Osamu Dazai

Osamu Dazai (太宰 治,) is a member of the Armed Detective Agency and former Executive of the underworld organization, the Port Mafia.

Appearance
Dazai is a young man with mildly wavy, short, dark brown hair and narrow dark brown eyes. His bangs frame his face, while some are gathered at the center of his forehead. He is quite tall and slim in terms of physique.

For his attire, Dazai wears a long sand-colored trench coat, the belt of which he leaves untied. Under it is a black vest over a striped dress shirt that is light blue in hue. He wears a, which is held by a brown ribbon and a turquoise pendant. He also dons beige pants, dark brown shoes, and has bandages wrapped around his entire body; only his face, hands, and feet are left uncovered.

Back when he was in the Mafia, Dazai wore a black trench coat that reached under his knees. He also wore bandages over his right eye and his right arm is in a sling—presumably products of his suicidal pastimes. At some point, he was able to regain the use of his right arm.

After the cannibalism, Dazai wears a formal suit during the Agency's celebration.

During the Yokohama fog incident, Dazai wears a white over black long sleeves and a brown tie, together with white pants. A can be also seen attached to his padded.

After being arrested by the Hunting Dogs and taken to Meursault, Dazai is currently wearing white prison clothes.

Personality
Dazai is a mysterious person, his true intentions are never revealed unless he reveals them. The person who got closest to the truth of his personality, as acknowledged by Dazai himself, was his friend Sakunosuke Oda, who recognized that Dazai shall linger in the darkness forever, as there was nearly nothing that can surpass his mind. Regardless whether he is on the side of killing people or saving them, Oda knew that no place in the world could fill Dazai's loneliness, which Oda thought Dazai knew in himself.

In addition, Dazai kept an enigmatic and dark façade, whose endeavors in the Mafia were unrivaled and eventually earned him the status as the youngest leader in the history of the Mafia. Because of his aptitude despite his youth, Dazai contributed to about half the Mafia's profits for at least two years. Eventually, Dazai's ledger became tainted; Ichiyō Higuchi describes his blood to be "dark as the Mafia itself". Even in his adulthood when he becomes an Agency member, when Kyōka Izumi showed remorse over having killed 35 people, Dazai remarked with a sinister face that such number is nothing.

As a saying in the Mafia went, "The greatest misfortune for Dazai's enemies is that they are Dazai's enemies", for Dazai was aptly described to be "practically born to be in the Mafia". He was extremely confident and was a terrific planner, coming up with long-run strategies to subdue his enemies. For instance, he was able to lure Mimic operatives, who were previously trained soldiers, to fall under his trap. Dazai is quite skilled in persuasion notably through his words, which he appeared to utilize in interrogations that broke targets who did not divulge anything under Kōyō Ozaki's torture squad.

Behind this grim persona, Dazai admitted that he joined the Mafia to be exposed to death, violence, and people giving in to their urges and desires, expecting that—in this way—he would be able to see the inner nature of humankind firsthand in hopes of finding a reason to live. Following Oda's demise, Dazai defected from the Mafia and went underground in order to heed Oda's final request for him to "be on the side that saves people". Admittedly, he reckoned that people change over time where potential surfaces, which apparently seems to apply to himself as well.

Upon joining the Agency, Dazai is usually called lazy, with Doppo Kunikida always scolding him for being unproductive and slacking off. Despite that, he has shown a sharp wit, deducing all the unlikely situations that led Atsushi Nakajima to believe he was being stalked by a tiger when he was the tiger in question. He has complete confidence no matter what type of situation he is dealing with, be it combat or simply bad situations he formulated in the first place.

In most occasions, Dazai is overly dramatic. He takes most of his actions as a joke, and, although they are very well-thought plans, he does not credit himself for most of what he has done. Dazai likes to tease anyone and everyone, especially if it means that he can get a laugh out of it. As a suicide maniac, he often attempts to commit suicide in comical manners, but he oftentimes fails or gives up on it when such methods are painful.

Dazai, in particular, wishes to commit double suicide with a beautiful woman; though he admits that he "likes all types of women", he possibly prefers the type who would die with him if he asked to. Kunikida once wondered why Dazai is quite popular with women and called him a menace to women, a sentiment Chūya Nakahara once used when he threatened to leak Dazai's address to every woman he ever made cry, which Dazai soon asked him not to do. Dazai also once had a run-in with a bomb threat instigated by a woman whom Dazai figured was obsessed with him.

While his suicidal tendencies are initially comedic, they reveal a truly dark deep hole that Dazai has. Even as a teenage boy, Dazai questioned whether there was any value in life. Thus, he soon tried to fill this hole and find a reason worth living for, choosing to live a life surrounded by bloodshed and war, but his friend Oda with his dying breath convinced him to choose the good side. He understood that even though good and evil mean little to Dazai, he may become a slightly better person if he were to choose well.

