Fucking essay of DOOM
Overview
So what is this? THIS IS ME ORGANIZING MY THOUGHTS with formatting and awesome headers. This, basically means nothing to anyone but me, finding a way to solidify the characterization for myself, especially getting a footing for the introduction of the third personality, Rind. Yeah, that's right.
Basically, as of the early 190+ chapters, Agito fell in battle, and another personality took over. A smooth, deadly and obviously the true choice of the Fang Regalia, rather than Agito. This personality claims to be the first one in the body, and is certainly at odds with at least Akito, who knows him, and becomes at odds with Agito, who doesn't.
He is overcome in the end, by Agito becoming upset enough to fight him off, but leaves the normally dominant two in a rather uncertain mental state. I'm updating into this. So it's a good idea to get this all down and organized so I stay steady with characterizations.
There's a lot I don't know at this point, and likely WILL NOT KNOW until the very end of the manga. So, I'll be going on what little bits I can get from Oh!Great.
Basically, what I know for sure... Akito/Rind have been to the tower before, and Akito's terrified of it. They have undergone some experiment to create a brain charger, something that allows them to use 100% of their brains capacity, and in the hands of Rind, they can use the full potential of their body without a loss of energy. When exactly their split happened, how and in what manner? Are all unknown, Akito is guilty of a lot of omission EVEN TO AGITO. But as Agito doesn't seem to mind, neither am I. No need to add emo where there isn't any.
So I'm doing this by breakdown. Timeline, personalities and interactions.
Later I'll add major relationships, but I'm pretty sure I'm running out of room... Without further ado...
Timeline
(All details are subject to change due to Oh!Great's lack of timesense and the occational VITAL DETAIL. Inferred events are marked.)
Pre-Manga Events
?????? - Underwent an experimental process to give him augmented facilities similar to a Gravity Child. (Canon, date unknown, but likely pre-split, possibly pretraining.)
6-7 years old - Kaito gives Akito normal A-T and starts letting him learn/teaches him how to run the Bloody Road.
- Kaito joins or forms Winds with Akito. (Player guess)
10 years old - Akito is an undisputed master of the Bloody Road. He's given the Fang Regalia and the result of that 'run' causes a mental collapse. Akito and Rind as separate entities are born.
- Akito takes full dominance of the body and Rind becomes a deeply submerged personality.
- Agito is created to stabilize Akito. (Inferred from canon)
11 years old - Akira joins/is impressed into Winds (Akira-mun's guess)
12 years old - Agito is challenged by Akira for his Regalia. Agito loses. Possibly threw the fight.(Canon)
- Winds is transferred to Kyoto, all activity is unknown. (Inferred from canon)
14 years old - Winds is transferred back to Tokyo. (Canon)
Manga Begins
- Agito takes out the former leader of the Skull Skaders and challenges the Bulls to an A Class battle.
- Akito breaks away from Kaito and joins to-be-formed Kogarasumaru.
- Agito involves Kogarasumaru with Behemoth in order to challenge Akira again. With Ikki's help, he wins the Regalia back, and Akira goes back to Winds. Akito and Agito become loyal members of Kogarasumaru.
- Akito and Agito are out of most battles due to a massive physical breakdown during the match with Akira. TTT's Pledge Queen Ine is responsible for his recovery.
-Akito becomes Agito's tuner.
15 years old -
-Events on the Sano building and in the Tower occur.
-Agito takes up some degree of a training role with Kazu.
-Joins training with Kogarasumaru.
-Participates in the White Wolf battle with flagging performance near the end.
Current events: Lakeside training (before the hurricane)
The Personalities
Akito
Akito is without a doubt, the dominant personality in the body. He's also the one you are most likely to meet. He's social, well adjusted, and honestly enjoys the company of other people, so, unlike Agito, he can keep conversations up and going for some time. He has no problem with small talk and random conversations. If it's interesting to you, he'll honestly and earnestly listen to you.
Akito is almost too calm in all situations, intelligent and able to process a lot of what he takes in through sympathetic perspectives. In a group of shounen retards, he's rational, capable, and able to interact casually with normal people as well as other A-Tards. But sane? Not even close.
If you look closer, you'll notice that while he can develop relationships, his connections and priorities are entirely on different wavelengths or they don't happen at all. His perception of the world is by no means normal, and he processes a great deal of his situations in stories or symbolism, rather than the absolute reality of them. Though he seems really open, polite and pleasant, he holds himself at a vast emotional distance from most, and he can be actually very hard to read on what his actual feelings are on a great deal of things.
In company that he's relaxed around, he becomes mischievous and playful. He's obsessively focused on what he thinks is best and will quietly pull things around to those goals. There are only three people in canon who are privy to Akito admitting to his worries or doubts, and more serious, somber sides that he is under the surface, but at least around Kogarasumaru he drops the overly cute acts. (And don't be fooled! They are, at least to some degree, protective masks.)
He's slow to exasperation or anger, and very few things will really agitate him, but when they do, it comes through in incredible ways. He can be incredibly impulsive, particularly about affection, and can be, when you touch him, a little contact starved.
He is at least to a small degree sociopathic. He has very little deep empathy for those outside of his personal circles, and possibly as necessity, doesn't quite view those that his team or group battles entirely normally. For example, his reactions fall more along the lines of Kogarasumaru "You're doing it wrong. There are rules for this." than "You shouldn't beat these people up!" If he's not happy with how things are going, you might get information a bit cheerfully late, like say, a real storm rider team is closing in from above. He doesn't have a very strong sense of future, and prefers to almost ignore the past he doesn't like beyond vague acknowledgements and statistics.
This is to say that yes, he IS an abuse case. He does have a heavy degree of Stockholm Syndrome. He has very selective, deliberate empathy. He IS a balanced DID case and schizophrenic in order to deal with a life of trauma and physical and emotional abuse, and incredibly controlled situations. Altogether though? He handles it amazingly well. Mostly by not, honestly dealing with it. It's not something he dwells on or is particularly interested in putting himself into the same situation again. He's looking almost entirely, and determinedly at the present, knowing that eventually, yes, this wonderful, wonderful life is going to come to an end in the future, one way or another. But right now, this is the best thing ever, and he's so grateful that it's happening. And will do anything to protect it.
He doesn't emo, doesn't angst, doesn't have any reflexive recoil from fast movement or touch. For all intensive purposes, he's quite firmly left it behind him. And if the situation changes in the future? Well, he'll deal with that then.
As for his role in their split: I do think that he's technically an alter and that Rind IS the waking personality. However I do believe that he's a split rather than a created personality. For one, unlike Agito who WAS clearly a created personality, his memories go back rather far, if not their entire lifespan, also whether he adopted the name or just took it, Akito is the only reasonable birth name. The others are obviously assumed names. (Agito meaning fang and Rind meaning a cold, scaled person.) The true original Akito was very likely a mix of Akito and Rind, personality wise.
It's worth noting that Akito has no physical ability on A-T. He can barely skate in a straight line. He has taken all of his ability and basically sealed it off. He can't access it, likely even if he wanted to. He CAN share that power, or rather, transfer it to Agito, but in that state of sharing, he remains a submerged personality and Agito entirely in control of things. He doesn't WANT to be a weapon, and he's made sure that he can't be.
On Agito:
To Akito, Agito is a strong protector. Agito is someone who's gone through a lot to keep him from hurting in so many ways. Akito's very aware of this, and truly adores and is grateful to Agito for it. He does think that Agito is rash, excitable and sometimes hasn't always thought about what he's doing, or how others will see it. But he also very firmly believes that usually Agito has good intentions.
So, when it comes to Agito, Akito makes a lot of things convenient for him. He doesn't speak for Agito often, and wont apologize or make excuses for Agito's actions. However he will do little things that he knows Agito likes, like make sure there's the type of coffee he likes, or swap any time Agito wants, and more than allows Agito to practice whenever he likes. Whereas Agito will almost always use "I" no matter what the topic is, Akito will occasionally use "we" or "us" if it is something he knows both of them agree on.
While he is aware that their mental state is not normal and not considered healthy, he cares about it the least. He doesn't hide it (Though he doesn't exactly explain it either) and is a little surprised if people take a while to catch on that they're two separate people. He has no particular urge to change their situation either. There was even one opportunity for a willing reintegration, and Akito not only didn't want it, but was sure to sabotage it because he didn't think Agito REALLY wanted it either. He's happy and content with the state they're in and sees no reason to change it or get treatment for it.
