Hayato Mikogami

Hayato Mikogami is the main protagonist of the 2007 Skull Man anime. He is a reporter who travels to Otomo City to investigate the mystery of the "Skull Man" believed to be responsible for several murders. He is eventually revealed to be Tatsuo Kagura, the son of the man who originally studied the Skull Man suit, and later dons the suit himself to become the second Skull Man in order to stop the Otomo Concern's "Gagou Plan" to turn everyone in the city into mutants.
He was voiced by Makoto Yasumra. As the Skull Man, he was voiced by Hiroshi Tsuchida.
== History ==
=== Past ===
Hayato Mikogami was originally Tatsuo Kagura, the son of Tatsuyuki Kagura, the researcher who studied the Skull Man suit. After Tatsuo's father became too immersed in his research and used the Skull Man helmet to found a religion, which became the basis for the White Bell Association, his backers at the Otomo Concern had him assassinated and burned down his house. As Tatsuo was still little at the time and didn't remember much, he was renamed "Hayato" and put up for adoption, being taken in by the Mikogami family. His sister Maya meanwhile was adopted by the Kuroshio Family, which ran the Otomo Concern, who groomed her to be used as the centerpiece for their plan to use the Cocoon of Chaos to mutate humanity into a new race.
=== Investigation into Otomo City ===
As an adult, Hayato became a reporter at a newspaper. After hearing rumors of a "Skull Man" committing murders in Otomo City, Hayato persuaded his newspaper's editor-in-chief to let him go there to investigate, saying it would be a good story. While on the train there, Hayato encountered Kiriko Mamiya, who was also seeking to go to Otomo City but with a fake ID. After helping her get past the check point, Hayato formed a partnership with her to investigate the Skull Man and agreed to let her stay with him. While in Otomo City, Hayato met up with his old friend Yoshio Kanzaki, who had become a priest and now ran an orphanage, and also became friends with Kyoichiro Tachigi, a private detective who also happened to be investigating the Skull Man.
Eventually, Hayato discovered that the Skull Man was none other than his old friend Yoshio Kanzaki, after Yoshio invited him to the church and revealed the truth to him. Yoshio explained that he had found the Skull Man mask and the G.R.O siblings Rena and Tetsuro in a Otomo Concern bunker while serving in the military and that, upon seeing the helmet, he knew he had to use it to fight evil and stop the G.R.O.s the Otomo Concern had created.
=== Becoming the Second Skull Man ===
After the two remaining SIRKS cyborgs ambushed the church and set fire to it, Hayato, against his injured friend's wishes, donned the Skull Man suit and defeated both the cyborgs before going off to rescue his sister Maya, who was being used by Masaki Kumashiro to catalyze the transformation of every White Bell member in the city into a G.R.O. and allow him to become god of a new human race. After fighting his way through the Otomo building and reaching the lab where Maya was being held, Hayato discovered Masaki had sealed himself below Maya in a cocoon and was using her energies to be "reborn" into a new powerful G.R.O. body. Before Hayato could do anything, tentacles shot out of the cocoon and pushed him against the wall. Gozo Kuroshio then came in and shot the tentacles, freeing Skull Man, just as Masaki emerged in a new G.R.O. body. After killing Gozo, Masaki fought Skull Man and initially overwhelmed him, only to discover that, as he separated himself from the cocoon, his body became incredibly unstable. Realizing that he needed the Skull Man helmet to make himself stable, Masaki attempted to snatch it but Hayato dodged out of the way. Unlocking the full power of his suit, Hayato as Skull Man was able to overpower and kill Masaki, leveling the building in the process.
With Masaki defeated, Hayato went to rescue Maya, only to find that it was too late and that the strain Masaki had placed on her body was too much. Before dying, Maya recognized Hayato as her brother one last time and was happy to see he had come for her. Having lost Maya, Hayato was consumed by the full power of the suit, turning it black in the process. He was later taken by Brain Gear and, following a cyborg remodeling procedure, was transformed into Skull, the leader of Black Ghost.
In the epilogue, it's also shown that Kiriko had a child resembling Joe Shimamura and hinted that Hayato may be the father.
==Trivia==
*He is based off of Hayato Ichimonji from the Kamen Rider franchise, who shares Mikogami's first name and was a journalist who was the second person to assume the identity of a masked, motorcycle-riding vigilante.
Category:Reporters
Category:The Hero
Category:Fighters
Category:Male
Category:Superheroes
Category:Anime Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Science Fiction Heroes
Category:Siblings
Category:Vengeful
Category:Tragic
Category:Lethal
Category:Fallen
Category:Neutral Good
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:In Love
Category:Parents
Category:Truth-Seekers
Category:Protectors
Category:Bond Creators
Category:Pessimists
Category:Teenagers
Category:Type Dependent on Version
Category:Status Dependent on Version
Category:Summoners
Category:Provokers
Category:Deal Makers
Category:Magic