The main protagonist of the story, Ken Kaneki (金 木 研, Kaneki Ken) is a 19 - year - old university freshman that receives an organ transplant from Rize, who was trying to kill him before she was struck by a fallen I - beam and seemingly killed. After the operation Kaneki develops ghoul - like tendencies and characteristics, and his rationality begins to wane. As one that now does n't belong to humans or ghouls he struggles to keep his ghoul identity secret, always fighting against his ghoul side while trying to continue to live like a normal human. He later works as a waiter for Anteiku under Yoshimura 's guidance. After his fight with a CCG investigator named Amon he gains the name Eye Patch (眼帯) because of his mask 's design and becomes somewhat famous after a ghoul saw him defeating the investigator. He loves to read and is normally quiet and reserved but can also be calculating when fighting. He has a bad trait of easily trusting strangers which sometimes puts him in life - threatening situations. After being kidnapped by the ghoul run organization known as Aogiri Tree, he is mercilessly tortured by a sadistic ghoul named Yakumo Ōmori (Yamori), and later develops similar traits to his torturer. While being tortured he has hallucinations of Rize in which she mocks him about his mother, which leads to him finally embracing his inner ghoul. His view on strength changes and he goes on a power hungry path by cannibalizing other ghouls in order to get stronger. The continued cannibalization led him to become a half kakuja, where he develops a centipede shaped kagune and gains the alias Centipede (百足). After the incident at Kanō 's Lab, Kaneki begins to regret this path and begins reflecting on his actions and motives.
what is the main characters name in tokyo ghoul
Ken Kaneki