Atsushi Nakajima

Atsushi Nakajima (中島 敦,) is a member of the Armed Detective Agency who possesses the ability Beast Beneath the Moonlight.

Appearance
Atsushi has light gray hair, pale skin, and is of average height with a slim build. He has, consisting of purple on the top half of his iris and yellow along the bottom curve of his pupil. His hair is short and swept forward in loose spikes with a lock left long on the right side of his face. This uneven style is the result of bullying he suffered at the hands of other orphans in the orphanage, and he never fixed it. Additionally, he has a prominent black streak in his hair.

Before joining the Agency, he wears rags issued by the orphanage, and after he joins the Armed Detective Agency, they issue him a white button-up with the sleeves pushed to his elbows from Doppo Kunikida, a loose black tie from Akiko Yosano, black pants from Yukichi Fukuzawa, black fingerless gloves from Ranpo Edogawa, suspenders from Kenji Miyazawa, and a long black belt from Osamu Dazai.

When he transforms into a partial tiger, his eyes become tiger-eye-like, and he develops fangs. If more drastic, his limbs turn into into a tiger's, and his tail emerges. When he finally develops considerable control over his ability, he can transform fully into a with black stripes and retains the tiger's gold eyes.

When he morphs with Rashōmon, together with his ability Beast Beneath the Moonlight, he wears the black coat of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, and his tiger claws become longer.

Atsushi is disguised as a ship worker at the Boswellian during Ranpo's negotiation with Ōchi Fukuchi.

Personality
Atsushi's traumatic past affects much of his daily life, and he is tormented with nightmares, flashbacks, and the internal monologue of the orphanage director who abused him. He has a severely low sense of self-worth and is somewhat naïve, which causes him to initially feel helpless when confronted with dangerous situations. When paralyzed in guilt and/or fear, he has difficulty reacting or understanding what to do.

He also tends to react strongly and believe things at face value, trusting others' judgment above his own and even abandoning his own instincts. For example, when learning of the ¥7 billion bounty on his head, he became convinced that he was putting the Agency at risk. He felt intense guilt and decided to leave, believing it will keep the Agency from being targeted.

All things considered, Atsushi cares deeply for his fellow Agency members and for the well-being of civilians, especially during dire situations. On various instances, Atsushi would not hesitate to help and save others, even those he has never met before. One notable example is Dazai, whom he saves from "drowning" during their first encounter, albeit with some inhibition initially. During his secret entrance exam where he was faced with a simulated bomb threat, he used his own body to cover the bomb and shield the other members, also people he had never met.

He has a strong sense of morality, which also directly stems from his upbringing. He believes his worth in life depends on his ability to protect others and has an aversion to the abuse of one's power and to preventable deaths. He even tries to help even his enemies at times and would often feel sympathy for most of them, as seen through his interactions with Kyōka, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Sigma, and even Fukuchi during his supposed death.

However, Atsushi still experiences paralyzing fear of fighting alone and often needs a companion to aid him in battle or at times save him in order to feel confidence. When faced with the possibility that he alone was to fight Kamui, the primary mastermind behind the global terrorism plot, Atsushi initially felt frightened after being threatened by Kamui to cut off his head. The weight of his actions deciding the world's safety and the Agency's revival further fueled the pressure Atsushi carried, even admitting that his solitude at that time surpassed that of when he was in the orphanage. Hence, after Akutagawa arrived to aid him, Atsushi felt a sense of assurance, knowing that he is not alone anymore.

Although still struggling with his self-esteem mostly due to the words of the late orphanage director, Atsushi gradually improves his confidence and sense of self. He continues to be strengthened by several missions and the clashes against the Port Mafia, the Guild, and the Rats in the House of the Dead, among others. His will hardens in these tough situations, and he becomes steadfast, reliable, and intensely caring. As Akutagawa mentioned based from their various clashes, when pushed to adverse situations, Atsushi comes back as a "more bothersome enemy".

Background
Atsushi grew up in an orphanage, where he suffered from severe abuse – both verbal and physical – from his caretakers, as well as social isolation from the other children. This history of mistreatment has evidently taken a huge toll on Atsushi's self-worth as an adult and has caused him to constantly question the value and usefulness of his life.

According to the orphanage director, Atsushi's parents dumped him. The director becomes the foundation of Atsushi's warped self-worth. The abuse, presumably severe especially because of the tiger rampaging at night, led the director to occasionally chain Atsushi in a cell with little to no food for at least three days. Atsushi was also forcibly injected with what he thought might be poison (which Atsushi later thought in his adulthood might be nutrients). Moreover, at one point, the director forced Atsushi to hammer a nail into his own foot as a way of teaching him how to "endure pain". When he was unable to, the director himself hammered Atsushi's foot, afterwards instructing him to reflect on his own.

