Ikoma

Ikoma (生駒, Ikoma) is the main protagonist and a young steam smith who makes a living in Aragane Station working with steam engines. He and his friend Takumi developed a steam weapon called "Tsuranuki Zutsu" which Ikoma believes is the best way to fully destroy a Kabane.

Appearance
Ikoma is a bespectacled young man of average height and build. He has golden-brown eyes, and messy, light green hair. After being first bitten by a Kabane, his hair partially turns white and his skin takes on a pale green tint. His glasses are missing a lens on the left frame while the lens on the right frame is tinted green.

Ikoma often wears his steam smith uniform, which is considerably torn after his first encounter with the Kabane. In order to stop the Kabane virus from spreading to his brain, he bolts and brands a shoddy harness to his body, which encompasses his right shoulder and some of his right torso. He also wears a tight collar around his neck, which helps keep the virus at bay.

Personality
Ikoma is determined and foolhardy, his eyes set on making a difference in humanity's fight against the Kabane. His outstanding willpower to fight the Kabane and do the right thing often puts him in tough situations, but is also his best survival mechanism.

His greatest desire is to destroy the Kabane once and for all, which began after he witnessed the death of his beloved sister at their hands five years ago. However, he also maintains a keen sense of justice, prioritizing the lives of others before his own survival. After he survives being infected, he is elated at the fact that he could help others who are bitten as well.

Ikoma is a proud character who maintains his honor in spite of adversity, which clashes with his inherent desire to help others. It is because of this that he lives on to protect others aboard the Koutetsujou, despite the danger his existence poses for everybody.

Ikoma is also a tinkerer, born from his work with steam engines. He develops the Tsuranuki Zutsu with help from Takumi, which is the only known weapon that is able to pierce the caged heart of a Kabane in a single shot.

West Gate Breach Arc
Ikoma works for his imperfect steam gun, at that trial his gun failed to penetrate a bar of metal which is almost as hard as a Kabane's heart.

He went to his job as a steam smith and met his friend and partner in developing the steam gun and researching Kabane, Takumi. Soon, Ikoma told Takumi how the trial was and Takumi suggested to add the explosive power. Princess Ayame Yomogawa arrived and asked her father's steam gun to be fixed. The chief called Ikoma, and he was called as "hero" by his workmates. The princess asked if he wanted to be a hero, he replied he just hated running away. The Koutetsujou arrived the station early because of the Kabane invaded another station. Ikoma did his work cleaning and repairing the Koutetsujou and collected Kabane's carotid artery and explained that it was bigger. He first saw Mumei here. A person was accused of being bitten by a Kabane and Ikoma exclaimed that the man was not to be killed but he was to be under supervision. Ikoma was beaten by the bushi and the man was killed and Ikoma was thrown to jail.

Mumei visited Ikoma and asked him if he knew if the man was a Kabane. Ikoma explained that humanity cannot escape fear.

The Fusoujou arrives carrying nothing but Kabane, it crashed and entered the station with Kabane. As the Kabane manifested the station, Ikoma escaped from the jail and went on to finish his steam gun. He used his blood as bait. He managed to kill a Kabane but he was bitten and the virus started to infect his body. Ikoma strangled himself using a belt and a machine to stop the virus from reaching his brain. A part of his hair was changed from light green to white after the process to stop the virus.

Takumi, arrived in Ikoma's workshop and Ikoma explained that his weapon was a success but he was bitten by a Kabane and he didn't transform to one. They traveled to meet up in Koutetsujou. They were stopped by guards. Kabanes appeared and Mumei killed the Kabanes near the Koutetsujou. Mumei asked Ikoma if he had changed his look and smelled him and told him that he was not normal. He was stopped by Kurusu and Mumei told them that he was not a Kabane.

Another horde of Kabanes attacks Koutetsujou. Ikoma saved some civilians from a steam pipe, he stopped the pipe with one hand and was able to withstand the heat. A Kabane was able to penetrate the metal door, Ikoma fighted off the Kabane with his new weapon. He killed the Kabanes then to realize he exposed the inner of his robe; exposing his  heart as a  Kabane's. Kurusu shot him and he was thrown out.

Later, a problem appeared. The switch bar for the bridge was not working so they needed to use the manual bar to lower the bridge. The only problem was it was outside and swarming with Kabanes. Ikoma fights off the Kabanes, bitten a lot of times but he didn't mind the pain. He lowered the manual bar and the Koutetsujou was able to move on.

He cried due to frustration, Takumi threw out a hook. Mumei went to Ikoma's side and hooked Ikoma's feet. He was dragged by Takumi. He was soon given by Kurusu a suicide bag. Mumei explained that he was not a Kabane nor a Human. Instead, he had become a Kabaneri.

Powers and Abilities
As a human, Ikoma is rather intelligent and thinks well on his feet. He is a good enough engineer to design the Tsuranuki Zutsu, and thinks quickly enough to stop the Kabane virus from spreading with scrap parts around his smithy. He also exhibits some skill as a lock pick as he managed to unlock his cell while Aragane station is overrun with just one hand. When under pressure, Ikoma is shown to have high pain tolerance, as he withstands bolting his metal restraints to himself, slicing his wrists, and cauterizing his bite wound with a burning piece of wood.

As a Kabaneri, Ikoma's strength, physical resistance, and endurance is greatly increased. He is able to hold and bend a scalding hot pipe with his bare hands with no indication of pain. He then takes a bullet to the chest, but goes on to fight through multiple Kabane. His wounds also appear to regenerate quickly as a Kabaneri.

Similarly to Mumei, he wears a restraint around his neck in the form of a metal harness. It is possible that Ikoma could potentially be more powerful without his restraint as well. However, as a half-Kabane, he requires blood to function fully and will begin to drift towards being a Kabane without drinking any.

Trivia

 * Ikoma is the first person in the series to be seen turning into a Kabaneri.