Mentally, he's stronger than Agito, able to take control from under the surface, usually of just a hand to convey a message or swap them by force if necessary. This only, however, happens on rare occasions and only when Akito truly thinks it's important enough and they don't have time to discuss it. Otherwise, Akito is very, very considerate of letting Agito completely have his way of things when he's on the surface, and respects his decisions. In short, he trusts and loves Agito, and is actually wishing Agito would make his own life as well now that they're outside and have a chance to do it. His interference would only make that complicated.
On Rind:
We don't know, exactly what Akito's opinions are of Rind. We only get one panel of Akito's reactions... but the fact that Akito WAS so present, supportive, and talkative before, and it suddenly stops when the Regalia starts pressing for Rind to come out says a lot. When Rind binds them, Akito's reaction is really distinct, he's huddled up and shaking, back to everything. Agitated? Maybe terrified? Akito knows Rind, his memory goes back farther than Agito's and there's some history there. As it doesn't seem like Rind was happy to be locked up, either initially or during the fight, so the idea that Rind retired willing isn't very likely. Given the sharp difference in their personalities, I'd say during that first mental break, they split, clashed and some way or another, Akito won out. Agito says "What were you doing inside of Akito?!"
What does this mean? How? Why didn't he just do it again? Why is he afraid of Rind? I have no idea. I HAVE THEORIES. But I'm not going to play more until I get some more solid ground under me. I imagine we'll find out before the end of the manga for sure, but at the moment there's a lot of mystery around Rind and his past and present dynamics. If it comes up in camp, I'll simply play it with Akito's silence on the matter.
Change:
Akito has one of the oddest changes in the series, because his changes are so erratic in some cases, and slow and gradual in others. The first change we see is dramatic. In Akito's first appearance, he's quiet, distanced, sort of empty-eyed and speaking with what I assume is a rather hollow tone. He's there, he's out front, but he's certainly not entirely present or emotionally engaged to the scene. Which is understandable, since his brother is going to make him attack everyone he could possibly meet there.
The next time Akito emerges, it's frustrated, desperate, leave now, it's about to get really dangerous. The next time after that, he kisses Ikki in one of the more memorable scenes in the early manga. The Akito we see next is cutesy, does heartmarks and says cute sound effect noises out loud. He's matter of fact about himself and his situation, and picks and chooses what he listens to and ignores, and is almost constantly smiling.
So which one is really him? My personal theory, a little bit of all of it, but mostly, we saw a flash of Akito when he pulled control away from Agito forcefully... and these initial glimpses are protective measures rather than good gauges of his personality. The first being a means of buffering himself from a situation he really didn't like and want to be a part of, the second being, "Look! I'm cute~ I'm safe! I'm not the person bleeding out the enemies! You can tell, right? You want to keep me, right? I don't want to go home! Maybe just a few more days, okay?! ♥"
It's an exaggeration of himself, that he actually keeps up for some time. His greatest change in the main course of the series is the fact that this drops slowly. You get to meet someone closer to the real Akito, or rather, the one we see in his head. Someone who doesn't smile much, but when he does, it lights up the room. Someone with a very strong will, and clear sense of what he wants, but picks his battles and opportunities carefully, but doesn't let go of them once he's latched on.
However, it's certainly worth detailing that the latest and most significant change to Akito has happened just recently in canon. Akito has specifically ASKED for a confrontation, when Agito was going to merely let it go, in order to protect their body from damage from a battle that it didn't look like they could win. Not just asked, but reached out from under Agito and removed the eyepatch, and gently told Agito it was their purpose to protect Ikki now, and that they shouldn't let it go. Akito, who has never been inclined towards battle at all, threw everything he had into assisting Agito for that battle, and everything that happened in it.
Now that he's found a place, that both he and Agito can exist in happily, he's willing to fight again. Not him personally yet, and likely never WILL be him personally, but it is a far cry from the Behemoth fight where Agito had to ask for the assistance and it was slow in truly coming.
Role:
Akito's role in the series is multifaceted and generally small in a lot of everyday respects because he HAS chosen not to use A-T at all. (And this IS a manga about A-T.) First off. He's a shoujo antagonist in a shounen series. He exists as that homo homo side character that is comedically (but really IS) in love with a very straight main character. He does understand this, and pretty well knows it wont be returned, but that doesn't stop him from trying, enjoying the illusions he can get of being the happy couple, and of course, snapping at the female competition. He's a bit like Nakao from Hanakimi in a lot of respects. Not a bad kid, but fixated on a losing battle. Feminizing himself and outright catty tactics are all fair in the field of love.
He's Agito's tuner. This makes them a self-sufficient entity and while he doesn't show the amazing timesense or rhythmic abilities of a lot of tuners, or the medical skills, he does apparently have the understanding, simple, intimate knowledge of Agito and their body, and at least some mechanical skill. As it's very likely Yayoi will become their tuner in the future, this role will probably be retired soon.
He's the sympathetic voice, and alternate opinion to Agito's stance. He's a deliberately softer, more considerate voice to Agito's harsh perspectives and tones. He will chide when Agito goes too far, and will occasionally give more information or support, when Agito wont. This is not to say he will always agree with Ikki or always disagree with Agito. When you're an idiot, you're an idiot, and Akito will tell you that too. And finally, he's a safety catch built into the weapon. You can swap the eyepatch and get Akito blinking up at you widely and anything that was about to happen, will pretty much have been stopped.
Agito
If Akito is the primary personality in the body, Agito is what has been a repressed, secondary personality that is really just starting to get a taste at everyday life. When he was originally created, he knew that his purpose was to protect this other person, Akito, and has served it without question, qualm or regret. When Akito faltered and fell, refused to ride anymore, Agito picked up and took the burden, and the skill.
This is to say, outside of Kogarasumaru, he's had very little time outside that he wasn't doing just that. Either infiltrating other groups as an unaffiliated ace rider (to betray them and get them set up for a Winds raid), or kicking the shit out of some punks on A-T. Of course, it's not like his memory has ever stopped when Akito is in control, since they don't function like that, but Agito has a very highly developed perception of Akito's world and Agito's world and for quite some time, never thought that the two should meet.
Given this, it's not really a surprise to know that Agito's take on life is cynical, expecting and planning for the worst in any situation. He's almost obsessive about details in this regard and in most situations where he has time to lay out anything in advance you can bet he has at least 4 or 5 plans in place, taking into account best and worst case scenarios. He's ruthless in what he goes after and how, he has absolutely no problems in playing dirty... be it betrayals, cheap shots, tactics to unnerve opponents or just, oh, you know, aiming a rock at an opponent's eyes while they're distracted with a very complicated trick. Because an honorable battle doesn't mean fuckall next to who survives.
And that is a massive thing to Agito. His entire Road, his entire style, has revolved around two concepts. The first is directly related: He seeks out the thrill of a near death experience, and revels in making it. Every time he survives, he's stronger; he's more capable for it. It comes off as nearly sexual and incredibly intense, and after a particularly difficult battle, Agito's the most open if not cheerful. The second concept is a bit more twisted than even that.
He does not kill his opponents; he scars them. Using the serrated A-T, he'll leave tracks cut into the bodies of those he's fighting, and if deep enough, they'll probably carry the marks of the encounter for the rest of their life. So any time the victim looks at them, they'll be forced to remember the battle and remember him. They're, in a way, his legacy, his proof of existence and his validation. Because of these two factors, he's known as a shark, and rightfully accused of a driving bloodlust.
He is, however, incredibly picky about his battles. He's not going to attack any punk you put in front of him (unless you're Kaito and then it's a whole 'nother story). He has a very strict standard of what kind of ability you have to have, before you're worth his Road. Not that this stops him from frequently threatening to leave his Road on just about anyone who irritates him in any way. Unless you show a certain level of skill; however, this IS more bark than bite.
Still, this is more about challenge and personal standards than it is about compassion, because, frankly, Agito doesn't have a lot of that. The weak are weak. The strong are strong. That's the way things are, and either accept that or fuck off, he doesn't want to listen to all that good-natured, 'we're all special' talk. It takes someone stronger to destroy the strong, and the weak should accept their place as to be protected or destroyed in his worldview and, honestly, he's usually right about this, if incredibly narrow-viewed and callous.
When it comes to expressing his opinion, he's direct and brutal, leaving very little room for misunderstanding, and none at all for sugar coating the issue. There are times he can be TOO harsh, or too focused and miss important details or leave some things entirely out of his calculations simply because he doesn't take into account a certain level of empathy from people... or rampant stupidity when it comes to Ikki messing up most of his more intricate plans.
