Ōgai Mori

Ōgai Mori (森 鴎外,) is the Boss of the Port Mafia.

Appearance
Mori is a forty-year-old man, with a fairly tall and slender physique. His eyes are violet, and befitting of a mafia boss, almost always completely dark and devoid of light. He has straight, chin-length black hair slicked back, leaving bangs on each side of his face.

Normally, he wears a sharp suit, consisting of a white button-up, a black pinstriped suit jacket, black shoes, and black trousers. The shirt has a purple and white striped tie. Over this, he wears a black trench coat and long, almost knee-length maroon scarf he leaves hanging over his shoulders untied. He also wears white gloves.

In public, Mori wears much less lavish attire, more typical of a "doctor". He wears a purple button-up shirt, black tie, black trousers, black shoes, and a long white coat. Furthermore, he leaves his hair loose, and two strands fall over his forehead.

Personality
While initially showing himself as an ordinary, clumsy and worried old man, he later shows more about his true character, keeping calm even when the other people trapped in Anne's room ran away, staying together with Atsushi and Tanizaki, and still maintaining his composure when the latter was captured.

Mori later reveals that not only is he good with strategies and planning, but also a cruel and merciless person capable of infusing fear on his enemies. However, his cruelty is not for cruelty's sake. Mori always weights the gains and losses of his decisions, choosing the most optimal solutions for the Port Mafia as a whole. Consequently, these decisions leave a bloodstained path, and have hurt and traumatised countless other people, with Akiko Yosano and Osamu Dazai being prime victims of his abuse. Mori never takes emotions into full account, the epitome of logical thinking and strategy. That said, his intelligence allows him to manipulate and abuse many people by appealing to their needs and wants. Emotional manipulation and abuse have gotten Mori far in his motives at the cost of many lives, and by the time someone's realised they've been used, it's often too late for them to turn back. To Mori, a 'heart' only gets in the way of war, a belief leading to his irredeemable actions of using Yosano's ability and mentally breaking her during the Great War.

While a largely logical person who knows how to use words to his advantage, Mori is not above threats and intimidation typical of a cold, experienced mafioso. Age and gender do not matter to Mori, but when it comes to his grander schemes, he has a history of manipulating children, as their inexperience makes it that much easier to control them.

Mori's use of manners and polite conduct mostly attribute to maintaining a sense of control and power in any situation. For the most part, acting like a 'normal' person makes those around him less wary, as when he's in public and needs to avoid suspicion. Otherwise, it creates a certain distance between him and others, as if nothing they say ever fazes him. Yukichi Fukuzawa, his former ally, knows the depths of Mori's darkness, and he and Dazai are most often the ones to see straight through Mori's many pretences. Once this facade disappears, Mori's intensity and willingness to do anything, even kill, become apparent and unsettling. His intensity is so much so that Lucy Maud Montgomery is paralysed with fear when Mori confronts her.

He does treat his subordinates with respect, valuing their skills and contributions to the organisation and acknowledging their power. As such, even when facing a certain degree of insubordination, Mori is willing to overlook some mistakes so long as the outcome benefits ''the Port Mafia. ''This contributes to why he never punishes Ryunosuke Akutagawa's rash behaviour. Even then, according to Mori, "effort is what matters, results come second", in the face of Akutagawa's previous failure of capturing Atsushi Nakajima.

This aligns with Mori's leeway towards the organisation's most active, powerful members, allowing them a certain degree of 'freedom' and independence from his tight scrutiny. Generally, he usually only regularly speaks with his two most active executives, Kōyō Ozaki and Chūya Nakahara, the former of which often the first to criticise Mori's eccentrics in the form of dry banter. He and Kōyō converse the most often, and their partnership leads to Mori agreeing to spare Kyōka after she defects. As a result of the Port Mafia's prosperous control in Yokohama, Mori enjoys being held in high regard, either by respect, fear, or a mix of both, by his many subordinates.

Mori views the position of an organisation's leader as both ruling them and being their slave. This belief drives Mori to his drastic and ruthless strategies. Furthermore, he is more than happy to use a common enemy to his advantage, as when revealing Naomi Tanizaki and Kirako Haruno's hideout to the Guild in hopes of using the Agency to take care of them and alleviate the Port Mafia's own workload. He uses the same tactic when leaking the orphans' location to André Gide, getting the orphans slaughtered and driving Odasaku to his own suicide mission. In both cases, Mori makes it so his direct word never reaches its intended target, leaving the power of his actions to force their hand instead. This manipulation and usage of knowledge is the core of Mori's decision-making and tactics, making him a dangerous for.

