Tsuukade XIII

"Heeheehee~ I can't remember the last time I ever got to rip open a Stray~! Say, Devil-san~? Can you stay alive while I cut you up~? I'm going to do my own little science experiment~!"

- Tsuukade to a Stray Devil Tsuukade XIII (Tsuukade the Thirteenth) is a member of the Vatican Church, and a prominent member of the Inquisition. An Exorcist of the highest order, he holds the rank of Templar Knight and Archbishop, in spite of his deranged and eccentric behavior. Like Yuuto Kiba, he was apart of the Holy Sword Experiment, and survived.

As a member of the Inquisition, Tsuukade is given full authority to do whatever he pleases, and can get away with virtually anything, even blasphemous behavior, so long as he stays within the guidelines.

He is also one of the few wielders of Excalibur Ver.α, a successful attempt at recreating the legendary Holy Sword, albeit very temperamental.

Design and Character
Tsuukade is not exactly what one might call 'sane,' or insane for that matter. He is constantly on a borderline in between, making it impossible to tell if he is simply uncaring of morality or if he actually values it. Tsuukade comes off as bright and cheery, and slightly annoying with his constant bugging of others. He also refuses to greet others or address them based on their ranking, which shows he has absolutely no regard for ranks or birth. He is very close with people whom he considers friends; one such case being Xenovia Quarta. Practically having been raised together by Griselda, the two are naturally close, with Xenovia used to his behavior, and Tsuukade often messing around with her in order to get a rise.

However, Tsuukade can become sadistic and cruel and immoral at the drop of a hat. He has, on more than one occasion, been found assaulting or injuring another Exorcist for various reasons, most of which were either something trivial as them knocking him over or insulting him, or things that were without warrant, like bumping into him without meaning to. While most of the time, the injuries are not severe, the ones who annoy Tsuukade the most suffer grave wounds. He is especially sadistic towards people whom he considers his enemies, such as Stray Devils. According to one report, Tsuukade had pinned a Stray down and began to perform his own "science experiment," cutting open it's chest and ripping out it's organs before impaling his sword through it's anus and then cutting it apart from the inside out until the blade came out of it's throat.

However, this is not to say that he is a cruel or a sociopath. Rather, this is a defense mechanism he subconsciously created when the other children of the Holy Sword Experiment were killed in front of him. As the sole survivor, his mind was unable to comprehend the sight of his friends being killed. During his stay with Freed when he was still an Exorcist, the man instilled into his brain that "bad people should be punished." Added to seeing Freed's merciless actions towards people he considered "bad," Tsuukade's mind created the idea that "any bad person should be killed in whatever way he sees fit," thus making him the way he is. He didn't forget things like compassion, however, as Kiba and another girl had taught him how important friendship was.

Other than Xenovia, Tsuukade is especially protective of Kiba. When he encountered him for the first time, he immediately recognized him as "Yu-oniichan," and refused to fight him. When he learned that KIba wanted to destroy the Excaliburs, he offered his help in finding them, even willing to take Xenovia's Excalibur of Destruction and break it if it could make Yuuto happy. This is due to the fact that out of all the children who were kind to him during the Holy Sword Experiment, Kiba was the one who had the most impact on him, looking after him as if he were family. This friendship being the first he had felt, Tsuukade sees Kiba as if he were truly his older brother, and is willing to do anything to make him happy.

Tsuukade XIII is a young-looking man, with pale skin and pure shoulder-length white hair, with red hairpins, which form the Roman numeral XIII, keeping back his bangs. He has red eyes with bags under them.

He self-stitches his own body, explaining it to be a form of body art. A miniature set of red threads that appeared to be two x's are stitched on below his right eye. One below his bottom lip and a line of several stitching threads from his upper neck downward, and several more around his right arm and hand. His attire consisted of a white suit with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, left halfway buttoned and polka dotted red suspender that supported his black pants and a pair of red slippers. He frequently wore a black suit above all this, with rolled up sleeves.

Three years after the Devil's Night Incident, Tsuukade's appearance changes drastically. His hair is now dyed black and reaches only chin length. and his stitches are in a different pattern. His attire consists of a black suit, now, with black dress pant and red suspenders with yellow triangle pattern.

History
One of the many children in the Holy Sword Experiment, Tsuukade was originally a nameless child who was often picked on by the older children. However, he was defended by a girl and Yuuto Kiba, the latter later becoming an older brother figure for the young boy. He was originally given the name "Thirei," which was a shortened word for "thirteen," as he was the thirteenth child to be brought into the program. Kiba, feeling sorry for him, gave him the name "Tsuukade." As a result, the boy became even more attached to Kiba, often calling him "Yu-oniichan." However, when the children's uses were no longer needed, they were disposed of by Valper Galelei, though Tsuukade and Kiba managed to escape.

Found by Griselda, the young boy was taken to Rome, where the Vatican questioned him about how he came about such a state. Upon learning Valper's betrayal, the organization hunted him down and shut down the project, though unknown to Tsuukade at the time, they still continued to use his research to create artificial Holy Sword wielders. At first, Tsuukade was entrusted in the care of Freed Sellzan, a talented Exorcist, albeit with a deranged lunacy. Freed didn't verbally or mentally abuse him, but his behavior influenced Tsuukade a great deal, creating a defense mechanism subconsciously based on Freed's ideal on that "bad people should be punished." When Freed was excommunicated, Tsuukade was later entrusted to Griselda Quarta, where he trained with her adopted daughter, Xenovia.

The two became very close, and not long after they joined, they worked together on various missions. Tsuukade's brutal and merciless behavior worried the Church greatly, fearing another Freed, however one of the Bishops, Alexander Anderson, saw Tsuukade in a different light.

"He is a child of the Lord, but stains his hands in the blood of monsters. He is a son of God, yet bathes in the blood of Devils. Though he carries no cross around his neck, he fights in God's name. If you are to consider him a heretic, then I shall consider him a vassal of the Lord; one who does what the virtuous will not. He is...a monster of God."

Alexander's description of the boy soon became widespread, eventually earning Tsuukade the nickname The Monster of God. This is further reinforced by his brutal and sadistic behavior in dealing with his opponents. Stray Devils and Fallen Angels later coined him with the nickname "Grim Reaper," due to the number of corpses he has left behind, having slain a great number of monsters. This eventually earned the attention of Bishop Anderson, and took the boy under his wing.

By the time Tsuukade was thirteen, he joined the Inquisitions, and became the youngest Archbishop to date, in light of his accomplishments in dealing with Creuserey Asmodeus' failed attempt at destroying the Vatican Church.

Trivia

 * Tsuukade's character and personality are based off of Juuzou Suzuya, a character from Tokyo Ghoul.
 * Tsuukade is one of the youngest Exorcists to obtain a position higher than Templar. He is also the first youngest person to obtain the rank of Archbishop.
 * His nickname, "The Monster of God," is in reference to the Exorcist Alexander Anderson, one of the antagonists from Hellsing: Ultimate.
 * Like Issei, Tsuukade likes breasts, though his fetish is that they're like soft pillows.
 * This perversion is indirectly due to Xenovia, as when they were children, they often slept together, with Tsuukade often found with his head atop her chest.


 * Tsuukade is a fan of the Kamen Riders series.