"This world's a circus. Everything's meaningless enjoyment."— Roma Hoito, Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 135
Roma Hoito (帆糸 ロマ, Hoito Roma, real name unknown) is a ghoul and former waitress at Anteiku, as well as a member of the Clowns.
She is the original founder of the Clowns; information that she has kept secret from the others as part of her "game". Though youthful in appearance and seemingly weak, she is actually an extremely powerful ghoul that faced Tsuneyoshi Washuu in his prime.[1]
Appearance
Roma has a slim build and a childlike demeanor, she frequently wears her red hair in a spiky bun with bangs framing her face.
While posing as a waitress in Anteiku she wore the standard uniform, but as a Clown she wears circus-themed clothes.
Roma's ghoul mask is a clown-themed mask that covers the upper half of her face. It resembles a cartoon depiction of a rabbit or some sort of rodent, with a round nose and protruding incisors. The mask sports two large circular drawn eyes, with a star around the left eye.
Personality
Roma at first appears to be a clumsy and absent-minded woman who is often scolded by Nishiki when she breaks dishware at Anteiku.
As a Clown her personality is more sadistic and uncaring, shrugging off Kaneki's disappearance, saying that she desired a more 'depressing' scene and gleefully auctioned off innocent humans. She described Kaneki after the Aogiri incident as "beautiful," and finds his perseverance very attractive.
During the CCG's auction raid she showed no regard for human life and enjoyed toying with the CCG investigators, pretending to be weak and harmless to lure them in, then impaling them with her kagune.
She also seems to have a certain degree of skill in switching dispositions, as she can go from being ditsy and clumsy, then weak and helpless, to being cruel and sadistic, as displayed when she worked at Anteiku and when she is killing off investigators as a part of the Clowns.
Plot
Background
As a child, Roma had no memory of her parents and was forced to provide for herself. She managed to survive and subdue her hunger by eating rotting flesh until she was seven. Her sudden desire for fresh meat however, led her to killing her first human, marking the start of her life constantly in the presence of death. She continued to shed the blood of both humans and her own kind until eventually she gained a certain recognition among even the strongest of them. As time passed with no significance, she eventually settled into a state of pure boredom.
However, this took a turn after her realization that many humans lived lives of depravity and were utterly insignificant. They were hideous and frail, and yet they were joyful. She wanted to slaughter them, force them to live, and get a rise out of them. Roma came to see human society as no more but a circus, a means of satisfaction — in response, she formed the Clowns.
At an unknown point in time, either before or after the Clowns' founding, the CCG named her The Dodgy Mother. Receiving an SSS rating, she ultimately fought against Tsuneyoshi Washuu and was defeated. His victory followed him as one of his most noteworthy achievements.
Eventually Roma was captured and detained in Cochlea by the CCG as the SS-rated ghoul "Gypsy." Meanwhile, neither the CCG nor the Clowns themselves were aware of her leadership. She enjoyed her solitude after her "wild party" and considered the prison her new circus. At night, Shiki Kijima would regularly torture Rio in a nearby cell and she would enjoy his screams. During the Second Cochlea Raid, an executive of Aogiri Tree, Tatara, requested she lend them her strength, though she refused due to their ideological differences. When he decided to attack, she effortlessly evaded him and escaped.
Later, she received a haircut from Uta at the HySy ArtMask Studio. He informed her of a one-eyed ghoul working at Anteiku. After she contemplated becoming a part-timer there, Uta said he would introduce her. He goes on to mention their newest member, Souta, a ghoul investigator. Roma found the new information interesting, and was ready to have her fun.[1]
Raid of Kanou's Lab
She transferred to Anteiku from the neighboring 19th ward soon afterward. She claimed to have come upon hearing of Kaneki's act of carnage in the 7th ward's Ghoul Restaurant, hoping she would meet him.[3]
Owl Suppression Operation
After the Owl Suppression Operation, along with the other members of the Clowns, she celebrated Kaneki's reported death at HySy ArtMask Studio.[4]
Auction
Roma and Nico observed the Quinx Squad from a distance and recognized their disguised leader as Haise Sasaki. Disgusted by his apparent happiness and idyllic life, she wished for Haise's "death" to restore the old, troubled Kaneki whom she admired. Her companion criticized her twisted interests, but mentioned the fun they would have at the upcoming auction.[5]
Roma and Uta vs. Investigators.
Roma attended the Auction at Zeum hall as part of the entertainment, performing comedic acts along with Ganbo for the amusement of the audience. She was joined on stage by Uta, who served as the auctioneer for the main event. While he auctioned off the human goods, Roma provided mocking commentary and taunted the victims.[6]
When Juuzou Suzuya revealed himself and attacked, Roma quickly fled the stage.[7] She later stumbled across the squad led by Take Hirako and Nobu Shimoguchi, and was immediately attacked by Shunichi Shibashi. Nearly sliced in half, she collapsed and cried for help, luring Shunichi close before killing and eating him. When the rest of the squad attacked, she fled again and hid behind Uta.[8]
She later interfered with Uta and Hirako's fight but Kuramoto Itou, together with Takeomi Kuroiwa, stopped her in time, as ordered by their squad leader. She then immediately attacked Kuramoto and invited him to "play".[9] Before the S3 Squad could enter the fight against them, she escaped with Uta.[10]
Rushima Landing Operation
Roma pierced by Kurona.
