion and inability to find work. Despite this, she later claims that while she finds him to be awful, she respects him because he's true to himself.
2 years ago Izaya met Masaomi Kida, the leader of a local gang known as the Yellow Scarves, through one of his more frequent customers, Saki Mikajima. In desperation, Masaomi asked for Izaya's help regarding a gang war with another gang known as the Blue Squares. Izaya assisted Masaomi initially, but after Saki was kidnapped, Izaya suddenly ceased all contact with Masaomi which resulted in the Yellow Scarves being defeated and Saki severely injured. It is revealed that Izaya had manipulated these events by playing both sides against each other. He verbally taunted Masaomi after he visited Saki in the hospital.
Izaya is usually seen talking about the latest rumors of gangs, urban myths, and otherwise stirring up trouble in online chatrooms while at the same time pretending to be a girl. His screen names are "Kanra" and "Nakura" (with "Nakura" possibly being derived from his business partner in high school), and most recently, "Chrome."
Izaya’s thoughts turned to Ranma Saotome upon seeing him defeat the demon Brushogun on the news. He manipulates Akane Awakusu into attacking Ranma knowing full well that Akane would mention his name. When Ranma tracks him down, Izaya simply leaves a crudely written note in his office that he switched to a different building. Ranma rushes off to Izaya's new "office" only to find several dead bodies strewn across the floor. The room is revealed to be one of the many offices of the Awakusu and one of it's members sees Ranma standing over the bodies of his colleagues. This prompts the Awakusu to hunt Shizuo down mercilessly while Izaya watched the fireworks. To his surprise, Ranma doesn't fight back when the Awakusu confront him and simply runs away. From his studies of the NWC Izaya expected Ranma to fight back in full force and is a little annoyed at how Ranma was able to anticipate that a violent reaction would only make him look even more guilty than he already was.
Izaya also sends Masaomi Kida and Saki Mikajima to look up information on Yodogiri Jinnai. While Kida is out of the city (and away from the chatroom) he hacks into Kida's account and impersonates him on the chatroom to manipulate Mikado similar to how he manipulated Kida during the Yellow Scarves incident.
After Akane is saved, Izaya suspects that the Awakusu will probably start looking for him if Akane tells them his name. He was rescued by Brother Blood who sprinted him off to America to join HIVE.
Physical Appearance[]
Izaya has short black hair and brown eyes. He is repeatedly described as a fragile looking, handsome man with a beautiful face. However, he's also described by the same characters as appearing mischievous or otherwise unsavory. His regular outfit consists of a black coat with brownish fur lining the edges that goes down to his hips, along with a plain black long sleeved v-neck, pants and dark brown shoes. He occasionally dons a longer version of his coat that reaches down to his ankles.
Personality[]
Izaya claims to love humanity, although his definition of "love" is much different than one would assume. What he specifically loves about humanity is the unpredictability of human nature, and he greatly enjoys putting people in enjoyable or chaotic situations in order to observe their reactions. With a thorough understanding of human behavior and tendencies, he is able to determine people's thoughts and predict their reactions with high accuracy. Izaya is cunning and charming, but his manipulative nature prevents him from making any genuine or lasting bonds with others. He has a jolly and mocking personality, speaking informally with most people as if they are close friends and often using nicknames. He even talks like a girl on occasion, particularly online, where he actually does pretend to be female. During conflicts, he plays on both sides so that whoever wins, he will have an advantage.
He likes to play twisted versions of checkers (usually using a combination of Chess, Othello, and Shogi pieces) with himself in his apartment, often using the chessboard as a representation of the battles in Ikebukuro, giving him the fitting appearance of one who watches over the world and controls the actions of others. The rules he plays by are also beyond normal people, which seems to be a metaphor for the way he lives his life. He does not take his chess games to be a serious representation of the world, however, as he usually prefers to observe people acting as they see fit instead of controlling them, and he even once set fire to his chess set in his excitement.
Although Izaya enjoys conflict, often showing up wherever there is potential for one, he usually stays out of it, preferring to observe the fight instead of directly taking part in it. However, when provoked, he quickly puts his opponent in his place by simply proving his superiority without actually beating the other person. Therefore, he is usually seen as the one starting fights but hiding in the shadows instead of directly taking part. He is bitter when large-scale events take place in Ikebukuro without involving him.
Izaya is known to be one of the strongest men in Ikebukuro. When he needs to protect himself physically, Izaya uses a flickblade and is skilled in parkour and freerunning.
Notes[]
Izaya isn’t Ranma’s enemy while like with Shizuo he hates the chaos that follows Ranma around. They never officially met until after Izaya was in America. The person Izaya really hates is whatever Titan gave gives him the nickname Kwiz Kid.