In the past, while he was still suicidal, it was shown to be far less comedic. He even described the death as a way to free himself from the oxidizing world, but, strangely enough, he could not die no matter how hard he tried. Additionally, he was extremely brutal and methodical, setting up traps to catch captives alive to torture them for information, and he would often beat his then apprentice Ryūnosuke Akutagawa for disobeying orders and to push him to the limits to improve his abilities.

While in the present he is more lighthearted and comical, he still retains some of his darker personality. He is still able and proficient at coming up with long-run strategies, though he doesn't inform his teammates what they are until the time is right. When he is able to see through the enemies' schemes, no matter how complex, Dazai would sometimes plot to run along with a charade if he deems it necessary, which he did during his entrance exam in order to let Kunikida's suspicions arouse over him as planted; in so doing, they were able to break free from their opponent's ruse and eventually catch the mastermind behind.

Dazai is also willing to use dirty means to achieve his goals, such as purposely deflating Ango Sakaguchi's car seat airbag when they crashed so Ango would get injured and force him to cooperate with Dazai for pardoning Kyōka in exchange for having his wounds healed.

Nonetheless, he does care for his teammates and watches out for them, especially Atsushi for whom he sees the greatest potential. Moreover, Dazai develops a sense of duty and utilizes his wit and intelligence to the Agency in their quest to help maintain Yokohama's peace and order. As part of his various plans and well-calculated strategies, he even devised for Atsushi and Akutagawa to collaborate at times to become a new generation of Twin Dark who could take on the brewing evil lurking within the city.

Ability
No Longer Human (人間失格,) allows Dazai to nullify others' abilities on contact. It relies on skin contact and is always active. As such, he can nullify any ability even while restrained as soon as it touches him.

Skills

 * Intelligence: Dazai's intelligence is his primary source of expertise as a Mafia executive in the past and as a detective at present. Ōgai Mori, a proficient tactician himself, widely trusted and relied on Dazai's intelligence, whom he claimed to be his most worthy right-hand man should he have stayed in the Mafia. Dazai is also recognized as one of the Agency's sharpest detectives (双璧,) together with Ranpo, who is proclaimed by others and himself as the world's greatest detective. With his intelligence, he is able to go head-to-head against the formidable Fyodor Dostoevsky, an avatar of cunning who sees Dazai to be quite identical to him. Even Ranpo once subtly admitted that going up against Fyodor is like going up against Dazai, whom the great detective himself views to be quite an enigma even as his co-worker. Dazai has an aptitude for predicting outcomes, which he himself admits is one of his strong qualities, if not his strongest.
 * Negotiation Skills: Dazai is an adept persuader, able to negotiate with others and consequently acquire his required outcomes. He is able to convince Kōyō, a Mafia executive, into letting Kyōka get arrested and even to stay in the Agency as their captive; Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, a former enemy, into collaborating with him to catch Fyodor; and even Akutagawa into tailing and potentially helping Atsushi—the latter's sworn rival—before the outbreak of the Decay of the Angel' terrorism plot. He also once presumably persuaded Naomi Tanizaki to work with him behind her brother's back, who both were secretly tasked by Kunikida into tricking Dazai, only for this scheme to backfire once Dazai realizes their clandestine arrangement.
 * Dexterity: Dazai is proficient in, such as prying locked boxes or handcuffs open. Moreover, he was able to implant a in Higuchi's pocket without being noticed by the mafioso. He was also able to swipe Chūya Nakahara's knife without even being seen. Kunikida also once described Dazai to be "frighteningly dexterous", knowing that Dazai can pick a lock to a bank's safe with a needle or easily switch out slips of paper with fake ones.
 * Physical Prowess: Dazai had fair-to-middling hand-to-hand skills among the Mafia as Chūya recalled, which his nullification ability made up for. Dazai was able to briefly hold his own against Chūya, the most physically gifted in the Mafia, by predicting and defending against his moves and timing which he had memorized, though he got backed up on the wall soon after. Dazai was also able to fend against a big man by utilizing his resources around him, albeit being overwhelmed later on.
 * Heart Rate Manipulation: Using the device that monitors his vitals which is planted on him at Meursault, Dazai can vary his heart rate at will and digitize his messages in order to communicate to the outside world.

Background
During his time as a Mafia executive, Dazai held a record of 138 counts of, 312 counts of , and 625 counts of assorted , among other crimes. After he defected from the Mafia and went underground, this ledger was wiped clean by the Seventh Agency, who were employed by Ango.

