Izaya Orihara

**Izaya Orihara** is the master of Assassin in the ??? Holy Grail War.

## Profile

Izaya Orihara (折原 臨也, Orihara Izaya) is a powerful and skilled underground information broker. He usually gives information for his own enjoyment, and he claims to love the entire human race, excluding Shizuo Heiwajima. He is one of the main antagonists in Durarara!!, one of the founders of Amphisbaena and Heaven's Slave, and a member of the Dollars.

### Background

According to his father, Shirou, at a young age Izaya had no interest in interacting with others, to the point where his parents began to worry. Up until middle school, Izaya was a model student: the vice president of the elementary student council, the star at sports meetings, and winning independent research awards, poetry awards, slogan awards, and participating in essay contests. This, combined with his good looks and a respectable family, made him well known, especially with his girl classmates. However, Izaya was not particularly loved or hated since he went through school life in a withdrawn state, preferring to observe everything from afar, carrying out his life philosophy to be 'neither too close nor too far' from the others.

During afternoon breaks and such, other students would talk in the classroom or play in the courtyard, but since Izaya would always be in the library, he gave people the impression that he was a loner. But Izaya enjoyed being a step away from his surroundings. He knew he was a top student, however, he did not think the people around him were idiots and did not look down on them.

At this point, his observations were not used for ill, rather a simple hobby, but slowly it was turning more and more into an obsession. His chaotic life changed after meeting fellow middle school student, Shinra, who immediately assessed Izaya's personality and tried to convince Izaya into creating a biology club.

At first, he declined his offer and kept an eye on Shinra until he suddenly understood: Shinra was his opposite because unlike Izaya, he had no interest at all in human beings. This confused Izaya, who eventually agreed to become the Vice President of Shinra's club so he could study him more closely.

When a club expo was scheduled, Shinra left their presentation entirely in Izaya's hands and, much to Shinra's surprise, Izaya turned the whole club into a gambling ring with one of the other members, Nakura, serving as Izaya's business partner. Shinra tells Izaya to stop but gets brushed off each time. One day, after making a bad bet, Nakura comes in brandishing a knife and threatens Izaya to give back all the money he lost. When Izaya refused, Shinra jumped in the way of the knife at the last minute. It is then that Izaya realizes he is extremely jealous of Shinra because of his ability to separate himself from the world because of his love for Celty. Izaya then asks Shinra to tell everyone that Izaya himself was the attacker and promises to make Nakura pay for as long as possible for what he did. After the incident, Izaya is taken into protective custody and, from then on, continues to create an infamous reputation.

He was later enrolled in Raijin Academy High School with Shizuo, Shinra and Kadota; although, Izaya rarely attended class. During his time at Raijin, Izaya meets Shizuo as well as a fellow student named Hajime Shishizaki. Shishizaki is said to be the only one who could ever catch Izaya; while also being as strong as Shizuo.
Izaya and Shizuo shared a passionate hatred for each other, and from nearly the moment they met they tried to kill each other. Izaya claims Shizuo is the only human he does not love and wouldn't mind seeing him dead. Shizuo tries to kill him each time they meet on the street, meaning Izaya often finds random vending machines, trash cans and other large objects flying straight at him. Shizuo finds him untrustworthy, saying whenever there is trouble, "99% of the time you're (Izaya) behind it." Izaya has often framed Shizuo for crimes he didn't commit, causing him no end of trouble. During one of their more hectic confrontations, Kine, a high ranking member of the Awakusu was caught in the crossfire. Kine managed to dissolve the conflict but took an interest in Izaya who was just starting out as in information broker at the time. Through Kine, Izaya met many of his first clients in the Yakuza and was his official contact with the Awakusu.

During this period, Izaya began to collect "followers" for his own purposes, most of which were traumatized teenage girls, ranging from gothic lolitas to gyarus (though the majority of them simply took Izaya to be a fortune teller of sorts) who would do whatever he said and worshipped him in an almost cult-like fashion (like Saki). Most of these girls were usually depressed and/or suicidal and had all been victims of pretty severe levels of violence from their families or lovers. Those girls were lost and desperate for someone to believe in, making them especially easy to use. They weren't really in love with the families or boyfriends concerned, they simply put their faith in them. All Izaya did was shift that faith towards him. If he wanted them to die, they would probably have gone ahead and did it, even if they had doubts. Izaya's fans had conflicts between students in several Ikebukuro high schools, leading to a protracted period of unrest. One notable incident involved Mikage Sharaku, a classmate who became one of Izaya's followers due to a crush she had on him. The exact details of the event are unclear, however, Mikage took the fall for Izaya which resulted in Mikage's expulsion and inability to find work. Despite this, she later claims that while she finds him to be awful, she respects him because he's true to himself.