Which leads me to Agito and social situations. Basically, he's not good at them, but he's getting better. He lacks the ability to do small talk, and if forced to be there through it, his attention seems to go inward or just elsewhere entirely. He doesn't handle emotional conversations well, and direct observations about himself or his nature that he's not really interested in talking about (or haven't faced himself, or doesn't want to be common knowledge) will cause him to shut down and walk away, or swap the eyepatch to Akito. He's not one to bring up random conversation, and if something comes up with him, it's probably to a point. He wants or needs information. He, more than anyone, pulls through in a crisis situation to latch on and try to drag out as much information as possible when everyone else is too focused on the emotional impact involved.
This isn't to say Agito can't feel that range. Of course he can. Outwardly, however, he keeps it a great deal more distanced and isn't inclined to show weaknesses to others if he can help it at all. He has shown regret, isolation, the occasional suicidal intent, self doubt, absolute fear and a multitude of things that very rarely make it to show on his face, and really, the only one who's gotten to see any of this is Akito. (Though Ikki and Ine have both been privy to an occasion or two.) Does it keep him down long? No. Like Akito, he doesn't deal with these things well, or for long, so they just get shoved aside, almost immediately. In Agito's case, they get pushed aside for a goal of some sort to fixate on, because, in his perception, letting yourself get dragged down by those sort of things, is a weakness that he can't afford.
And to some degree, this is true. Their body is still broken from a lifetime of being driven hard by Kaito and is still recovering, but they don't have the time or luxury to pamper it and stay off of A-T. So, it's Agito's willpower that keeps them at the level they are, and improving. When he doesn't HAVE a purpose to a battle, he falters more, is more likely to drop from exhaustion or the pain, but when he does have that goal in sight, he seems to have inexhaustible stamina.
That purpose? Has always been protecting Akito. Now that Akito is in a healthy situation, where they don't NEED to fight, and they are surrounded by people who are nothing but supportive in their own dumbtarded ways, Agito's floundered and lost quite a bit of his bite. It took a bit to find it again, but it's turned around and focused solidly on Kogarasumaru instead. They are his territory, more than any stupid buildings and stickers. They are HIS, and he will go to all ends to make sure they're not swallowed up by the stronger beasts out there, for Akito's sake. He's their fangs, cutting through situations before it can get to them while they're unprepared. And it's enough right now to bring out that natural strength. How long this will hold on? I'm sure it will be at least to the Tower.
S-so about those friends. That's a bit too complicated to really put here, so SEE RELATIONSHIPS below, where I'll break them down case by case, but I'll just say here that he's really slow to win over, but once past those initial guards, Agito is pretty well someone who WILL defend you to the death. Though he'll deny having any at all to begin with, he has no ability to cut off emotional ties once they're established, and this goes to people who HAVE done him terrible turns... like Kaito and Akira. As for the ones he has now? He wants to preserve the situation they have now, and will do so violently as necessary, but going back to that cynical and pragmatic side, is fairly certain it wont last, and they'll have to go back to Winds. He doesn't actually see this as bad, and has considered doing it himself willingly at one point, just a cold eventuality that they're going to have to face. And it's not like they were doing a bad thing with Winds, just in a bad way.
As for sanity, like Akito, there's very little of it there. He lacks the basic empathy towards other people and morality, and it allows him to operate efficiently at what he does. Unlike Akito though, he does have a greater ability to make interpersonal connections, and is incredibly childlike when it comes to unexpected or new relationships. And I mean childlike in every sense of the word, from temper tantrums, to running away, to all out wonder and awe at times. He lacks basic emotional defenses, whereas Akito's are overdeveloped, and more often than not, in an unfamiliar situation, what he's feeling at any given moment can be seen painted vividly across his face.
On Akito:
Without peer or equal, Akito is Agito's most important person in this world. There is no way to overstate this. Agito is well aware of the fact that he came into existence with only the knowledge that he wanted to protect this other person, and doesn't question it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Agito really and honestly loves Akito. This was nothing that was created, but something that developed over the years, and the natural result of being in a world where Akito WAS the only one who adored him back.
He does think of Akito as weak, he's said it himself, and knows that it's a self inflicted weakness. But in this one and only case, Agito doesn't look at this with scorn. Akito is someone deeply precious to him, and he does everything he can to protect him. This means anything from taking their A-T, their title, and continuing for him, to becoming the separate thing for Kaito to hate while loving his brother instead.
When it comes down to what he will do for Akito, there's very little he will draw short at. He joined a team that he would otherwise be unable to stand, trained them, and was, when they didn't know what was wrong with their body, willing to disappear in order to save Akito now that he wasn't needed. Now that they DO know, he's been more than willing to be incredibly careful with their body, even more discriminating about their battles, keeping a regular bedtime and other changes to his habits. He accepts Akito's ... particular quirks without complaint or even batting an eye... such as surfacing in a wedding dress for a battle, or frog hoodie, or other cutesy touches. O-or having to kill Aeon Clock in the face because Akito offered up their body in the place of Ikki's.
This is NOT to say that he immediately capitulates to anything Akito wants, because there are plenty of issues they don't see eye to eye on, and he will more than anything, hold to his opinion when it comes to matters relating to their training, the team, or A-T. While he respects and considers Akito's opinion more than anyone else's, this is not to say he wont argue, if not completely and utterly disagree at times. They HAVE had larger disagreements and have fought for control once in the manga, and likely has happened more than once before that.
When speaking, Agito will almost never say 'we' or 'us' and will not state Akito's opinion unless directly asked. And even then, in most cases, he'll just give up control so Akito can deal with this conversation shit going on here. It is always 'I' and solely his own opinion when speaking. Similarly, while he won't state Akito's opinion, he also won't speak less of it, even if he doesn't understand it or doesn't agree with it.
So you can assume from this that a great deal of the WAY Agito speaks, lower pitch, greater intensity, and incredibly crude and overly disrespectful language is to immediately cause anyone listening to KNOW this isn't Akito talking. (Most amusingly, when speaking to Akito, Agito's language changes. It's calmer, quieter and doesn't swear at Akito at all, which says something, as it's a staple of his outward voice.)
Part of this? Is because Agito sees his existence as a secondary life. Still. Again, this is getting better, but it's a really old, deep self-image and it not going to change easily or quickly. To him, his actions and time is both borrowed, and less important than Akito's 'real' life. And his worst moments come from a belief that his secondary life was no longer necessary to Akito's real one to continue happily.
This does NOT mean that he easily disregards his life, at all. His entire Road involves carving people up as a visible, permanent proof of his existence. When it became apparent that he DIDN'T have to stop existing for Akito's body to recover, the relief was almost overwhelming. He does NOT want to die, even if he was willing to. He enjoys his existence, his entire way of doing things revolves around validating it, his greatest pleasure comes from flawlessly evading a near death experience for the rush of being alive, but he's also not sure of his right to it. Yeah, it's a weird piece of mental real estate.
On Rind:
As far as we can tell at this point, Agito has little to no previous knowledge of who or what Rind was. He really believed, at the Behemoth stage, that if he went away, the split in Akito's body would be resolved, which wouldn't be the case if he knew Rind was still there to be dealt with, and in fact would have never considered leaving.
In fact, when he first 'saw' Rind, I'm fairly convinced that for a moment he really thought it WAS Kaito, somehow. Sometime in there, whether it was while they were trapped deep in their unconscious mind together, or after they'd cleared the caverns, he'd gotten some sort of explanation from Akito or at least enough to draw his own conclusions from. (And trust me, I'd KILL to know what those explanations were.) But, whatever WAS said, Agito has come to the conclusion that if there is a personality or way that they would really and truly betray Kogarasumaru at this point, it will be this personality and the idea disturbs him a lot. Probably more than he thought it would. He refers to Rind as a "Judas Egg" and even goes so far as to vaguely warn Ikki that something's wrong and eventually, Ikki may have to fight him without hesitation. For someone who values being self sufficient as much as Agito does, going that far says a lot about the situation.
So he sees Rind as someone he needs to fight, and a danger to their current life. This is someone incredibly strong, incredibly talented, and in his own mind, bigger than him. But he considers the risks of losing to Rind to be LARGE and possibly permanent. As he says to Rind, he wont let him just do whatever he wants to this body, to these people around him.
He does, I think, acknowledge Rind as an incredibly powerful A-T user. Clever as all fuck and STRONG past Agito's own limits. Rind pulls of feats with their body that Agito hasn't even begun to figure out. And at this point, it's apparent that the King that the Regalia acknowledge is Rind, and not himself. However, this has yet to actually turn up as any sort of deterrent.
If anything, Rind is what caused Agito to go so far, and develop an even higher level of the Fang on his own.