Losses and failure are Mori's worst enemies, such as a large number of subordinates and racketed collaborations dying during the Q incident, or Kōyō's being held at the Armed Detective Agency. Likewise, he detests "parasites" such as smugglers and the ilk, people he believes they suck Yokohama dry for their own gain and upset its delicate balance. Given Mori's respect for Soseki Natsume, Mori agreed to keep balance in Yokohama, and Mori takes this seriously. For as cruel and cold Mori is, it's unmistakable that he's vital to Yokohama's balance.

The only time Mori's acknowledged a major oversight in his decisions is when taking in and mentoring Dazai. He largely underestimated Dazai's own intelligence and shrewd, detached way of looking at the world. Ironically, their near-identical nature unsettled Mori. Nonetheless, Mori takes his mistake and moulds it into a valuable discovery: a subordinate and right-hand that knew his way of rationalising. Control over Dazai was crucial to Mori, considering Dazai's intelligence could one day be his undoing. This largely contributes to Mori's decision to use Sakunosuke Oda, a dear friend of Dazai, in eliminating Mimic and driving Dazai to defect.

Truly, the only person privy to Mori's less menacing and controlling side is Elise, even though there's incredible irony in the fact that even Elise's demanding, harsh attitude against him is something he intentionally configured. Mori has an obsessive nature towards Elise, irritating her with excessive trips to dress shops, tailors, and the like just to dress her up for his own amusement. Much to Elise's exasperation, even her harsh nature is something Mori enjoys. Given that Vita Sexualis manifests as a form of Mori's desires, it's unfortunate to note that he's a self-admitted paedophile, something both Elise and Fukuzawa have expressed great disgust in, the latter considering Vita Sexualis a disgusting and disturbing ability.

Ability
His ability, Vita Sexualis (ヰタ・セクスアリス,), is an ability that allows Mori to summon and 'configure' Elise's personality in any way he wills; he can make her levitate, chase after an enemy at high speed, and make her save him no matter what. He can summon Elise at will and make her attack his enemies with a barrage of large medical equipment.

Elise has shown her displeasure in Mori's ability in which she stated he always gets to "set the scene" and make all the decisions. Although Elise is powerful, Vita Sexualis requires strength and energy, thus when infected by Alexander Pushkin's virus, summoning Elise takes a toll on Elise. When Fukuzawa cut her down, she disappears. As Mori's ability, Elise doesn't die, but it takes time and energy for Mori to resummon her.

An important detail to note is that Elise used to be more subservient and borderline emotionless as Mori's ability. However, sometime after Yosano's mental breakdown, Mori intentionally configured Elise to mimic the young Yosano's defiant personality, showing a deep-seated obsession towards Yosano, of whom whose stubborn nature Mori frequently fawned over during the Great War.

Background
Much of Mori's history outside the underground is unknown, including how he joined the Port Mafia. 14 years prior to present events, Mori operated as the head military physician for an infantry corp during the Great War. Here, he drafted Akiko Yosano into the war despite her only being 11 years old. He left Yosano the task of healing any wounds the soldiers sustained, meanwhile keeping a very close eye on her and her interactions with the soldiers. As a result, he developed a reputation for his intimidating behaviour, going as far as drawing a gun on soldiers. Much to Yosano's chagrin, he frequently referred to her as 'his', and fawned over her harsh, cynical attitude towards him.

Mori noticed Yosano's growing friendship with one of the soldiers, and learned this man understood the corps' specific role: a group of ability users meant to showcase their usefulness in war to the military's top brass. Mori realised this means the man somehow accessed his essay "The Immortal Regiment", a classified document meant only for the emperor. In jeopardy of Yosano learning Mori's true intentions, Mori cut their conversation short, telling Yosano she still has patients to treat. He told an obedient Elise to lead the way.

The war raged on, and the unit became increasingly dependent on Yosano's ability. Using Yosano's ability to keep a constant stream of physically fit soldiers, Mori forced Yosano to use it on even the mentally traumatised, soldiers begging to return home after countless horrific injuries and near-death experiences. Because of this, the unit never receives orders to retreat, and more blood spilt. When the soldier Yosano befriended got a minor wrist fracture, Mori insisted on using Yosano's ability so he can immediately return to the frontlines. Exhausted and scared, Yosano refused. Mori correctly assumed Yosano wanted him healed away from the battlefield, sarcastically calling her refusal a dilemma - as her superior, he must give her orders, but couldn't resist a little girl's wishes. He suddenly gripped her head, calling her 'different' and ordering her to heal the soldier.

