Denkurō Tōgō (東郷 田九郎) is one of the alchemists who became a complete immortal aboard the Advena Avis in 1711. Like Zank Rowan and Nile, he studied alchemy under the legendary alchemist Majeedah Batutah.
Appearance[]
Denkurō is a Japanese man with short jet-black hair and a calm appearance. In 1705, he wears what resembles a "Spanish military uniform with all its decorations removed" and over it a sword belt.
Personality[]
Denkurō speaks in a very formal manner, calling everyone "Master" or "Mistress" and referring to himself in the third person. Although he is not an outright pacifist—he is willing to fight when it is required of him—Denkurō tends to take the path of least violence wherever possible. He resolves his fights without causing serious harm to his opponents when he can and often steps between others to stop needless conflicts. In contrast to Nile's reckless abandon for combat, Denkurō carefully approaches combat as a peacemaker rather than an aggressor.
Typically as calm as his countenance, Denkurō takes the events that befall him in stride and accepting coincidences for what they are. He is also willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others; in 1711 he is resigned to the fact that he may lose his life fighting to let the Advena Avis set sail, and in 2002 declares he would surrender himself for the safety of the innocent passengers if he were on his own.
Denkurō is a fairly observant individual, voicing suspicions about Fermet's true nature as early as 1711 and immediately noting Luchino's attention to himself and the other immortals in 2002.
Chronology[]
1705[]
Little is known of Denkurō's past or the circumstances which lead him and Zank Rowan to be rescued by Majeedah Batutah's fleet. Following the rescue, he and Zank become Majeedah's pupils and study alchemy at her floating workshop alongside Nile.
In 1705, Denkurō and Zank travel to Lotto Valentino on Majeedah's instruction to investigate and put a stop to the circulation of drugs and counterfeit gold in the city. Shortly after arriving, they encounter the Rotten Eggs—a group of aristocratic delinquents—harassing Elmer C. Albatross and Niki, and together dispatch the delinquents while Elmer and Niki escape.
The pair afterwards head to the Third Library and encounter one of the library's alchemy students, who leads them to Headmaster Dalton Strauss' special archives. There, they inform Dalton of their encounter with the Rotten Eggs and the Rotten Eggs' leader Aile, whose name is unfamiliar to Dalton, and subsequently brief him on their mission. Unbeknownst to either of them, Elmer and the alchemy student are eavesdropping on the other side of the door.
1711[]
To be written.
At some point after arriving in America, Denkurō attempts to walk back to Japan. His trek comes to an end in the North Pole, where Lebreau Fermet Viralesque traps him in a box and throws said box into a crevasse. Denkurō is aware that Fermet is culpable before he falls asleep.[1]
1900s[]
Denkurō sleeps in the box for the next two hundred fifty years, and his long sleep and entombment comes to an end when he is happened upon by a Soviet nuclear sub in the mid-1900s. While running from the KGB, he tries to cut across Germany only to be shot at the Berlin Wall; however, a sympathetic East German is able to hide him from the police until the Wall falls on November 9, 1989.
Upon finally returning to Japan, Denkurō learns his family died out around the time Japan opened to the rest of world and is shocked to see how much Japan has changed over the centuries. He wanders his home country for a while, and in 1991 he has an unexpected reunion with Elmer at Edo Wonderland—a park which simulates an Edo-era village—and gives Elmer an account of his life over the past two centuries. Denkurō is dressed like a ninja when Elmer runs into him, meaning he is either employed as a park actor for money or simply dressing up for the occasion.[2]
2002[]
In either July or August 2002, Denkurō finally reunites with Nile, Elmer, and Sylvie Lumiere in Japan. Not long after, the group receives boarding passes for the luxury cruise liner Exit—due to leave for the American east coast in August—as sent by Huey Laforet. Despite their concerns over Huey's motives, they accept his invitation.
Denkurō is calm when they board the ship at Yokohama harbor, albeit slightly flustered by Sylvie—on whom he has developed a small crush due to her beauty. When asked by Nile whether he is worried about their journey, he bemusedly responds that does not recall having been seasick on the Advena Avis. Nile clarifies that he thought Denkurō might have become averse to the ocean after being trapped in ice for 250 years, but Denkurō objects on the grounds that he had been travelling on foot.
That night, while Denkurō, Sylvie, and Elmer are having dinner in the banquet hall where the ship's reception party is being held, Elmer mentions that a magic show will be performed at Ristorante Cuculo in two hours by a magician hailing from Lotto Valentino. Denkurō muses that he would not mind visiting Lotto Valentino to see how it has changed—provided he does not bring Nile with him, given his hatred for the city. Driven by nostalgia, the three decide to attend the show in two hours time.