Change:
Agito starts as a shounen anti-hero and evolves slowly into a true shounen retard. Really, one of the most documented and mentioned progressions in the series, it requires very little explanation. It starts almost immediately with Ikki working on him tenaciously even while there was very little to no reason to trust the scheming little shark. From blushing when called a friend to all out shut downs, Agito was shown to be obviously less cold than originally expected and quite a bit more socially akward. By Behemoth, Spitfire says it best with "In just so short of a time, he's able to laugh like that." And then the biggest sign of Agito really joining Kogarasumaru... giving Ikki the Fang Regalia he'd just fought ferociously for.
There haven't been any as distinct mile markers, but while he started the series just sleeping while Kogarasumaru practiced, he now actively joins them and puts a lot into it. And his outlook is no longer that he's protecting this place Akito found, but he now thinks of the team as his, and somewhere HE belongs to as well. And recently, the final leap to a true shounen retard happened just recently, where he ignored what was a stark reality with a FUCK REALITY, some idiot I know broke that a long time ago.
Really.
Role:
Of the three of them, Agito's role is easily the most distinct and defined, by the simple virtue of the fact that he's the rider. In a general sense, Agito's got three roles when it comes to the team. The foremost role is that he is something of a teacher. Instruction, information and training is one of the things we see Agito providing the most often. His ability to understand situations and opponents, and how best to use what's around them to counter these factors is the main aspects of this role, and with Aeon Clock and Yoshitsune, he's one of the major factors as to how Kogarasumaru has rocketed up so far in popularity and ranking as fast as it did.
Certainly, Kogarasumaru would still be a no name little team putzing about the lower ranks if it hadn't been for the widely broadcast and severely underdogged battle against Behemoth. They would have eventually made it, because Ikki is Ikki, but not nearly so quickly nor across the board.
Also as a teacher, alongside of Buccha, his role is an expositioner. He explains situations that they're thrown into, and things that most Storm Riders learn gradually with experience, that Kogarasumaru hasn't had the time to break into. Like situation implications or the power, nature and importance tuners or Regalia.
Secondly, he's the powerhouse of the team. Limited by disinterest early in, and physical limitations now, he's both an incredible force to be directed against Kogarasumaru's enemies and his skill level still remains far above ALL of the riders on the team. There's not a lot to say about this, other than until he gets exhausted or his legs start giving out, there's not many people who exist in the AG world that Agito can't own. (That said, in camp, he's greatly UNDERPOWERED and looking to take advantage of some of the otherworldly abilities to be observed.)
Thirdly, he's the naysayer and reality check of the team. While Kazu's the straightman, and Buccha's the one who goes along with a lot of Ikki's jokes, Agito is the one who flat out and harshly states when one or more of the group is being stupid about something. Or if a plan is ill formed or impossible. He has an amazing eye for when things are NOT lining up well, and can point it out in ways that the people around him can understand. His tactics are cautious, reserved and usually with several back up plans. (This is not to say he's not without his incredible moments of retardation himself. INCREDIBLE MOMENTS.)
He's also the guardian of the team. Not only lining up situations, more than once, he's either come along or stayed behind because there WAS going to be an opponent who would wipe the floor with Kogarasumaru. In the case of Yoshitsune, he went to Kyoto while not even recovered well enough for Akito to run for any period of time, much less be able to really fight, but was going to do it anyway. Fortunately, the situation resolved itself by Ikki being himself. The other happened more recently, with three A Class riders assigned by Nike to just eliminate Ikki, because Sora was being a dumbass and turning a blind eye to them. While he never actually engaged Pyon, Orca and Caesar were taken on in the middle of a hurricane for Ikki (overall situation) and Yayoi's (immediate situation) benefit.
And lastly, he's Ikki's pet. ... There's no way to say this without it sounding horrible. And in a way it... it is. However, this is entirely how Ikki (successfully) handles him in since the beginning. From contact, offerings, ... h-hand feeding Agito when he hasn't eaten often, p-petting and praise, biting back, reprimanding, etc. And really, it's almost the only way Agito can really process the situation. Not that he would acknowledge it, if it was brought up. He'd hiss, growl and yell, deny and threaten, but when it comes down to it, Agito is most comfortable when owned and directed. It's not necessarily a GOOD thing, but it's a familiar thing. And he's sure as hell not mistreated (as much as he might claim otherwise), and honestly, Agito is not suited, nor does he WANT a leader role. He's much more comfortable sitting just a little behind, finding their enemies and taking them on. Either attacking or defending, there is very little personal motivation or gain involved when Agito acts.
Rind
Rind shows up in Akito's perception as resembling Kaito, and I don't think it's because it's Kaito personality (Rind certainly isn't much like Kaito) but the fact that he really IS Kaito's designed pet, Kaito's fingerprints are all over this one. So he reads like that, and eventually solidifies into his own form. So. There's a lot we DON'T know about Rind.
What we know for sure, Rind claims to be the oldest personality in the body, and Agito is the youngest, by both Akito and Rind's accounts. Rind and Akito both hold all of the body's memories and Agito's memory starts when he was created. This leaves me to believe that Akito wasn't so much of a created personality and Rind and Akito were an even split, a fracturing of the personality based on what they'd done, what they like and what they don't like. Akito won out, or Rind stepped down, and Rind was locked up, and Agito was formed later in order to help Akito function and to protect him from having to continue a life he didn't want to participate in anymore.
Rind, himself, seems to be very different from both Akito and Agito. He's got a particular, justified self confidence, that doesn't need dirty tricks or boasting, and will in fact warn an opponent. Not so much out of compassion, but to keep the waters clear. He has a certain, animalistic posture, both in rest and in motion, and has a ruthlessness that Agito only plays at. He has a very relaxed, lazy way of holding himself, and his speech swings back and forth between casual and rough mannerisms. He has a particular maturity beyond the other two, and speaks of them as children. He has even less morals than Akito and Agito and someone dying painfully at his hand is nothing more than background to him.
And of course, Rind really likes girls. And is more than a little sexist. Though he can be smooth if he wants to, he just. Sort of picks really the wrong times.
There is a heavy implication that Rind has really no interest in keeping their body as it is, and will be bidding for it when they mature. The way they are, the body is not only severely injured, but it lacks the mass and simple muscular development to truly run their Road at its full impact.
Due to Rind's access to their augmented mental ability, Rind seems to have the ability to push their body far, far past the limits Agito is able to, pulling off amazing feats of strength and agility. And this, more than anything might have been the CAUSE of their legs' damage, even if it was pushed to exacerbation over the years. Agito's practically gentle with their body, next to what Rind does.
He seems to be rather fond of Akito, even if his opinion of him is something of a child, a slightly spoiled one at that. On the other hand, Agito is "his troublesome youngest brother." Like he is with Akito, he shows every sign of being fond of Agito, even after Agito forced him back under and locked him back up.
And lastly, his role is likely going to be threefold. Firstly, he is someone inside of them who will either need to be overcome or reconciled with. Though he seems to LIKE THEM, and really like them, Rind and Aki/Agi couldn't have further views on handling situations and what lengths they will go to and for what. Rind has no problem at all going for lethal points and depths. Lets face it, if Orca was a normal human, he would have been dead twice over BEFORE THE LAKE SCENE.
He's set up to be the turncoat, doing whatever Kaito orders him to. He IS the perfect weapon, trained, moral-less, refined and stupidly powerful. This may or may not cause a face off with Ikki, but whatever it is, it will likely need to be taken down both internally and externally at the same time.
He's also potentially the peak level force to be unleashed in a final battle situation. He can get out when BOTH Akito and Agito are exhausted and they've overused the Regalia's signature moves. He has phrased it as "there's enough space between them to get free." Basically, when those two fall, it's Rind's turn. This also means we've still yet to see Rind at full power, as his appearance so far has not only been at the peak of the body's exhaustion, but without the Regalia reacting properly to him. Him being unleashed at the START of a battle may be an incredibly different story.
As for what Rind's actual plans are, if he has any, are unknown. If he's truly loyal to Kaito, is also unknown. If he's as fond as he seems of the two he's with? I'm actually gambling on yes. Though he's locked up deep by them, he's obviously observed what's been going on, and is in clear understanding of the situation when he surfaces, who is important to them, and what the restrictions of the battle are. He's clearly aware that they want to save Yayoi first, and that Agito's never been aiming for Orca. He's aware he can't break off the fight because if he does, the ones Akito and Agito have been protecting will likely fall or die.
The fact that he does all of the above? Does it mean he's grown fond of the people surrounding the sharks too, or just interested in protecting THEIR interests as well as their body? It's really unknown at this point, but so far, nothing's really come up to really put this theory aside.