The director emphasized Atsushi's hatred towards him, seemingly even encouraging it. Alongside the director and other caretakers' abuse, Atsushi suffered at the hands of the other orphans. Oftentimes, the other orphans threw Atsushi under the bus when they got in trouble, as the orphanage ran on some sort of point system that affected if and when they were fed.

Once he hits 18 years old, Atsushi was kicked out of the orphanage under the pretense that they had a lack of funding and had to downsize. Though he was unaware of it at the time, he was actually transforming into a white tiger under the moonlight due to his ability and causing chaos, including destroying crop fields and storehouses.

Ability
Beast Beneath the Moonlight gives Atsushi has the ability to transform into a white tiger. At first, he doesn't seem to have much control over the transformation, likely due to the fact, or caused by, his unawareness of his state as an Ability user.

After becoming an official member of the Agency and under the influence of All Men Are Equal, he gains more control over his transformations - as shown during his second fight with Akutagawa, when he breaks the transformation on his arms to escape.

Appearances
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Quotes

 * (To Osamu Dazai) "''At the orphanage, people always told me I'm worthless. I have no idea where my next meal will come from or my next bed. No one would care if I died on the street. I might as well just let that beast eat me and be done with it."
 * "Suddenly, an idea came to me. A foolish idea that I can't get out of my mind. If I have any chance of saving them all, of returning them home safely, would that mean it's okay for me to keep on living?"
 * (To Doppo Kunikida about Kyōka Izumi) "She said the crêpe she ate with me was 'delicious'. She was told that the weak didn't even have the right to breathe. And she replied, 'Maybe that's true'! I…… think otherwise! I mean, Dazai-san didn't— In fact, no one at the Agency abandoned me!"
 * (To Ryūnosuke Akutagawa about Kyōka Izumi) "It's not up to you to decide who's worth living. Why couldn't you have spoken to her some other way? People can't live unless someone tells them 'it's okay to go on!' Why can't you even understand something that simple!?"
 * (To Lucy Maud Montgomery) "You've got the wrong idea. I'm not strong, and I'm not popular. In fact, my entire life has been cursed. I know full well how you feel, envying and hating everyone around you."
 * "Compared to the enemy, our Agency has fewer ability users who are geared for battle. I'll need to put in every effort I can. And with my power, I can do it. This time…… It's my turn to keep the Agency safe!"
 * (To Ryūnosuke Akutagawa) "It's true that I'm foolish and worthless. But it sure beats being you - a murderer who just wants to bandy his power around! Am I wrong? You've got the power and status but you still fight 'cos you want to be feared! That's far more worthless in my book."
 * (Referring to the tiger) "No matter where I run, the tiger follows. It's the same as the way I can't escape the beating of my own heart… for you're my strength to keep living. I hear you well, now. I understand your words well. I know. I know everyone's souls are on fire. I'll say the same to you. Hurry up, or I'm leaving you behind. Come, tiger!"
 * (While facing Kamui) "I don't fear the enemy. I don't fear the pain. What is fear is that I'm alone. […] Solitude scares me. At the orphanage, solitude was the norm for me. But now, this same solitude scares me. I wish there was someone fighting at my side. Anyone would do. Somebody…"
 * (After escaping from Ōchi Fukuchi) "Why did Akutagawa let me go? I don't know… […] Moreover, was there some sort of important meaning in that? Or did it end that way by sheer coincidence? I didn't understand."

Etymology

 * The name Atsushi (敦) is a Jinmeiyō kanji which are kanji that can be used as personal names.
 * The surname Nakajima means "inside" (中) (naka) and "island" (島) (shima/jima).

Namesake

 * Atsushi Nakajima (1909-1942)
 * ''Although not politically active, Nakajima is known for his refusal to write propaganda stories for the Japanese government as so many of his peers did. The ability "Beast Beneath the Moonlight" references the short story "Tiger-Poet", about a man who transforms into a tiger because of his internal conflict between written and oral communication.

Trivia

 * When Atsushi is wearing his belt, it seems to act like his tail as if he were in tiger form. When he is relaxed, the belt hangs down. If Atsushi is surprised or scared, the belt acts much more lively.
 * In BONES' anime adaptation, the black streak in his hair is omitted, yet it still appears in promotional art and in the mobile game.
 * Akutagawa's and Ichiyō Higuchi's nickname for Atsushi, "Mantiger", may be a reference to the alternate title of The Moon Over the Mountain, Tiger Poet.
 * According to the first official guidebook:
 * He thinks that his weakness is that he is weak and he doesn't think he has strengths.
 * His motto is "It's okay as long as I'm alive."
 * His ideal type is a kind person.
 * His favorite spot in Yokohama is the shopping district.
 * According to the second official guidebook:
 * He recently spends his free time borrowing books from the library and studying.
 * As a habit from the time he lived in the orphanage, he goes to sleep at 9 and wakes up at 5.
 * During his pair-up with Akutagawa, Atsushi felt that they weren't paired up in his heart.

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Atsushi Nakajima