Tetsugoro Kusabi

Tetsugoro Kusabi is a character who has appeared in The Silver Case, Flower, Sun, and Rain and The 25th Ward: The Silver Case. He is a detective, a founding member of the Heinous Crimes Unit, and the father of Toriko Kusabi.

Appearance and Personality

Tetsugoro Kusabi generally talks rudely and coarsely, not giving much regard to what anybody else thinks about him; yet at the same time, he does this with a laid-back attitude that suggests that he isn't very serious about it. Despite his arrogance about his methods, he is a very accomplished detective. He has a soft side for his daughter Toriko, who he cares about deeply. He's also shown to be rather bad at handling money, as midway through the game he loses a bet over horse racing and begins asking other members of the Unit to lend him 50,000 yen that he needs, which becomes somewhat of a running joke to the point that he's still asking for the money two years later in Flower, Sun, and Rain.

Kusabi is close friends with Sumio Kodai, to the point that Tokio Morishima believes Kusabi to be gay, despite being married to a woman. While the status of their relationship is unclear, Kusabi does go to great lengths to find Sumio in Flower, Sun, and Rain and speaks with him privately at several points in The Silver Case. Kusabi also takes a liking to Akira, giving him "Big Dick" as an affectionate nickname.

Despite his rude, grizzled demeanor, Kusabi might be one of the most honest and good-hearted characters in the series. For example, when Michiru Kosaka confides in Kusabi that he is conflicted over whether their actions are the right thing to do, Kusabi responds with both understanding, but also advice to try to keep investigation simple and not get caught up in anxiety. In the climax of The Silver Case, he guides Akira towards dealing with his past through philosophical instruction on dealing with inner darkness and seizing inner light.

History

Backstory

In 1979, Kusabi, then a Regional Investigation Unit Special Agent, was involved in the event known as The Silver Case, in which Ginji Nakane, chairman of the TRO/CCO Confederation, was assassinated by Format Kamui in front of the TTV Station. Publicly, Kusabi arrested Kamui; however, as Kamui was actually killed, it is believed that Kusabi killed Kamui. Yet, Kusabi's personal version of the events maintain that Kusabi merely stood there and watched as Kamui was killed by members of the Confederation. Regardless of the truth, Kusabi was promoted to the Security Department where he remained until 1990, when he becomes one of the founding members of the Heinous Crimes Unit.

Four years later, he met Sumio Kodai, a new recruit to the Unit. They became very close partners and makeup the sub-Unit 2.

The Silver Case

In case#0:lunatics, in 1999, while driving through Area E3 late at night, Kusabi is attacked by Ryo Kazan. Kusabi and the Republic security force track Kazan down to the nearby Cauliflower building. The operation culminates in Kusabi shooting Kazan and his associate, Rumi Tohba, to death on the roof of the tower. Kusabi met with Akira for the first time in this incident, who Kusabi called a "chinchilla".

Two months on from the Cauliflower incident, Kusabi secretly meets his associate, Ryu Munakata, at the Harakiri Batting Center. Munakata warns him that Kamui is going to "make a move". This ends up being metaphorically true, as although Kamui himself remained an empty shell, Ayame Shimohira's actions reignited the idea of Kamui in the public eye of Ward 24. Kusabi helps investigate for part of this case, but is later given a paid vacation along with his wife by Shinji Kotobuki, so he is absent for the conclusion.

Kusabi spends a while with Sumio doing a stakeout on Chairman Yukimura's house, which pays off when it explodes in case#3:parade. Kusabi investigates into the motives with Akira and discovers that Sumio headed the operation; Kusabi arrests him, but continues to regularly talk to him, seemingly informing him about the Shelter Kids Policy and the concepts of light and darkness.

During case#5:lifecut, Kusabi seems to act based off of lots of unknown information that he either has obtained or has had the whole time. Speaking with Shinji Kotobuki on the roof of the precinct, they come to some agreement about how to proceed, after which Kusabi shoots him. Later on, Akira and Sakura Natsume encounter him in the IEDU Building, where he tells them that he plans on "disappearing for a while". After this, Morichika Nakategawa says that should anyone locate Kusabi, they can kill him on site, suggesting that Kusabi is on the run from the law. Kusabi heads into the Ward 24's underground, where he shoots and kills Kiyoshi Morikawa. He meets up with Akira in the Shelter and explains lots of information about the Silver Case, Kamui and Ward 24. They journey together from the underground to the TV Tower and kill Nezu.

Despite Nakategawa's order, Kusabi is shown peacefully chatting at a public cafe in case#!:tamura and takes on more cases after the events of The Silver Case, suggesting that he peacefully integrated back into the Heinous Crimes Unit.

Flower, Sun, and Rain

During the events of Flower, Sun, and Rain, Kusabi takes his daughter Toriko on vacation to Lospass Island. However, he has another purpose there, and disguises himself as a truck driver named Peter Bockwinkel (ピーター・ポックウィンクル, romanized as "Peter Bocchwinkurr" in the official translation). Kusabi, as Bockwinkel, acts as an agent sent by "The Commission" to meet with searcher Sumio Mondo - actually Sumio Kodai - and direct him to the Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel, where his services have been hired. After agreeing on "Peter"'s cut of Mondo's pay, they part ways. Curiously, as Peter, Kusabi appears to have a Silver Eye, which Catherine is able to jack-in to.

In the final chapter of the game, Mondo boards an airplane to leave Lospass, where he re-encounters Bockwinkel, the only other passenger on board. During the flight, Bockwinkel heckles Mondo into remembering his true identity as Sumio Kodai; after this realization, Bockwinkel is seen to be Kusabi. Due to Sumio Mondo being an unreliable narrator, it is unclear if Kusabi was actually disguised as Peter (as certain dialogue suggests - "This costume is so hot, I can hardly take it!"), or if Sumio was merely seeing Kusabi as Peter.

The 25th Ward

During #06 white out, in 2003, Kusabi is officially missing, and the authorities are unable to get ahold of him. However, he is actually doing independent investigations in his original position as a Regional Investigation Unit agent. He saves Akira from Mokutaro Shiroyabu underground when he shoots the latter in the ear, as Kusabi is looking into the same case that they are: that of the Joker. He gives the two a hint on how to proceed with the investigation and disappears.

Tetsu later appears at the Hachisuka Dome after the Joker's attempted suicide. He speaks in a way that makes it unclear whether he is talking to the police officer Shiroyabu or to the Joker, claiming that "Michiru killed [Shiro]" despite Michiru Kosaka not being present. Kusabi reveals Shiro's real name and the truth of his birth to him (that being that he is the son of Kamui). After this, Kusabi leaves Shiro to Hatoba to deal with.

Kusabi is not present at all for the main game of The 25th Ward. Sumio says that he is currently in the States, but no further information is given on what he is doing there.

Official profiles

Profiles from websites, books, in-game profiles, etc. can be put in boxes like this one.

Gallery

A collection of official pictures focusing on the character, including concept art and in-game images. Accompany them with a brief description. Portraits go first.

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  The Silver Case Portrait

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  25th Ward Portrait