So what is this? THIS IS ME ORGANIZING MY THOUGHTS with formatting and awesome headers. This, basically means nothing to anyone but me, finding a way to solidify the characterization for myself, especially getting a footing for the introduction of the third personality, Rind. Yeah, that's right.
Basically, as of the early 190+ chapters, Agito fell in battle, and another personality took over. A smooth, deadly and obviously the true choice of the Fang Regalia, rather than Agito. This personality claims to be the first one in the body, and is certainly at odds with at least Akito, who knows him, and becomes at odds with Agito, who doesn't.
He is overcome in the end, by Agito becoming upset enough to fight him off, but leaves the normally dominant two in a rather uncertain mental state. I'm updating into this. So it's a good idea to get this all down and organized so I stay steady with characterizations.
There's a lot I don't know at this point, and likely WILL NOT KNOW until the very end of the manga. So, I'll be going on what little bits I can get from Oh!Great.
Basically, what I know for sure... Akito/Rind have been to the tower before, and Akito's terrified of it. They have undergone some experiment to create a brain charger, something that allows them to use 100% of their brains capacity, and in the hands of Rind, they can use the full potential of their body without a loss of energy. When exactly their split happened, how and in what manner? Are all unknown, Akito is guilty of a lot of omission EVEN TO AGITO. But as Agito doesn't seem to mind, neither am I. No need to add emo where there isn't any.
So I'm doing this by breakdown. Timeline, personalities and interactions.
Later I'll add major relationships, but I'm pretty sure I'm running out of room... Without further ado...
Timeline
(All details are subject to change due to Oh!Great's lack of timesense and the occational VITAL DETAIL. Inferred events are marked.)
Pre-Manga Events
?????? - Underwent an experimental process to give him augmented facilities similar to a Gravity Child. (Canon, date unknown, but likely pre-split, possibly pretraining.)
6-7 years old - Kaito gives Akito normal A-T and starts letting him learn/teaches him how to run the Bloody Road.
- Kaito joins or forms Winds with Akito. (Player guess)
10 years old - Akito is an undisputed master of the Bloody Road. He's given the Fang Regalia and the result of that 'run' causes a mental collapse. Akito and Rind as separate entities are born.
- Akito takes full dominance of the body and Rind becomes a deeply submerged personality.
- Agito is created to stabilize Akito. (Inferred from canon)
11 years old - Akira joins/is impressed into Winds (Akira-mun's guess)
12 years old - Agito is challenged by Akira for his Regalia. Agito loses. Possibly threw the fight.(Canon)
- Winds is transferred to Kyoto, all activity is unknown. (Inferred from canon)
14 years old - Winds is transferred back to Tokyo. (Canon)
Manga Begins
- Agito takes out the former leader of the Skull Skaders and challenges the Bulls to an A Class battle.
- Akito breaks away from Kaito and joins to-be-formed Kogarasumaru.
- Agito involves Kogarasumaru with Behemoth in order to challenge Akira again. With Ikki's help, he wins the Regalia back, and Akira goes back to Winds. Akito and Agito become loyal members of Kogarasumaru.
- Akito and Agito are out of most battles due to a massive physical breakdown during the match with Akira. TTT's Pledge Queen Ine is responsible for his recovery.
-Akito becomes Agito's tuner.
15 years old -
-Events on the Sano building and in the Tower occur.
-Agito takes up some degree of a training role with Kazu.
-Joins training with Kogarasumaru.
-Participates in the White Wolf battle with flagging performance near the end.
Current events: Lakeside training (before the hurricane)
The Personalities
Akito
Akito is without a doubt, the dominant personality in the body. He's also the one you are most likely to meet. He's social, well adjusted, and honestly enjoys the company of other people, so, unlike Agito, he can keep conversations up and going for some time. He has no problem with small talk and random conversations. If it's interesting to you, he'll honestly and earnestly listen to you.
Akito is almost too calm in all situations, intelligent and able to process a lot of what he takes in through sympathetic perspectives. In a group of shounen retards, he's rational, capable, and able to interact casually with normal people as well as other A-Tards. But sane? Not even close.
If you look closer, you'll notice that while he can develop relationships, his connections and priorities are entirely on different wavelengths or they don't happen at all. His perception of the world is by no means normal, and he processes a great deal of his situations in stories or symbolism, rather than the absolute reality of them. Though he seems really open, polite and pleasant, he holds himself at a vast emotional distance from most, and he can be actually very hard to read on what his actual feelings are on a great deal of things.
In company that he's relaxed around, he becomes mischievous and playful. He's obsessively focused on what he thinks is best and will quietly pull things around to those goals. There are only three people in canon who are privy to Akito admitting to his worries or doubts, and more serious, somber sides that he is under the surface, but at least around Kogarasumaru he drops the overly cute acts. (And don't be fooled! They are, at least to some degree, protective masks.)
He's slow to exasperation or anger, and very few things will really agitate him, but when they do, it comes through in incredible ways. He can be incredibly impulsive, particularly about affection, and can be, when you touch him, a little contact starved.
He is at least to a small degree sociopathic. He has very little deep empathy for those outside of his personal circles, and possibly as necessity, doesn't quite view those that his team or group battles entirely normally. For example, his reactions fall more along the lines of Kogarasumaru "You're doing it wrong. There are rules for this." than "You shouldn't beat these people up!" If he's not happy with how things are going, you might get information a bit cheerfully late, like say, a real storm rider team is closing in from above. He doesn't have a very strong sense of future, and prefers to almost ignore the past he doesn't like beyond vague acknowledgements and statistics.
This is to say that yes, he IS an abuse case. He does have a heavy degree of Stockholm Syndrome. He has very selective, deliberate empathy. He IS a balanced DID case and schizophrenic in order to deal with a life of trauma and physical and emotional abuse, and incredibly controlled situations. Altogether though? He handles it amazingly well. Mostly by not, honestly dealing with it. It's not something he dwells on or is particularly interested in putting himself into the same situation again. He's looking almost entirely, and determinedly at the present, knowing that eventually, yes, this wonderful, wonderful life is going to come to an end in the future, one way or another. But right now, this is the best thing ever, and he's so grateful that it's happening. And will do anything to protect it.
He doesn't emo, doesn't angst, doesn't have any reflexive recoil from fast movement or touch. For all intensive purposes, he's quite firmly left it behind him. And if the situation changes in the future? Well, he'll deal with that then.
As for his role in their split: I do think that he's technically an alter and that Rind IS the waking personality. However I do believe that he's a split rather than a created personality. For one, unlike Agito who WAS clearly a created personality, his memories go back rather far, if not their entire lifespan, also whether he adopted the name or just took it, Akito is the only reasonable birth name. The others are obviously assumed names. (Agito meaning fang and Rind meaning a cold, scaled person.) The true original Akito was very likely a mix of Akito and Rind, personality wise.
It's worth noting that Akito has no physical ability on A-T. He can barely skate in a straight line. He has taken all of his ability and basically sealed it off. He can't access it, likely even if he wanted to. He CAN share that power, or rather, transfer it to Agito, but in that state of sharing, he remains a submerged personality and Agito entirely in control of things. He doesn't WANT to be a weapon, and he's made sure that he can't be.
On Agito:
To Akito, Agito is a strong protector. Agito is someone who's gone through a lot to keep him from hurting in so many ways. Akito's very aware of this, and truly adores and is grateful to Agito for it. He does think that Agito is rash, excitable and sometimes hasn't always thought about what he's doing, or how others will see it. But he also very firmly believes that usually Agito has good intentions.
So, when it comes to Agito, Akito makes a lot of things convenient for him. He doesn't speak for Agito often, and wont apologize or make excuses for Agito's actions. However he will do little things that he knows Agito likes, like make sure there's the type of coffee he likes, or swap any time Agito wants, and more than allows Agito to practice whenever he likes. Whereas Agito will almost always use "I" no matter what the topic is, Akito will occasionally use "we" or "us" if it is something he knows both of them agree on.
While he is aware that their mental state is not normal and not considered healthy, he cares about it the least. He doesn't hide it (Though he doesn't exactly explain it either) and is a little surprised if people take a while to catch on that they're two separate people. He has no particular urge to change their situation either. There was even one opportunity for a willing reintegration, and Akito not only didn't want it, but was sure to sabotage it because he didn't think Agito REALLY wanted it either. He's happy and content with the state they're in and sees no reason to change it or get treatment for it.