During the performance, Denkurō notices and alerts the others to the fact that the magician "Rookie Warlock" appears to be observing their table in particular. When his concern is dismissed by Elmer, he apologizes for disrupting the performance and returns to watching the show in silence.
Denkurō spends the beginning of the following day in his cabin with Elmer and Nile. When Nile complaints of boredom, he suggests that he joins him in watching a film—Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo—but Nile declines, saying that Denkurō should watch it in his native tongue rather than in English for his sake. The three return to discussing why Huey invited them to board the ship; when Elmer refutes Nile's claim that Huey had been the most evil person aboard the Advena Avis, suggesting that Fermet was more suited to this title, Denkurō makes a vague assent. He politely refuses to elaborate when asked, not wishing to speak ill of the dead.
Not long after Nile leaves the room to investigate the sound of a fight, Denkurō hears gunfire. He dithers over whether he should go looking for Sylvie and Nile (worried about Sylvie's safety and concerned for Nile's behavior) until Elmer suggests he search for Nile while Denkurō go "show off his cool side" to Sylvie; flustered, Denkurō attempts to protest but is cut off by Bride making an announcement via the speakers.
Denkurō asks Elmer whether the announcement could be Huey's doing, but Elmer refutes the idea. Both conclude that they will be captured if they passively remain in the cabin; after ensuring that the hallway is clear, Denkurō declares with striking confidence and focus that their first goal is to find Sylvie. As they leave, he questions Elmer about the Mask Makers to whom Bride referred and learns about Elmer's history with the organization.
At some point, Denkurō is separated from Elmer following an attack by SAMPLE's followers. A group of ordinary passengers soon confront him in the shopping mall with intentions to capture and deliver him to the ship's hijackers; Denkurō calmly explains that he would surrender himself for their sake were he travelling alone, but that he cannot because he is the only person who can calm Nile's rage. When the man in question bursts onto the scene, covered in blood and wielding a meat cleaver, the passengers scatter and go into hiding once more.
Denkurō and Nile discuss the zombie-like quality of the people in red-and-black, both agreeing that it feels remarkably similar to the effect of the drug that had been traded in Lotto Valentino during the 1700s. A woman in a red-and-black wedding dress approaches them as they talk; Nile subdues her immediately on the assumption she is an enemy, but Denkurō points out the woman's expression is not the same empty one of her companions. This woman is Celice Artia, and she is able to warn them that SAMPLE is targeting Sylvie before losing consciousness. Denkurō carries her back to their cabin, hoping that Sylvie is already there.
While Elmer volunteers to join the Mask Makers in order to save Sylvie, and Nile violently incapacitates the SAMPLE believers in the communications office, Denkurō deals with the believers in the engine control room. Unlike Nile, he takes care not to cause harm to any of his enemies by rendering them unconscious and tying them up with rope instead.
Several days later in an FBI facility in the U.S, Denkurō, Sylvie, and Nile are questioned on the events that unfolded on the ship by Victor Talbot. In spite of his almost three-hundred-year absence, Denkurō is greeted by Victor as an old friend and is spoken to far less harshly than Nile.
When his troubles at the North Pole are brought up once again, Denkurō finally concedes the full story, not wishing to risk any further humiliation from the misconception that he had fallen into the Arctic Ocean of his own accord. In reality, he had been trapped in a box in his sleep and tossed into the sea against his will in a plot orchestrated by Fermet.
Relationships[]
Sylvie Lumiere: Denkurō appears to have a romantic crush on Sylvie, and is especially taken with her extraordinary beauty. Ever formal, he tries to dismiss such thoughts from his head when they make themselves known.
Lebreau Fermet Viralesque: Fermet intercepted Denkurō near the North Pole and encased him in ice for the next two hundred and fifty years (approximately). Denkurō is therefore one of the few 1711 immortals who are (to some extent) aware of Fermet's true nature prior to the events of 2002.
Trivia[]
- The novel 1934 Alice in Jails: Prison refers to one 'Zankurō', who is later referred to as Denkurō's brother in 1934 Alice in Jails: Streets. Zankurō would later become the character Zank, Ryohgo Narita evidently scrapping the idea to have them be siblings along the way.
- Though Denkurō makes his official debut in the eleventh volume, his first speaking appearance is in a color insert of the fifth volume.