Appearances
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Quotes

 * (To Chūya Nakahara) "Death is just an extension and a part of everyday life. And I think that's probably right. Because 'dying' isn't the opposite of 'living'; it's nothing more than a feature incorporated into 'living'. Breathe, eat, fall in love, die. You have to observe death up close to understand the whole picture of living."
 * (To Sakunosuke Oda) "For most things in life, it's harder to succeed than fail. Wouldn't you agree? […] That's why I should attempt suicide rather than commit it! Committing suicide is difficult, but it should be relatively easier to fail at attempting suicide!"
 * (To Sakunosuke Oda when asked how he got his injuries) "I was walking and reading a book called How to Not Get Hurt Out of the Blue and fell into a drainage ditch. […] I was speeding around a mountain path and drove off the cliff. […] I was trying to kill myself by slamming my head into the corner of a block of tofu."
 * (To Ango Sakaguchi and Sakunosuke Oda) "Who wouldn't want to keep a relationship's fire burning? Sounds wonderful if you ask me."
 * (To Ango Sakaguchi and Oda Sakunosuke) "I always lose the things I don't want to lose the most. That's why I don't feel anything anymore. The moment you get your hands on something worth going after, you lose it. That's just how things are. There is nothing worth pursuing at the cost of prolonging a life of suffering."
 * (To Sakunosuke Oda) "Hey, Odasaku, do you know why I joined the Mafia? I joined the Mafia because of an expectation I had. I thought if I was close to death and violence—close to people giving in to their urges and desires, then I would be able to see the inner nature of humankind up close. I thought if I did that… I would be able to find something—a reason to live."
 * (To Sakunosuke Oda) "You're such an idiot, Odasaku. The biggest idiot I know. […] You didn't have to do this. You didn't have to die."
 * (To Ōgai Mori) "You were afraid, weren't you, Mori-san? Afraid I'd cut out your windpipe and assume the boss' seat. Just as you did to the last boss."
 * (To Fyodor Dostoevsky) "You said that we were two peas in a pod. You're right, but there's one key difference. ……It's true that all of mankind is sinful and foolish. But what's wrong with that?"
 * (To Fyodor Dostoevsky) "You don't really understand God one bit, do you? 'Perfection and harmony'? God doesn't give a single care about those. I've seen it so many times… His gimmicks are the accidental and the illogical. That's… a weakness you and I both have. We thought of thousands of ingenious schemes, and we still ended up in here… in a prison at the ends of the earth. The ones who actually make the world turn… are those who scream within the storm of uncertainty and run with flowing blood."

Etymology

 * The name "Osamu" (治) is a given name.
 * The surname "Dazai" means "thick" (太) (ta/da) and "rule" (宰) (zai).

Trivia

 * The real life 's birthname is Shūji Tsushima (津島 修治)
 * Dazai's past with Fyodor likely refers to the influence ' had on Yōzō Ōba, the protagonist of the real-life Dazai's '.
 * Dazai's constant attempts to commit suicide with a beautiful woman could be an allusion to his real-life counterpart's attempted with Shimeko Tanabe and Hatsuyo Oyama. His attempt with his lover Tomie Yamazaki was ultimately successful.
 * It's also possible that his suicide attempts serve as a reference to No Longer Human's protagonist Ōba's multiple suicide attempts throughout the story, which is considered to be a reflection of Dazai's turbulent life.
 * In real life, Dazai is often grouped together along with and  as the Decadent School (無頼派,). This is often alluded in the series, because the trio's actual counterparts used to meet in the actual Bar Lupin in.
 * Dazai usually refers to himself by the gender-neutral pronoun "私" (watashi) rather than the more masculine pronouns like "僕" (boku) or "俺" (ore). This is likely because of the format of traditional novels, which the real Dazai specialized in, typically used formal watashi pronouns over its variants.
 * The book The Complete Suicide which Dazai owns in the series is a reference to  written by published in 1993, filled with guides on methods of suicide along with the assessment of the pain it causes, preparation required, the appearance of the body and, lethality.
 * According to the first official guidebook:
 * He recently spends his time doing nothing.
 * He has an irregular sleeping pattern and doesn't sleep much.
 * He feels that he should think about new ways to harass Chūya in case they got paired up again.
 * He thinks that everything is his strengths
 * His ideal type is any person who is willing to commit double suicide with him.
 * His motto is "Have a pure, cheerful, and energetic suicide."
 * According to him, there were no times when he thought he was dying the most.
 * According to the second official guidebook:
 * His favorite type of woman is a woman who doesn't ask any questions.
 * His favorite motto is "Death is a part of life."
 * What he felt about the title of youngest executive: "It wasn't something I was aiming for, so I didn't feel anything."
 * His memorable experience at the bar "Lupin": "When the master remembered the three of us and our favorite drinks."
 * Dazai is very bad at driving.
 * Dazai seems to be unable to sleep if it is not completely dark.