At some point, he encounters Kuon and Nozomi and saves them from an abusive foster family. Nozomi later became one of his followers.

At some point during Aoba's middle school years, Izaya apparently claimed to be Aoba's cram school tutor and had come to give his School ID back to him. Aoba knew that this was a blatant lie as he had his ID on him at that time but he didn't want to cause a commotion in his house. He and Aoba stepped out and discussed why Izaya had come. Izaya is surprised that Aoba was able to obtain his personal information through the Dollars network while Aoba is surprised that Izaya tracked him down so quickly. Aoba and Izaya immediately begin to dislike each other mostly due to the fact that their personalities are too similar.

2 years before the start of the series, Izaya met Masaomi Kida, the leader of a local gang known as the Yellow Scarves, through one of his more frequent customers, Saki Mikajima. Izaya ordered Saki and Nozomi to date Masaomi and Koji respectively to manipulate the Yellow Scarves, but Nozomi dumped Koji soon afterwards. In desperation, Masaomi asked for Izaya's help regarding a gang war with another gang known as the Blue Squares. Izaya assisted Masaomi initially, but after Saki was kidnapped, Izaya suddenly ceased all contact with Masaomi which resulted in the Yellow Scarves being defeated and Saki severely injured. It is revealed that Izaya had manipulated these events by playing both sides against each other. He verbally taunted Masaomi after he visited Saki in the hospital.

He is also a member of the Dollars. Although Mikado Ryuugamine is the leader of the gang, Izaya is the one who anonymously recruited most of their members when Mikado stopped doing it, sending out invitations saying the Dollars have no rules except that you have to say you are one of them. Izaya is usually seen talking about the latest rumors of gangs, urban myths, and otherwise stirring up trouble in online chatrooms while at the same time pretending to be a girl. His screen names are "Kanra" and "Nakura" (which he bought from the actual Nakura), and most recently, "Chrome."

### Personality

Izaya claims to love humanity, although his definition of "love" is much different than one would assume. What he specifically loves about humanity is the unpredictability of human nature, and he greatly enjoys putting people in enjoyable or chaotic situations in order to observe their reactions. With a thorough understanding of human behavior and tendencies, he is able to determine people's thoughts and predict their reactions with high accuracy. Izaya is cunning and charming, but his manipulative nature prevents him from making any genuine or lasting bonds with others. He has a jolly and mocking personality, speaking informally with most people as if they are close friends and often using nicknames (such as "Shizu-chan" for Shizuo and "Dotachin" for Kyouhei Kadota). He even talks like a girl on occasion, particularly online, where he actually does pretend to be female. During conflicts, he plays on both sides so that whoever wins, he will have an advantage.

He likes to play twisted versions of checkers (usually using a combination of Chess, Othello, and Shogi pieces) with himself in his apartment, often using the chessboard as a representation of the battles in Ikebukuro, giving him the fitting appearance of one who watches over the world and controls the actions of others. The rules he plays by are also beyond normal people, which seems to be a metaphor for the way he lives his life. He does not take his chess games to be a serious representation of the world, however, as he usually prefers to observe people acting as they see fit instead of controlling them, and he even once set fire to his chess set in his excitement.

Although Izaya enjoys conflict, often showing up wherever there is potential for one, he usually stays out of it, preferring to observe the fight instead of directly taking part in it. However, when provoked, he quickly puts his opponent in his place by simply proving his superiority without actually beating the other person. Therefore, he is usually seen as the one starting fights but hiding in the shadows instead of directly taking part. Volume four of the light novels shows that he is bitter when large-scale events take place in Ikebukuro without involving him.

Izaya is known to be one of the strongest men in Ikebukuro, although the title of the strongest man belongs to Shizuo Heiwajima. When he needs to protect himself physically, Izaya uses a flickblade and is skilled in parkour and freerunning. Izaya likes to start fights with Shizuo and let Shizuo chase him around. When Mikado Ryuugamine first came to Ikebukuro, Izaya was one of the people Masaomi Kida warned him to stay away from, simply describing Izaya as "dangerous," while in both the original light novel series and manga, he instead confirmed that Izaya was not "dangerous" per se, but more like "unstable." He's a person most of the characters, himself included, could never trust, because they never know what he could or would do.

### Relationships

#### **Noob Saibot**

Izaya and Assassin work together, less as master and servant, and more as equal partners. Izaya is the brains, while Assassin is his brawn; whenever Izaya instigates conflicts, Assassin takes direct action while he manipulates events from behind the scenes. Izaya enjoys Assassin's company, even if he does not always share his sentiments; When playing a round of his board games, Assassin will sometimes indulge him by playing along with his twisted games.

# References

https://durarara.fandom.com/wiki/Izaya\_Orihara