He then listed off histories of armies 'failing' to adapt to evolving weaponry and strategy, leading to their downfalls. Now, ability users reshaped war, and Yosano's only role was to make the military understand that shift. He warned her the country 'will be destroyed' otherwise. Regardless, Yosano defied him, pointing out she only wanted to save lives. Consequently, Mori coldly shot the soldier in the chest, putting him on the brink of death and leaving Yosano no choice but to heal him. The unit lost many soldiers to death thanks to Mori's plan, and leads soldiers to direct their resentment towards Yosano for 'trapping' them in war. Even the soldier she grew attached to hung himself, pushing Yosano over the edge and breaking her mentally. She was soon admitted to a mental hospital, putting an end to the immortal regiment.

At some point, Mori returned to Yokohama, and before Yukichi Fukuzawa fully established the Armed Detective Agency, Mori ran an underground clinic that operated as neutral territory for the criminal world. By this time, the Port Mafia's boss' mental state already deteriorated into a bloodthirsty state, and Mori answered only to Soseki Natsume. Here, he met his 'bodyguard', Fukuzawa, casually asking him to move medicine boxes. Fukuzawa denied the assumption he's operating as a bodyguard, instead acting on Natsume's orders. Mori teased him that he'll get rusty if he started slacking. A pair of gang members interrupted their banter, one of them suffering a grievous gunshot wound.

Mori ordered them not to start a fight, as the person who shot him was being treated as well. Mori assured Fukuzawa his clinic is neutral ground, and his clients always had plenty of 'stories to tell'.

Later that night, Mori was attacked and held hostage by men collecting intelligence on the Port Mafia's fortune. However, despite being beaten and tied up by them, Mori remained indifferent and nonchalant, complaining about an itch. One of the men lashed out, punching him, to which Mori casually mentioned it 'hit the spot'. The man told Mori his group plans on using the mafia's increased violence to use them as scapegoats, going as far as to steal and use their firearms.

Mori concluded that the group are illegal immigrants, thus the city's equilibrium meant nothing to them. He recalled them stealing medical drugs from a medical transport truck to sell on the black market. Mori noted his love of Yokohama, even with his bloody underbelly, suddenly taking a sinister nature and condemning the men as 'parasites' leeching off the city's resources. He then addressed Fukuzawa, who arrived after having killed over 20 of the group's men. Mori used Fukuzawa's arrival to distract the leading man, freeing himself of his restraints and cutting open the man's throat with a medical scalpel.

With the enemy defeated, Mori informed Fukuzawa that his plan to feign capture worked. Knowing where the group's base is, he determined it's prime time to counterattack, revealing this to be all part of Natsume's own plan. This effectively marked the beginning of Mori and Fukuzawa's partnership under Natsume's instruction. Between Mori's intellect and Fukuzawa's strength, the two were seemingly unstoppable. Three years after the war's official end, Mori finally discovered Yosano's whereabouts. Ignoring her broken state, Mori intended to use her once more; however, Fukuzawa learned of Mori's scheme. In an effort to save Yosano, Fukuzawa fought Mori, questioning Mori's humanity. Mori argued that Yosano is vital for the tripartite tactic and Yokohama's peace, claiming an 'immortal regiment' against the Port Mafia's current boss would be the best way. Fukuzawa condemns Mori's heartless strategy, but Mori claims 'heart' has no place in war. Ultimately, the battle dissolved their alliance. While the full details of the battle are unknown, Mori ultimately lost Yosano the Armed Detective Agency.

At an unknown point in time, Mori eventually rose to a position of high standing the Port Mafia, acting as the Boss' primary physician and right-hand man. During this time, he eventually met Osamu Dazai, at the time a suicidal, shrewd boy that found himself in Mori's clinic. Upon learning of Dazai's intelligence, Mori decided to use him as insurance in assassinating the ill Port Mafia boss, and the two worked as accomplices. Dazai was to be Mori's 'witness' of the late Boss bestowing leadership upon Mori.

However, Mori's intention was for Dazai to have committed suicide soon afterwards, taking the truth of Mori's murder with him in death. Dazai's many failures proved both an obstacle and an advantage for Mori. This proved a rare miscalculation on Mori's part, as he failed to correctly read Dazai's intentions and nature. Mori denied Dazai's accusations, pointing out how simple it would've been to let Dazai die instead of treating him from failed suicide attempts. He reached the conclusion he could not let Dazai die, as the former boss' remaining supporters would quickly know his 'death' was in fact a murder conspiracy.

