Nezumi

ABOUT

ABILITIES

PERMISSIONS

        

MISC

WARNINGS

CODE BY

Please note that anything marked with a ** is headcanon. I will use this sparingly and only when canon lacks details. Weaknesses are combined with Abilities for those looking to get a leg up.

You can find the wiki link for Nezumi here. A more extensive history can be found here. The manga is slightly different from the light novel, and the anime is different from both. While this history covers the manga, I'll use the light novel to fill in the blanks when there are no contradictions.

There's nothing to note here.

TDLR; dramatic, teasing, a hardened survivor, neither good nor evil

Nezumi is guarded. Growing up, mostly alone after some time, in a world like his, he’s had to learn to defend himself. His defenses are many: sarcasm, sexuality, rudeness, and a cold personality among other less-than-pleasant traits. Friends are a weakness, a broken link in an otherwise steadfast fence. Though he does interact with Dogkeeper on numerous occasions, the relationship can’t be considered pleasant. Instead, he’s willing to be as rude and threatening to her as he would a stranger. It seems that the bond that normally forms between people over time doesn’t form with Nezumi. It can’t. The only reason a pretty, small child would survive in this world is being able to defend himself from anything and everything.

What good is a defense without a hard shell? Nezumi isn’t just unpleasant when he wants to be, he’s sincerely the product of his environment. If someone is being hurt in front of him, he’s likely to just walk away and ignore it. If he gets involved, that’s another opportunity for him to die. Bodies often litter the streets of the Western District, and the solution is to step over them until someone gives in and pays to have the body moved. Darker crimes that should shake anyone don’t phase him. Even when Shion is being chased, Nezumi doesn’t step in (though he may be watching from a distance). The strong survive, and thus the weak gain nothing from being defended. Why should he die for someone else?

The world is a stage and all the people are merely actors; at least, that seems to be Nezumi’s perspective. Nezumi is theatrical in his speech, often teasing people through grandiose comparisons and mocking them through Shakespearian acting. For example, if someone were to complain about something, he’s just as likely to say “I’m sorry the temperature doesn’t suit M’lady. I’ll be sure to properly prepare for your sensitive tastes before our next outing,” as he is to dismiss the complaint.

Outwardly and obviously, Nezumi has an ego. He gets prickly when questioned, and he expects people to simply go along with his plans because he has good plans. His view of the world is the right one, while others are blinded by a spoiled upbringing or lack of resources. However, pride is less important to him than his life. He’s willing to run instead of fight if running has the greatest chance of survival. He ignores sexual remarks made about him, even numerous comments about how he could make extra money. Shion himself questions this, questions how he could sit back and allow others to say such things, and Nezumi claims that if he got angry about every suggestion, he’d stay angry.

He isn’t always negative, but normally, if he’s being kind, it’s meant to manipulate. Nezumi is considered unearthly attractive in canon, and he knows it. He’ll use his appearance and combine it with a sweet attitude to get what he wants. If it can’t be stolen, it can be gotten through other means, though we don’t see him actually giving out favors. Instead, batting his eyelashes and giving the right look often works. The promise is enough. A good example is when he charms a henchman sent to rough him up with kind words and a charming persona.

Is he all bad? No, just mostly. There are exemptions. Shion is the most notable. Since Shion helped him that fateful night, Nezumi has never been able to let go. He’s had his rats keep an eye on him, and when Shion is in danger, he goes out of his way to save him. The fact that Nezumi risks himself to save someone else is a huge thing, as many characters point out. Nezumi allows Shion to live with him, he offers him food and clothing. Also, if someone is able to handle harsh words, the conversation can flow naturally. Not every word is an insult and not every conversation is meant to provoke. He's confident enough in his skills that he's brutally honest, but he knows when not to cross a line. Why cause a fight when survival is your goal?

Beyond what he’s willing to give Shion, it’s obvious the white-haired boy has an effect in other ways. Nezumi doesn’t allow people to touch him without permission. Even his flirting is done at a distance, and he thinks that if people get close – physically or otherwise – they have a greater chance to kill him. In spite of that, Shion is able to slip by his defenses. This scares Nezumi, as he doesn’t consciously allow it, but he finds himself so accustomed to their relationship that he simply forgets to notice until the touch is done.