Mentally, he's stronger than Agito, able to take control from under the surface, usually of just a hand to convey a message or swap them by force if necessary. This only, however, happens on rare occasions and only when Akito truly thinks it's important enough and they don't have time to discuss it. Otherwise, Akito is very, very considerate of letting Agito completely have his way of things when he's on the surface, and respects his decisions. In short, he trusts and loves Agito, and is actually wishing Agito would make his own life as well now that they're outside and have a chance to do it. His interference would only make that complicated.
On Rind:
We don't know, exactly what Akito's opinions are of Rind. We only get one panel of Akito's reactions... but the fact that Akito WAS so present, supportive, and talkative before, and it suddenly stops when the Regalia starts pressing for Rind to come out says a lot. When Rind binds them, Akito's reaction is really distinct, he's huddled up and shaking, back to everything. Agitated? Maybe terrified? Akito knows Rind, his memory goes back farther than Agito's and there's some history there. As it doesn't seem like Rind was happy to be locked up, either initially or during the fight, so the idea that Rind retired willing isn't very likely. Given the sharp difference in their personalities, I'd say during that first mental break, they split, clashed and some way or another, Akito won out. Agito says "What were you doing inside of Akito?!"
What does this mean? How? Why didn't he just do it again? Why is he afraid of Rind? I have no idea. I HAVE THEORIES. But I'm not going to play more until I get some more solid ground under me. I imagine we'll find out before the end of the manga for sure, but at the moment there's a lot of mystery around Rind and his past and present dynamics. If it comes up in camp, I'll simply play it with Akito's silence on the matter.
Change:
Akito has one of the oddest changes in the series, because his changes are so erratic in some cases, and slow and gradual in others. The first change we see is dramatic. In Akito's first appearance, he's quiet, distanced, sort of empty-eyed and speaking with what I assume is a rather hollow tone. He's there, he's out front, but he's certainly not entirely present or emotionally engaged to the scene. Which is understandable, since his brother is going to make him attack everyone he could possibly meet there.
The next time Akito emerges, it's frustrated, desperate, leave now, it's about to get really dangerous. The next time after that, he kisses Ikki in one of the more memorable scenes in the early manga. The Akito we see next is cutesy, does heartmarks and says cute sound effect noises out loud. He's matter of fact about himself and his situation, and picks and chooses what he listens to and ignores, and is almost constantly smiling.
So which one is really him? My personal theory, a little bit of all of it, but mostly, we saw a flash of Akito when he pulled control away from Agito forcefully... and these initial glimpses are protective measures rather than good gauges of his personality. The first being a means of buffering himself from a situation he really didn't like and want to be a part of, the second being, "Look! I'm cute~ I'm safe! I'm not the person bleeding out the enemies! You can tell, right? You want to keep me, right? I don't want to go home! Maybe just a few more days, okay?! ♥"
It's an exaggeration of himself, that he actually keeps up for some time. His greatest change in the main course of the series is the fact that this drops slowly. You get to meet someone closer to the real Akito, or rather, the one we see in his head. Someone who doesn't smile much, but when he does, it lights up the room. Someone with a very strong will, and clear sense of what he wants, but picks his battles and opportunities carefully, but doesn't let go of them once he's latched on.
However, it's certainly worth detailing that the latest and most significant change to Akito has happened just recently in canon. Akito has specifically ASKED for a confrontation, when Agito was going to merely let it go, in order to protect their body from damage from a battle that it didn't look like they could win. Not just asked, but reached out from under Agito and removed the eyepatch, and gently told Agito it was their purpose to protect Ikki now, and that they shouldn't let it go. Akito, who has never been inclined towards battle at all, threw everything he had into assisting Agito for that battle, and everything that happened in it.
Now that he's found a place, that both he and Agito can exist in happily, he's willing to fight again. Not him personally yet, and likely never WILL be him personally, but it is a far cry from the Behemoth fight where Agito had to ask for the assistance and it was slow in truly coming.
Role:
Akito's role in the series is multifaceted and generally small in a lot of everyday respects because he HAS chosen not to use A-T at all. (And this IS a manga about A-T.) First off. He's a shoujo antagonist in a shounen series. He exists as that homo homo side character that is comedically (but really IS) in love with a very straight main character. He does understand this, and pretty well knows it wont be returned, but that doesn't stop him from trying, enjoying the illusions he can get of being the happy couple, and of course, snapping at the female competition. He's a bit like Nakao from Hanakimi in a lot of respects. Not a bad kid, but fixated on a losing battle. Feminizing himself and outright catty tactics are all fair in the field of love.
He's Agito's tuner. This makes them a self-sufficient entity and while he doesn't show the amazing timesense or rhythmic abilities of a lot of tuners, or the medical skills, he does apparently have the understanding, simple, intimate knowledge of Agito and their body, and at least some mechanical skill. As it's very likely Yayoi will become their tuner in the future, this role will probably be retired soon.
He's the sympathetic voice, and alternate opinion to Agito's stance. He's a deliberately softer, more considerate voice to Agito's harsh perspectives and tones. He will chide when Agito goes too far, and will occasionally give more information or support, when Agito wont. This is not to say he will always agree with Ikki or always disagree with Agito. When you're an idiot, you're an idiot, and Akito will tell you that too. And finally, he's a safety catch built into the weapon. You can swap the eyepatch and get Akito blinking up at you widely and anything that was about to happen, will pretty much have been stopped.
Agito
If Akito is the primary personality in the body, Agito is what has been a repressed, secondary personality that is really just starting to get a taste at everyday life. When he was originally created, he knew that his purpose was to protect this other person, Akito, and has served it without question, qualm or regret. When Akito faltered and fell, refused to ride anymore, Agito picked up and took the burden, and the skill.
This is to say, outside of Kogarasumaru, he's had very little time outside that he wasn't doing just that. Either infiltrating other groups as an unaffiliated ace rider (to betray them and get them set up for a Winds raid), or kicking the shit out of some punks on A-T. Of course, it's not like his memory has ever stopped when Akito is in control, since they don't function like that, but Agito has a very highly developed perception of Akito's world and Agito's world and for quite some time, never thought that the two should meet.
Given this, it's not really a surprise to know that Agito's take on life is cynical, expecting and planning for the worst in any situation. He's almost obsessive about details in this regard and in most situations where he has time to lay out anything in advance you can bet he has at least 4 or 5 plans in place, taking into account best and worst case scenarios. He's ruthless in what he goes after and how, he has absolutely no problems in playing dirty... be it betrayals, cheap shots, tactics to unnerve opponents or just, oh, you know, aiming a rock at an opponent's eyes while they're distracted with a very complicated trick. Because an honorable battle doesn't mean fuckall next to who survives.
And that is a massive thing to Agito. His entire Road, his entire style, has revolved around two concepts. The first is directly related: He seeks out the thrill of a near death experience, and revels in making it. Every time he survives, he's stronger; he's more capable for it. It comes off as nearly sexual and incredibly intense, and after a particularly difficult battle, Agito's the most open if not cheerful. The second concept is a bit more twisted than even that.
He does not kill his opponents; he scars them. Using the serrated A-T, he'll leave tracks cut into the bodies of those he's fighting, and if deep enough, they'll probably carry the marks of the encounter for the rest of their life. So any time the victim looks at them, they'll be forced to remember the battle and remember him. They're, in a way, his legacy, his proof of existence and his validation. Because of these two factors, he's known as a shark, and rightfully accused of a driving bloodlust.
He is, however, incredibly picky about his battles. He's not going to attack any punk you put in front of him (unless you're Kaito and then it's a whole 'nother story). He has a very strict standard of what kind of ability you have to have, before you're worth his Road. Not that this stops him from frequently threatening to leave his Road on just about anyone who irritates him in any way. Unless you show a certain level of skill; however, this IS more bark than bite.
Still, this is more about challenge and personal standards than it is about compassion, because, frankly, Agito doesn't have a lot of that. The weak are weak. The strong are strong. That's the way things are, and either accept that or fuck off, he doesn't want to listen to all that good-natured, 'we're all special' talk. It takes someone stronger to destroy the strong, and the weak should accept their place as to be protected or destroyed in his worldview and, honestly, he's usually right about this, if incredibly narrow-viewed and callous.
When it comes to expressing his opinion, he's direct and brutal, leaving very little room for misunderstanding, and none at all for sugar coating the issue. There are times he can be TOO harsh, or too focused and miss important details or leave some things entirely out of his calculations simply because he doesn't take into account a certain level of empathy from people... or rampant stupidity when it comes to Ikki messing up most of his more intricate plans.