Without warning, Roma stabbed Nishiki Nishio through the midsection on Rushima. She approached him with Shikorae, mocking his intentions.[11] She watched in glee as the Aogiri Quinx attacked the outnumbered Nishiki, who she spoke to before being unexpectedly stabbed into the air by Kurona Yasuhisa's kagune.[12] Shikorae checked if she was fine before she attacked Nishiki but was nearly killed by Kurona again, causing her to yell to Shikorae so he would unleash his ukaku. Watching Shikorae attack Kurona and be attacked by Nishiki, she was confident his special kakuhou and multiple Rc types would help give them the advantage. However, she only watched absently as he ran away. Realizing she was alone, she changed her disposition to appear non-threatening.[13] She was captured by Nishiki and Kurona who then went back to the coast to leave the island.[14]
Post-Rushima Landing Operation
After leaving Rushima, she had remained in captivity, at one point being with one of Kazuichi Banjou's subordinates[15] before Nico had received the "signal" from her detached kagune. He told her she should pick the right time to escape. He was not there to retrieve her however, and told Nishiki, Seidou Takizawa, and Kazuichi Banjou they could do whatever they liked with her.[16]
Relationships
Nico
They are both members of the Clowns. They attended parties together and would chat casually, indicating a friendly relationship, however when Roma had been captured, he did not care much of her fate or treatment, even referring to her as an "idiot."
Souta
They are both members of the Clowns, it is assumed they get on well as Souta's been seen tickling her and teasing her about Kaneki, but their relationship has not been explored further.
Uta
Uta and Roma are part of the Clowns group. They are on friendly terms; Uta is slightly concerned about her safety, as shown when he cautions her to watch out against her opponents due to their strength. Familiar with Roma's bored nature, Uta tried to interest her by telling her about Kaneki Ken and Souta.
Shikorae
He is a member of Aogiri, but she arrives on scene with him to help Kanou. He called out to her when she was stabbed by Kurona, seeing if she was okay and she praised his abilities as special. Despite this seemingly mutual consideration, he quickly left her side after being hit and she did not appear to feel betrayed, only realization of her own new predicament.
Powers and Abilities
Ghoul Physiology: Due to her ghoul nature, Roma has inhuman amounts of pain tolerance and durability, as well as regeneration, a kagune and a kakuja.
- Unknown Kagune: She is shown to be able to create from eight to nine of these with ease, and can send them into the ground to surprise opponents from unexpected angles.She can also create one large kagune tail that she is able to wield with great proficiency.
- Kagune Detachment: Roma's kagune has the ability to detach, it wiggles and resembles a worm, and Nico was able to pinpoint her location from a small portion of it. How this is done is unknown. She may be capable of controlling the amount she detaches as well.
- Unknown Kakuja: A serial cannibal in her youth, Roma mutated into a powerful kakuja. Her mutated kagune can generate a massive form, resembling a multi-limbed creature with a gaping mouth similar to the Lamprey fish. In this form, her real body is embedded into the forehead of the creature with extra limbs poking out of the face and sides.
- Superhuman Regeneration: Roma was able to recover from abdomen injuries she received against an investigator almost immediately, attacking him right afterwards. She also survived being hit by Urie's koukaku blade, despite the fact that it had pierced through her head.
- Pain Tolerance:
Trivia
- Roma is one of the three SS-rated inmates freed by Aogiri Tree. Her mugshot can be briefly glimpsed in Chapter 86, when Itori examines the list and notes one of them is a Clown.
- In Tokyo Ghoul Trump, she is featured as the "Eight of Spades."
- In the omake of Volume 12 of Tokyo Ghoul, Uta is seen wearing her hair hairpin.
- Ishida later mentions this in a comment on the icon stickers.[17]
Quotes
- To Nishiki: "Senpai, it's useless. You're just trying to catch goldfish again. They'll slip and slide through your fingers. And that's..."[13]
- To Nishiki: "Try-hards are just so much fun to watch and laugh at, no? No?"[12]
- To Tatara: "There's nothing fun about getting up onto the stage. I'm a spectator. The kind that jeers from the stands. A watch on high. I'll destroy any game that's boring to me. I love that kinda stuff."[1]
- To Urie: "What do you think the common enemy of ghouls and humans alike is? Boredom. It's like one of those colds that just refuses to go away. If you're not careful, you'll start coming down with thoughts of 'What is life?' Gotta change up the scenery, keep the stimulation going. That's the best way to treat that sucker."[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 135
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul Chapter 86
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul Chapter 84
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul Chapter 143
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 13
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 17
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 19
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 21
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 22
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 31
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 94
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 96
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 97
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 98
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 99
- ↑ Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 102
- ↑ Sui Ishida's comments on the icon stickers celebrating :re Chapter 100.
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||