He also shows a few more hints of kindness throughout the story. He doesn’t seem to look down on prostitutes, he sings for a truckload of prisoners to calm their mood, and he later mercy kills a man who is slowly and painfully dying. Nezumi has/can have kindness, but it’s very, very, very well hidden.

Speech patterns: Nezumi speaks like a teenage boy who isn't trying to sound rough. He'll play around with words a bit, and his tone is eloquent and graceful. There are times in which he'll go hammy in order to tease or taunt. It's also not rare to find him quoting famous plays.

Image credit here.

At 5'10, Nezumi isn't short, but he doesn't stand particularly tall, either. On the slender side, he has a graceful figure while still being more or less obviously male. He's also quite pale and has a large scar on his back. In the manga and anime, his hair is long and purplish/grey while in the novel, his hair is shorter.

Nezumi wears one or two things when not dressing as Eve. Sincerely. Two outfits in his daily life. It's an anime thing.

I'll include some canon reference images. Clicking on a picture will take you to a larger version. Appearance image found here.

ABILITY

Singing

In addition to having an especially notable singing voice, Nezumi has the power to erase pain and worry when he sings. He's used this to even calm those who are dying so that they can have a more peaceful death.

The novel suggests that this extends to the ability to slightly make himself seem different than he really is, in appearance for example, based on what he's singing. While I won't count this as an ability by default since it's never shown again, I'm willing to play around with it in memes.

Acting

He's as close to a legitimate actor as one can be while in the Western District.

Cooking

His cooking ability is limited by the quality of food and lack of spices in the West Block, but he has the basic ability and manages some good dishes even with limited options.

Combat

Though he's an ordinary human, Nezumi is able to hold his own in his world. However, he's more prone to just leave a fight when possible since his survival skill is greater than his combat abilities.

Engineering

His rats are mechanical and yet seem as if they're real. He's also seen reprogramming service bots for his own use.

WEAKNESSES : shion? none in particular, but he's just a human so anyone superhuman is likely to beat him;

ooc backtagging ✓ fourth-walling ✓ threading jacking ? kidnapping ✓ injury ✓ killing ? physical contact ✓

MISCELLANEOUS

Family: Father (Unnamed, deceased), Mother (Unnamed, deceased), Brother (Unnamed, deceased)

He likes meat pies and to eat his soup when it's scolding hot. He also hates seafood, and he's very picky with his cooking (per Shion, he gets very angry when Shion tries to help and messes up the salt content even a little).

He's a bad sleep partner and will likely kick you out of the bed.

The youngest image we have of Nezumi is here, followed by this image.

Nezumi's profile can be found here with credit to listenforthelove for translating.

As a child, he was smaller than Shion.

The layout of Nezumi's home can be seen here. Originally, it was very messy, but Shion does a thorough cleaning.

A map of the city can be seen here. More information can be seen here and here.

The lifespan of the parasitic wasps can be found here.

WARNINGS

Dark content. Click to expand

WEST BLOCK - The West Block is a place full of crime. Violence of all kinds is common and there is no form of law enforcement. People are killed and their bodies rot in the street. Children starve to death. Kindness is repaid in betrayal. The entire world is a walking warning.

ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT/SEXUALIZATION OF A MINOR - As crimes are common, sexual assault is common. Throughout the series, we see numerous attempts at sexual assault. Likewise, Nezumi is highly sexualized at many different points in spite of being underaged.

It's also likely that Nezumi himself has been a victim of sexual assault. Considering the frequency in which it's attempted during canon events and the fact that he was only 12 when he was left alone in the Western District, it would have taken a miracle to keep him safe. Nezumi doesn't have a lot of luck with miracles. While I don't take rape headcanons likely, there's enough suggestion that I feel it would be dishonest to his story if I ignored his life during those years.

BODY HORROR - Once the wasps sting you, there are a lot of signs of rapid aging until you die.

If you wish to opt-out of interactions with Nezumi, please comment here. If you want to leave a note, please feel free, but an explanation isn't required. For those interested in tagging with him but would prefer to avoid the topics discussed above, I can certainly work around them. However, please note that while Nezumi doesn't talk about his own personal experiences, he is prone to throwing up the horrors of the West Block when he feels someone is being spoiled.