Which leads me to Agito and social situations. Basically, he's not good at them, but he's getting better. He lacks the ability to do small talk, and if forced to be there through it, his attention seems to go inward or just elsewhere entirely. He doesn't handle emotional conversations well, and direct observations about himself or his nature that he's not really interested in talking about (or haven't faced himself, or doesn't want to be common knowledge) will cause him to shut down and walk away, or swap the eyepatch to Akito. He's not one to bring up random conversation, and if something comes up with him, it's probably to a point. He wants or needs information. He, more than anyone, pulls through in a crisis situation to latch on and try to drag out as much information as possible when everyone else is too focused on the emotional impact involved.
This isn't to say Agito can't feel that range. Of course he can. Outwardly, however, he keeps it a great deal more distanced and isn't inclined to show weaknesses to others if he can help it at all. He has shown regret, isolation, the occasional suicidal intent, self doubt, absolute fear and a multitude of things that very rarely make it to show on his face, and really, the only one who's gotten to see any of this is Akito. (Though Ikki and Ine have both been privy to an occasion or two.) Does it keep him down long? No. Like Akito, he doesn't deal with these things well, or for long, so they just get shoved aside, almost immediately. In Agito's case, they get pushed aside for a goal of some sort to fixate on, because, in his perception, letting yourself get dragged down by those sort of things, is a weakness that he can't afford.
And to some degree, this is true. Their body is still broken from a lifetime of being driven hard by Kaito and is still recovering, but they don't have the time or luxury to pamper it and stay off of A-T. So, it's Agito's willpower that keeps them at the level they are, and improving. When he doesn't HAVE a purpose to a battle, he falters more, is more likely to drop from exhaustion or the pain, but when he does have that goal in sight, he seems to have inexhaustible stamina.
That purpose? Has always been protecting Akito. Now that Akito is in a healthy situation, where they don't NEED to fight, and they are surrounded by people who are nothing but supportive in their own dumbtarded ways, Agito's floundered and lost quite a bit of his bite. It took a bit to find it again, but it's turned around and focused solidly on Kogarasumaru instead. They are his territory, more than any stupid buildings and stickers. They are HIS, and he will go to all ends to make sure they're not swallowed up by the stronger beasts out there, for Akito's sake. He's their fangs, cutting through situations before it can get to them while they're unprepared. And it's enough right now to bring out that natural strength. How long this will hold on? I'm sure it will be at least to the Tower.
S-so about those friends. That's a bit too complicated to really put here, so SEE RELATIONSHIPS below, where I'll break them down case by case, but I'll just say here that he's really slow to win over, but once past those initial guards, Agito is pretty well someone who WILL defend you to the death. Though he'll deny having any at all to begin with, he has no ability to cut off emotional ties once they're established, and this goes to people who HAVE done him terrible turns... like Kaito and Akira. As for the ones he has now? He wants to preserve the situation they have now, and will do so violently as necessary, but going back to that cynical and pragmatic side, is fairly certain it wont last, and they'll have to go back to Winds. He doesn't actually see this as bad, and has considered doing it himself willingly at one point, just a cold eventuality that they're going to have to face. And it's not like they were doing a bad thing with Winds, just in a bad way.
As for sanity, like Akito, there's very little of it there. He lacks the basic empathy towards other people and morality, and it allows him to operate efficiently at what he does. Unlike Akito though, he does have a greater ability to make interpersonal connections, and is incredibly childlike when it comes to unexpected or new relationships. And I mean childlike in every sense of the word, from temper tantrums, to running away, to all out wonder and awe at times. He lacks basic emotional defenses, whereas Akito's are overdeveloped, and more often than not, in an unfamiliar situation, what he's feeling at any given moment can be seen painted vividly across his face.
On Akito:
Without peer or equal, Akito is Agito's most important person in this world. There is no way to overstate this. Agito is well aware of the fact that he came into existence with only the knowledge that he wanted to protect this other person, and doesn't question it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Agito really and honestly loves Akito. This was nothing that was created, but something that developed over the years, and the natural result of being in a world where Akito WAS the only one who adored him back.
He does think of Akito as weak, he's said it himself, and knows that it's a self inflicted weakness. But in this one and only case, Agito doesn't look at this with scorn. Akito is someone deeply precious to him, and he does everything he can to protect him. This means anything from taking their A-T, their title, and continuing for him, to becoming the separate thing for Kaito to hate while loving his brother instead.
When it comes down to what he will do for Akito, there's very little he will draw short at. He joined a team that he would otherwise be unable to stand, trained them, and was, when they didn't know what was wrong with their body, willing to disappear in order to save Akito now that he wasn't needed. Now that they DO know, he's been more than willing to be incredibly careful with their body, even more discriminating about their battles, keeping a regular bedtime and other changes to his habits. He accepts Akito's ... particular quirks without complaint or even batting an eye... such as surfacing in a wedding dress for a battle, or frog hoodie, or other cutesy touches. O-or having to kill Aeon Clock in the face because Akito offered up their body in the place of Ikki's.
This is NOT to say that he immediately capitulates to anything Akito wants, because there are plenty of issues they don't see eye to eye on, and he will more than anything, hold to his opinion when it comes to matters relating to their training, the team, or A-T. While he respects and considers Akito's opinion more than anyone else's, this is not to say he wont argue, if not completely and utterly disagree at times. They HAVE had larger disagreements and have fought for control once in the manga, and likely has happened more than once before that.
When speaking, Agito will almost never say 'we' or 'us' and will not state Akito's opinion unless directly asked. And even then, in most cases, he'll just give up control so Akito can deal with this conversation shit going on here. It is always 'I' and solely his own opinion when speaking. Similarly, while he won't state Akito's opinion, he also won't speak less of it, even if he doesn't understand it or doesn't agree with it.
So you can assume from this that a great deal of the WAY Agito speaks, lower pitch, greater intensity, and incredibly crude and overly disrespectful language is to immediately cause anyone listening to KNOW this isn't Akito talking. (Most amusingly, when speaking to Akito, Agito's language changes. It's calmer, quieter and doesn't swear at Akito at all, which says something, as it's a staple of his outward voice.)
Part of this? Is because Agito sees his existence as a secondary life. Still. Again, this is getting better, but it's a really old, deep self-image and it not going to change easily or quickly. To him, his actions and time is both borrowed, and less important than Akito's 'real' life. And his worst moments come from a belief that his secondary life was no longer necessary to Akito's real one to continue happily.
This does NOT mean that he easily disregards his life, at all. His entire Road involves carving people up as a visible, permanent proof of his existence. When it became apparent that he DIDN'T have to stop existing for Akito's body to recover, the relief was almost overwhelming. He does NOT want to die, even if he was willing to. He enjoys his existence, his entire way of doing things revolves around validating it, his greatest pleasure comes from flawlessly evading a near death experience for the rush of being alive, but he's also not sure of his right to it. Yeah, it's a weird piece of mental real estate.
On Rind:
As far as we can tell at this point, Agito has little to no previous knowledge of who or what Rind was. He really believed, at the Behemoth stage, that if he went away, the split in Akito's body would be resolved, which wouldn't be the case if he knew Rind was still there to be dealt with, and in fact would have never considered leaving.
In fact, when he first 'saw' Rind, I'm fairly convinced that for a moment he really thought it WAS Kaito, somehow. Sometime in there, whether it was while they were trapped deep in their unconscious mind together, or after they'd cleared the caverns, he'd gotten some sort of explanation from Akito or at least enough to draw his own conclusions from. (And trust me, I'd KILL to know what those explanations were.) But, whatever WAS said, Agito has come to the conclusion that if there is a personality or way that they would really and truly betray Kogarasumaru at this point, it will be this personality and the idea disturbs him a lot. Probably more than he thought it would. He refers to Rind as a "Judas Egg" and even goes so far as to vaguely warn Ikki that something's wrong and eventually, Ikki may have to fight him without hesitation. For someone who values being self sufficient as much as Agito does, going that far says a lot about the situation.
So he sees Rind as someone he needs to fight, and a danger to their current life. This is someone incredibly strong, incredibly talented, and in his own mind, bigger than him. But he considers the risks of losing to Rind to be LARGE and possibly permanent. As he says to Rind, he wont let him just do whatever he wants to this body, to these people around him.
He does, I think, acknowledge Rind as an incredibly powerful A-T user. Clever as all fuck and STRONG past Agito's own limits. Rind pulls of feats with their body that Agito hasn't even begun to figure out. And at this point, it's apparent that the King that the Regalia acknowledge is Rind, and not himself. However, this has yet to actually turn up as any sort of deterrent.
If anything, Rind is what caused Agito to go so far, and develop an even higher level of the Fang on his own.
