Yakumo Kusaka is a character in Persona: Tsumi to Batsu.
Appearances
- Persona: Tsumi to Batsu: Antagonist
Profile
Yakumo was originally born as Shuichiro Hino, being the older brother to his sister Narui. Both were in a family with an abusive father that constantly beat them for the littlest of mistakes, especially Narui. During that time, Yakumo and Narui played the Persona game, and later on Yakumo awoken to his Persona, Kijimuna, often using it to help heal his sister from her injuries. One day, after witnessing his father brutally attack Narui for spilling water, Yakumo snapped and used another Persona, Naga, to kill their parents. Due to the supernatural nature of the murders, it was never traced back to Yakumo. He opted to stay behind at their old house while Narui left to live with their uncle (who was also physically abusive against Yakumo), having become terrified of Yakumo and declaring she had no brother.
Yakumo fell into a deep depression following the murders and Narui's absence, beginning to cut himself. However, just before he was going to slit his wrists to end it all, a voice from the future calls onto him, telling him he couldn't. It's because of this, Yakumo had resolved to keep living. One day, when confronted by some bullies, Yakumo invoked his Persona, but instead was gifted the Black Book. The Book erased the bullies from existence. It was then that Yakumo decided to use it to "fight destiny." Yakumo would grow up to join Nymphea Paris, which is where he got his new alias, even befriending the one who would be called BB. They bonded over both being a Persona user and Yakumo declare his intentions of creating the Schwarz System with BB. Once Nyaphea Japan was created, Yakumo and BB would join it, with Yakumo becoming its lead executive. Yakumo would use Nymphea's funds to create the Schwarz System. However, before it could be used, it went berserk and, creating a field, started mass-producing Grim Reapers. BB would save Yakumo, but would get caught in the field, which resulted in his body being mutated by the Black Book.
Yakumo would use BB's power to create more Grim Reapers to hand out to those he sees as also fighting against fate. Rea, Ujiya, Yuri, Kain Junsa, Rago and, lastly, Rihito Shimizu were those that met that criteria. Alongside BB, they became his Reapers of the Persona Hunt, using their weapons to reap the Persona's of numerous Persona users in Sumaru City. For every Persona they reaped, the harvested would be sent to their Persona database, where they would be uploaded into the system to help form the macro-Persona, Schwarz, which would be used to activate the Black Book's full potential.
Yakumo is a man completely obsessed with overcoming fate, to the point he does not care how many people he needs to hurt into order to fulfill his ambitions. In that same vein, he also believes that whatever happens, be it good or bad, is a product of fate. Something that only bolsters him more to fight against it, lest he succumb to it as well. He tends to hide such madness behind a relatively confident, stern and intelligent demeanor, if also somewhat arrogant and callous. He genuinely believes what he is doing is the right thing in order to help humanity and is willing to fight for his ideal. Concerning his underlings, he does feel a sense of kinship with them, noting how they were also people trying their hardest to fight against their own sins and fate. In particular, he holds a strong relationship with BB and even cried after finding out after discovering his friend's fate. However, he is not above potentially using them as potential pawns to gain more information about the enemy and chalks up them being unable to overcome "fate" if they happened to be defeated. He is a Persona user capable of using multiple Personas at once thanks to the Black Book's power.
Yakumo made his first formal appearance following Rihito reaping Narui's Persona, though was shocked when the Red Book activated to disrupt and recover the stolen Persona. Quickly, and being intrigued, he realized that the holders of the Black and Red Books were fated to clash. From there, he gathered his Reapers together for a secret meeting, ordering them to double their efforts to reap Personas. Ujiya, hearing about their failures against the Factory Family, volunteers to go after them and Yakumo allows it.
However, thanks to the Family acquiring of two of the Four Keys, Ujiya and soon Kain fail in their missions of defeating them and have their Personas reaped in the process. When questioned of such defeats during a meeting with the remainder, he chalks it up to the defeated not having the means to overcome their fate. Instead, his measures are entirely focused on activating the Black Book in time for an interview with Sumaru Television. Taking Rea with him as a guard, though he notes she won't be able to use her Grim Reaper, his interview with him reveals his "past" as the Book activates. There he reveals his true name and a lie that he came from a loving household, alongside his "family," despite his parents being dead and Narui actively fighting against him. In reality, these are just illusions created by the Black Book, a test of its power via the television emissions, which start harming Narui and nearly erasing the current her from existence since it was trying to alter their family history.
As he and Rea leave, they run into Rinne, the holder of the Red Book, who is against such usage of the Black Book and fights them. He proves to be a tough opponent, being able to use two Personas at once and, with Rea's help, pulls off a fusion spell with the intent to beat Rinne. However, she is saved by Kazumi, having earned the Earth Key and it is the threat of the police interfering that gets both Yakumo and Rea to retreat.
Later on, following the loss of BB and discovering his body fused with the Schawrz System, Yakumo quietly cries over his loss and orders his remaining forces to do two things: gather as many demons as possible to have them search for the Factory Family since they hold the Red Book and to sever the System's connection with the Black Book, despite the warnings by Yuri against doing such a thing. With the latter, he uses the power of his Book to attack the Factory Family, utilizing the macro-Persona, Schwarz against his foes and kidnapping Rinne.
His intent is to use both of the books' combined power to rewrite history as he sees fit, thereby freeing him from the confines of destiny. With their power, he sets his forces in an alternate Sumaru City where the entire world has been wiped out, except for a desolate city full of demons and the remainder of the enemy Nymphea. He has his remaining Reapers and army of demons face off against the invading Factory Family while he works to fully realize his plans. However, since Kazumi sealed off a portion of the Black Book's power during his fight with BB, he can't make the needed progress. Thus, he has Rihito bring in Kazumi, trying to coerce Kazumi to give in and realize Yakumo's dream by handing over the Earth Key, all whilst Rihito beats up his former friend. However, J.F. interrupts the proceedings, freezing the control panel that held Rinne captive and even tried to free her from her binds himself. However, Yakumo noticed and kills the demon. Still, with the control panel destroyed, it allows Rinne to teleport both her and Rihito away, all while Kazumi, Narui and Keito (the other two having defeated Yuri and Rea) fight against Yakumo.
Yakumo, however, pushes back even the Factory Family, despite them having three of the four keys. In addition, his body had begun to mutate, gradually becoming more and more unable to handle the Black Book's power. Meaning if they don't beat him soon, his mind will be forever destroyed by the book. Schwarz has also begun to mutate into its initial, berserk, state. Before he could finish off his foes, Rihito arrives back with the Aqua Key and his ultimate Persona: Varuna. Betraying Yakumo, Rihito joined forces with the Factory Family to beat back his former boss. Ultimately, Schwarz is destroyed by the four pulling off the Quadra Termination fusion spell and Yakumo falls into a deep coma.
In the epilogue, Yakumo has been admitted to a hospital, still in a coma and being looked after by Narui. Despite doctors urging her to pull the plug, she refuses, believing that Yakumo will eventually wake up. Though, when he does, she'll be by his side to make things right this time. In the hospital room, she sees his first Persona, Kijimuna, gaze at her (though it has bandages over its body), thus giving credence that Yakumo will pull through.
Etymology
- The name Yakumo means "eight" (八) (ya) and "cloud" (雲) (kumo).
- Yakumo's surname Kusaka means "sun, day" (日) (ku) and "under, below" (下) (saka).
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