Although he largely underestimated Dazai's intelligence and dark nature, Mori also found his mistake to lead to a new advantage. He found someone disturbingly similar to him in nature, and, as a result, a competent future right-hand he could 'trust', viewing Dazai as a 'diamond' in need of polishing.

Ultimately, Mori indicted Dazai into the Port Mafia, lending him the 'Silver Oracle' and giving him incredible amounts of power for just his first official task as a mafioso - investigate the rumours of the former Boss 'returning' from the grave in Cone Street.

Just before Dazai left, Mori asked him why Dazai wanted to die so badly, but, as expected, received no answer.

Dazai Osamu and The Dark Era
Mori calls on Sakunosuke Oda to find Ango Sakaguchi after the latter disappeared the previous night, not even reaching his place of residence. He tells Oda that Ango, being an intelligence officer, is holding information about the Mafia that would crush them if he were to sell it to other organizations—but even if that weren't the case, Mori says that he wants to save Ango if something had happened to him because Ango is his competent and important subordinate. He then issues Oda with the Silver Oracle as proof that Oda is acting his orders, the Boss of the Port Mafia, thus granting Oda the right to order anyone in the Mafia around, even the executives, to assist him in his task.

Ultimately, Odasaku dies in the struggle against Mimic, shot down by Gide and in turn killing Gide. Dazai understands that Odasaku was used by Mori in a plan to gain a Special Abilities Licence as long as Mimic was defeated. Resenting Mori's usage of Odasaku, and being the one responsible for the orphans' location being leaked to Mimic, Dazai denounces any obedience and loyalty to the mafia from that point on. After he defected, however, Mori kept his seat as an Executive reserved.

Armed Detective Agency vs. Port Mafia
Mori arranges the Port Mafia's manhunt on Atsushi, tasking Akutagawa and Higuchi with the job.

After Akutagawa's defeat, Mori details his dire condition to Higuchi, warning her he may never wake up, much to Higuchi's worry. Unperturbed, Mori assures her that what matters if their attempt, not their failure. Naturally, the reassurance doesn't console Higuchi. Mori continues, bringing up the illegal smuggling group Akutagawa slaughtered, Karma Transit. With Akutagawa's injuries and Karma Transit's grudge, Akutagawa is now a liability. Although Mori acknowledges Akutagawa's worth in the Port Mafia, he questions Higuchi's place as a mafioso. Despite knowing Karma Transit kidnaps Akutagawa, Mori never issues an explicit rescue mission, leaving his subordinates to their own devices.

The Guild
Posing as a civilian doctor in the city, Mori loses track of Elise, calling her name to try and find her. Jun'ichirō Tanizaki shoves him out the way searching for his sister, with Atsushi crouching down to ask Mori if he's okay, unaware he's speaking to the Port Mafia's notorious leader. As a result, Mori is trapped by Lucy's Anne of Abyssal Red alongside the two detectives and many street passersby.

After witnessing Lucy's power, Atsushi urges Mori to run, but Mori refuses, telling him he's looking for his 'daughter' and showing a photograph of Elise. It's possible Elise is trapped in Lucy's room, so he can't leave. For the majority of Atsushi and Tanizaki's battle against Lucy, Mori plays the innocent civilian. After Atsushi attempts to escape for help, Mori stops him, advising him with simple game theory: when the enemy attacks, fight back with all you have. When Atsushi isn't completely convinced, he reminds Atsushi that many people depending on him are still trapped.

Although this helps Atsushi, he's nonetheless 'caught' by Anne. Lucy gloats, aiming at Mori as her next target, however, Mori shows his true colours to her alone. Mori gives a menacing smile that sends chills down Lucy's spine, warning her she's not dealing with a normal man. His frightening gaze and aura are enough to scare even Anne. Mori tells Lucy she's already lost, revealing Atsushi and Tanizaki's plan to defeat her. After Lucy's defeat, Mori and everyone else is freed from Abyssal Red, and much to his joy, Mori finds Elise. When he asks where she went off to, Elise tells her she hid from him to make him upset. Right before leaving, Mori leaves Atsushi with one last piece of advice: no matter the hardship, there's always a logical, optimal solution. If he finds himself pushed into a corner, he mustn't ever forget that. Mori leaves with Elise in tow, rendering Kyōka Izumi a trembling mess, as she's the only one who recognises who he truly is.