Change:
Agito starts as a shounen anti-hero and evolves slowly into a true shounen retard. Really, one of the most documented and mentioned progressions in the series, it requires very little explanation. It starts almost immediately with Ikki working on him tenaciously even while there was very little to no reason to trust the scheming little shark. From blushing when called a friend to all out shut downs, Agito was shown to be obviously less cold than originally expected and quite a bit more socially akward. By Behemoth, Spitfire says it best with "In just so short of a time, he's able to laugh like that." And then the biggest sign of Agito really joining Kogarasumaru... giving Ikki the Fang Regalia he'd just fought ferociously for.
There haven't been any as distinct mile markers, but while he started the series just sleeping while Kogarasumaru practiced, he now actively joins them and puts a lot into it. And his outlook is no longer that he's protecting this place Akito found, but he now thinks of the team as his, and somewhere HE belongs to as well. And recently, the final leap to a true shounen retard happened just recently, where he ignored what was a stark reality with a FUCK REALITY, some idiot I know broke that a long time ago.
Really.
Role:
Of the three of them, Agito's role is easily the most distinct and defined, by the simple virtue of the fact that he's the rider. In a general sense, Agito's got three roles when it comes to the team. The foremost role is that he is something of a teacher. Instruction, information and training is one of the things we see Agito providing the most often. His ability to understand situations and opponents, and how best to use what's around them to counter these factors is the main aspects of this role, and with Aeon Clock and Yoshitsune, he's one of the major factors as to how Kogarasumaru has rocketed up so far in popularity and ranking as fast as it did.
Certainly, Kogarasumaru would still be a no name little team putzing about the lower ranks if it hadn't been for the widely broadcast and severely underdogged battle against Behemoth. They would have eventually made it, because Ikki is Ikki, but not nearly so quickly nor across the board.
Also as a teacher, alongside of Buccha, his role is an expositioner. He explains situations that they're thrown into, and things that most Storm Riders learn gradually with experience, that Kogarasumaru hasn't had the time to break into. Like situation implications or the power, nature and importance tuners or Regalia.
Secondly, he's the powerhouse of the team. Limited by disinterest early in, and physical limitations now, he's both an incredible force to be directed against Kogarasumaru's enemies and his skill level still remains far above ALL of the riders on the team. There's not a lot to say about this, other than until he gets exhausted or his legs start giving out, there's not many people who exist in the AG world that Agito can't own. (That said, in camp, he's greatly UNDERPOWERED and looking to take advantage of some of the otherworldly abilities to be observed.)
Thirdly, he's the naysayer and reality check of the team. While Kazu's the straightman, and Buccha's the one who goes along with a lot of Ikki's jokes, Agito is the one who flat out and harshly states when one or more of the group is being stupid about something. Or if a plan is ill formed or impossible. He has an amazing eye for when things are NOT lining up well, and can point it out in ways that the people around him can understand. His tactics are cautious, reserved and usually with several back up plans. (This is not to say he's not without his incredible moments of retardation himself. INCREDIBLE MOMENTS.)
He's also the guardian of the team. Not only lining up situations, more than once, he's either come along or stayed behind because there WAS going to be an opponent who would wipe the floor with Kogarasumaru. In the case of Yoshitsune, he went to Kyoto while not even recovered well enough for Akito to run for any period of time, much less be able to really fight, but was going to do it anyway. Fortunately, the situation resolved itself by Ikki being himself. The other happened more recently, with three A Class riders assigned by Nike to just eliminate Ikki, because Sora was being a dumbass and turning a blind eye to them. While he never actually engaged Pyon, Orca and Caesar were taken on in the middle of a hurricane for Ikki (overall situation) and Yayoi's (immediate situation) benefit.
And lastly, he's Ikki's pet. ... There's no way to say this without it sounding horrible. And in a way it... it is. However, this is entirely how Ikki (successfully) handles him in since the beginning. From contact, offerings, ... h-hand feeding Agito when he hasn't eaten often, p-petting and praise, biting back, reprimanding, etc. And really, it's almost the only way Agito can really process the situation. Not that he would acknowledge it, if it was brought up. He'd hiss, growl and yell, deny and threaten, but when it comes down to it, Agito is most comfortable when owned and directed. It's not necessarily a GOOD thing, but it's a familiar thing. And he's sure as hell not mistreated (as much as he might claim otherwise), and honestly, Agito is not suited, nor does he WANT a leader role. He's much more comfortable sitting just a little behind, finding their enemies and taking them on. Either attacking or defending, there is very little personal motivation or gain involved when Agito acts.
Rind
Rind shows up in Akito's perception as resembling Kaito, and I don't think it's because it's Kaito personality (Rind certainly isn't much like Kaito) but the fact that he really IS Kaito's designed pet, Kaito's fingerprints are all over this one. So he reads like that, and eventually solidifies into his own form. So. There's a lot we DON'T know about Rind.
What we know for sure, Rind claims to be the oldest personality in the body, and Agito is the youngest, by both Akito and Rind's accounts. Rind and Akito both hold all of the body's memories and Agito's memory starts when he was created. This leaves me to believe that Akito wasn't so much of a created personality and Rind and Akito were an even split, a fracturing of the personality based on what they'd done, what they like and what they don't like. Akito won out, or Rind stepped down, and Rind was locked up, and Agito was formed later in order to help Akito function and to protect him from having to continue a life he didn't want to participate in anymore.
Rind, himself, seems to be very different from both Akito and Agito. He's got a particular, justified self confidence, that doesn't need dirty tricks or boasting, and will in fact warn an opponent. Not so much out of compassion, but to keep the waters clear. He has a certain, animalistic posture, both in rest and in motion, and has a ruthlessness that Agito only plays at. He has a very relaxed, lazy way of holding himself, and his speech swings back and forth between casual and rough mannerisms. He has a particular maturity beyond the other two, and speaks of them as children. He has even less morals than Akito and Agito and someone dying painfully at his hand is nothing more than background to him.
And of course, Rind really likes girls. And is more than a little sexist. Though he can be smooth if he wants to, he just. Sort of picks really the wrong times.
There is a heavy implication that Rind has really no interest in keeping their body as it is, and will be bidding for it when they mature. The way they are, the body is not only severely injured, but it lacks the mass and simple muscular development to truly run their Road at its full impact.
Due to Rind's access to their augmented mental ability, Rind seems to have the ability to push their body far, far past the limits Agito is able to, pulling off amazing feats of strength and agility. And this, more than anything might have been the CAUSE of their legs' damage, even if it was pushed to exacerbation over the years. Agito's practically gentle with their body, next to what Rind does.
He seems to be rather fond of Akito, even if his opinion of him is something of a child, a slightly spoiled one at that. On the other hand, Agito is "his troublesome youngest brother." Like he is with Akito, he shows every sign of being fond of Agito, even after Agito forced him back under and locked him back up.
And lastly, his role is likely going to be threefold. Firstly, he is someone inside of them who will either need to be overcome or reconciled with. Though he seems to LIKE THEM, and really like them, Rind and Aki/Agi couldn't have further views on handling situations and what lengths they will go to and for what. Rind has no problem at all going for lethal points and depths. Lets face it, if Orca was a normal human, he would have been dead twice over BEFORE THE LAKE SCENE.
He's set up to be the turncoat, doing whatever Kaito orders him to. He IS the perfect weapon, trained, moral-less, refined and stupidly powerful. This may or may not cause a face off with Ikki, but whatever it is, it will likely need to be taken down both internally and externally at the same time.
He's also potentially the peak level force to be unleashed in a final battle situation. He can get out when BOTH Akito and Agito are exhausted and they've overused the Regalia's signature moves. He has phrased it as "there's enough space between them to get free." Basically, when those two fall, it's Rind's turn. This also means we've still yet to see Rind at full power, as his appearance so far has not only been at the peak of the body's exhaustion, but without the Regalia reacting properly to him. Him being unleashed at the START of a battle may be an incredibly different story.
As for what Rind's actual plans are, if he has any, are unknown. If he's truly loyal to Kaito, is also unknown. If he's as fond as he seems of the two he's with? I'm actually gambling on yes. Though he's locked up deep by them, he's obviously observed what's been going on, and is in clear understanding of the situation when he surfaces, who is important to them, and what the restrictions of the battle are. He's clearly aware that they want to save Yayoi first, and that Agito's never been aiming for Orca. He's aware he can't break off the fight because if he does, the ones Akito and Agito have been protecting will likely fall or die.
The fact that he does all of the above? Does it mean he's grown fond of the people surrounding the sharks too, or just interested in protecting THEIR interests as well as their body? It's really unknown at this point, but so far, nothing's really come up to really put this theory aside.