Okarun [Ken Takakura]

Kanji:オカルン Rōmaji:Okarun Race: Human Planet: Earth Gender: Male

Occupation: High school student Affiliation: Family Residence: Kamikoshi City Combat Style: Yokai Powers

Ken Takakura (高たか 倉くら 健けん, Takakura Ken?), also known as Okarun (オカルン, Okarun?), is the main male protagonist of the manga series. Dandadan.

He is an occult fanatic, primarily a believer in aliens and UFOs, who lived an introverted school life until he met Momo Ayase from school. After a bet with her leads them to form a friendship and his kintama disappears due to being cursed by Turbo Grandma, Okarun sets out to find what he lost, with the help of Momo and other allies, and overcome any paranormal obstacles along the way.

Okarun is a young man of average height and slim build, with brown hair, brown eyes, and round-framed glasses. Originally, Okarun's hair was cut in a bowl cut, but it has since become unruly following his confrontation with the Flatwoods Monster, leading him to be considered average-looking.

While she is one of the few characters who can be seen in a variety of outfits, her most common attire is her school uniform, which is a typical gakuran outfit.

While possessed by Turbo Granny, Okarun's appearance is drastically altered, with his hair fading to a light gray with red lines at the edges, with a few strands separated from his bangs hanging sideways and exposing his forehead. His face also undergoes alterations with these red lines running vertically down his face to the height of his cheeks. His facial expression becomes more melancholic and tired and his eyes change color to red. Additionally, Okarun has a cloak that ends in a collar that covers half of his face with an embroidery that resembles thick, sharp teeth which he can open at will.

Okarun describes himself as a socially awkward individual who has an inordinate interest in the paranormal, his main interest being the existence of aliens and cryptids. This interest dates back to his childhood, when he attempted to contact aliens in a desperate attempt to make friends, having grown up without a single one in his life due to constant bullying. As a result, Okarun developed an inferiority complex where he believes he is incapable of fitting in with others or that people are better off if they don't associate with him. Even after befriending Momo, Okarun still seems to retain some low self-esteem. After Jiji came back into Momo's life, Okarun thought to himself that he couldn't compete with him when it came to being her friend based on his observation of how entertaining Momo was around him and had almost come close to ending his friendship with her so as not to be a bother. According to Momo, Okarun's real problem with making friends was that he was quick to make judgmental assumptions about others, causing him to subconsciously keep others at a distance.

Okarun is an altruistic person who believes it is right to help others when they are in trouble. A notable example is when he offered Mr. Mantis Shrimp his kintama to sell to earn funds for his son's blood transfusion. As a friend, he is fiercely loyal and protective, as he will not allow others to get away with harming those he has formed a bond with, such as when he angrily attacked the Evil Eye for harming Momo and taking over Jiji's body.

Before learning that spirits actually walk among the living, Okarun was skeptical about their existence, as he believed there were logical explanations as to why people would jump to the conclusion of this paranormal activity.

From elementary school onward, Ken struggled to fit in with the crowd and was constantly teased by others. In an effort to make friends, he attempted to communicate with aliens, which eventually became an obsession.

Physical dexterity Enhanced Human Fitness: As a result of the many paranormal obstacles he had to overcome, Okarun boasts superior physical fitness beyond that of an average teenager. During a physical fitness test, he completed a 50-meter sprint in just 5.8 seconds, beating his own 9-second time, threw a handball 35 meters, reached 3.6 meters in the standing long jump, managed to take 80 steps in the sidestep test, and completed 120 shuttle runs. Overall, he outperformed the rest of his class while still maintaining more stamina than them.

Okarun can clearly see spirits, such as earth spirits and yokai. This also makes him one of the few capable of entering Void Space.

Okarun possessed the spiritual power of Turbo Granny after Seiko and Momo extracted the yokai's consciousness from his body. Initially, Okarun could only enter this mode while still cursed by Turbo Granny, and with the aid of Momo's psychokinesis powers, she removed the curse from his head, allowing him to control his body. After the yokai's powers were accidentally left within him, Okarun was able to enter the transformation voluntarily.

Upon accessing this power, Okarun's hair ignited and turned white, two thick vertical stripes appeared over his eyes, and a noticeable dark mask appeared on his jaw with a row of multiple teeth. Beneath his clothing, Okarun's body took on a more muscular definition, forcing his posture to hunch, and his fingernails and toenails sharpened and turned black. His choice of clothing was also slightly altered, taking on a flaming appearance. Okarun's mental state also changed, in addition to his physical appearance, giving him a depressing personality and an odd tendency to say "I" at the end of his sentences.

Enhanced Speed: This state provided Okarun with the extraordinary speed of Turbo Granny, allowing him to run at an incredible speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Okarun referred to this top speed as "Full Throttle" (本気, Honki).

Strength: After first assuming the form, Okarun's body reacted quickly enough to dodge the Flatwoods Monster's attack, which nearly crushed him for a few seconds. While being pursued by the Earth Spirit Crab, he managed to regain ground in Shono City and avoid being caught by the earth spirit. Following Bamora's blow to Aira, Okarun quickly caught up to her from a considerable distance to save her just in time from another attack. This speed also allowed him to keep pace with and overwhelm foes such as Evil Eye, a formidable yokai that had proven on multiple occasions to be too difficult an opponent to fight alone. Regarding combat pacing, Turbo Granny stated that his speed should allow Okarun to perform five different actions in a single blow.

Weaknesses: Okarun was only able to use Top Speed ​​for two sprints, as the intense supernatural speed put a great strain on his human body. Upon reaching his limit, Okarun reverted to normal and was barely able to move for a short time. However, after further training to adapt to the form, Okarun's body stopped hurting after reaching his limit, though this drawback could return if he ran too fast. Okarun also could not swim, as Grandma Turbo lacked the ability to do so.

Okarun used this power in combat or to distance himself from his enemies. When engaging enemies in close combat, Okarun relied on his speed to deliver swift physical attacks that left his opponent no chance to counter, with attacks taking the form of a series of squats and headbutts. When partnered with his allies, Okarun could use his speed to quickly leap out of the way of incoming attacks, or carry them on his back to catch up to a moving target or make a necessary escape. After receiving training from Turbo Granny herself in properly harnessing his power, Okarun managed to improve his combat timing. This was demonstrated in his battle against the Music Room Portraits, where he effectively used his enhanced speed and reflexes to evade the tulpas' barrage of explosive musical notes by memorizing the rhythm of hayashi music and defeating them with a succession of five headbutts at once, so fast that it left afterimages. Later, he was able to dodge multiple attacks from the Evil Eye's grudge ball, whereas he had previously had difficulty dodging even one in his first fight with the yokai.

Because All Deep's power came from the increased strength in his legs, Okarun could launch himself with great force like a missile, his preferred method of attack. His charging speed was fast enough to tear through a crowd of possessed citizens and send Silky the Acrobatic, a large yokai, crashing to the ground, leaving him severely injured but only able to get up for a short time. Most incredibly, Okarun was able to split the gigantic body of the Dover Demon Serpod Nessie in two.

While fleeing from the Earth Spirit Crab, Okarun also proved capable of using Todo to keep himself and Momo afloat in the air long enough to land on the ground.