Mori arrives at a secluded alley, where major Mafiosi surround the corpse of a Guild assassin. At his arrival, his subordinates all bow down to him out of respect. Confirming the assassin's death, Mori gives the order to kill both the Guild and Armed Detective Agency.

Having found Kyōka, Mori exchanges a short conversation with Kōyō before she departs to retrieve her former protege. During their confrontation, Kōyō reveals Mori gave her permission to retrieve Kyōka, instead of eliminating her as a traitor. After being informed of the Guild's attack and Kōyō being MIA, Mori grits his teeth in frustration, but later simply decides to kill Fukuzawa in retaliation. He arranges for assassins unaffiliated with the mafia to save them the trouble, allowing them to fully focus on the Guild.

The assassination attempt inevitably fails, but scandium marks on the assassins' sleeves allow them to track Fukuzawa's moves. Using this, the Port Mafia locates the Agency's hideout, and Mori has Chūya confront them. As part of Mori's plan, the Port Mafia leaks the whereabouts of Naomi Tanizaki and Haruno Kirako to the Guild, forcing the Agency to take action in hopes of the two enemies taking each other out, lessening the burden on the Port Mafia.

Meanwhile, Mori plans on attacking the Guild's major base, playing 'darts' with his scalpels (and missing every single time). Much to her chagrin, Mori takes one of her crayons to write a letter to the Guild. The letter reaches Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Mitchell, full of empty pleasantries before stating he intends on destroying the SS Zelda and killing both Guild members. He assigns Motojirō Kajii and Akutagawa the task.

When Chūya reaches the Agency's hideout, he reveals that they've leaked Naomi and Haruno's whereabouts to the Guild. According to him, Mori said that while the Agency would know it's a trap, they'd make a move nonetheless, driving in Mori's understanding of the Agency's ways.

Determined to wipe out both organisations, Mori goes as far as to release Q from their imprisonment, much to Dazai's shock. He also sends Gin and Higuchi to confront the man, having Higuchi send Mori's usual mocking question to Dazai: if he wants to return to his post as an Executive. As Dazai's the one responsible for Q's imprisonment, Mori arranged Gin and Higuchi to 'protect' him from Yumeno's grudge.

Although Mori succeeds in destroying the SS Zelda, his other two schemes fail to weaken the Agency. And as a result of their retreat, Q is captured by Howard Phillips Lovecraft as part of the Guild's own plan to use them to burn Yokohama to the ground. With Yokohama in a state of chaos because of Dogra Magra, Mori has his major Mafiosi defend their territories from any damage.

Although the incident is quickly quelled, the Guild can reactivate it at any time with Q in their clutches. Mori arrives in one of the Port Mafia's shell companies, filled to the brim with the corpses of many Mafiosi. Having lost 18 direct members and over 100 affiliates, Mori smiles bitterly, ironically wondering aloud how he could face the former boss. Just then, Kōyō returns with a letter from the Agency to work together. With an amused smile, Mori agrees to attend.

Quotes

 * (To Dazai) "The Boss... died of a serious illness. His dying wish was to have me succeed him as the next Boss. And you were the witness, understood?"
 * "The Detective Agency and the Port Mafia. If the government higher-ups catch word... that the heads of the two largest Ability organizations in Yokohama are having a secret meeting, they will definitely be foaming at the mouth."
 * "Till next time, Dazai-kun. The invitation to resuming your duties as an Executive member in the Mafia still stands."

Trivia

 * There is a great gap between Mori's concept and the work chosen for his ability. Vita Sexualis deals more with the protagonist's 'discovery' of his own sexuality, but no paedophilic content involved.  The only similar thing is that the love interest of The Dancing Girl, Elise, is roughly 16 or 17, whilst the protagonist is an adult man.  As for his author counterpart, Mori was indeed a military surgeon respected his logical and direct nature, being a respected figure in Japanese history and even being involved in criticisms of censorship, but the real Mori was never a paedophile.
 * Being a strategist, he has read many works concerning game theory and war tactics, and is an expert on the topic.
 * Elise's name originates from the authors The Dancing Girl, where a Japanese man living in Europe means a young woman named Elise.
 * Elise calls him "Rintaro", which is the author Mori Ōgai's real name. It is possible this is Mori's real name as well.
 * His preferred weapon is a scalpel.
 * The author joined the military in order to study medicine, rising in rank to a head surgeon, reflecting the mafia boss' previous occupation as an underground doctor.
 * In the anime, he appears next to Chūya in a building where a reception desk sports a logo resembling an M with the words "Mori Corporation" beneath. This is likely a shell company of the Port Mafia..