Taiga Kagami

**Taiga Kagami** is the deuteragonist of the *Kuroko's Basketball* series as well as the ace and power forward of Seirin High. He is Tetsuya Kuroko's basketball colleague and friend who is determined to defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the best in Japan.

Kagami has exceptional basketball talents and has been called "The Miracle who did not become one of the Miracles".

## Statistics

* **Name**: Taiga Kagami
* **Origin**: Kuroko's Basketball
* **Gender**: Male
* **Age**: 16
* **Birthday**: August 2
* **Classification**: Human
* **Blood Type**: A
* **Height**: 190 cm (6'2.8")
* **Weight**: 82 kg (181 lbs)
* **Skin Color**: Tan
* **Eye Color**: Red
* **Hair Color**: Dark Red/Black
* **Relatives**:
* **Alignment**: Good
* **Status**: Active
* **Class**:
* **Powers and Abilities**:
* **Standard Equipment**:
* **Weaknesses**:
* **Notable Attacks/Techniques**:
* **Voice Actor**: Yūki Ono

### Power Stats

* **Attack Potency**:
* **Speed**:
* **Lifting Strength**:
* **Striking Strength**:
* **Durability**:
* **Stamina**:
* **Range**:
* **Intelligence**:
* **Key**:

## Appearance

Kagami is very muscular for a high school student. He is very tall, giving him an overwhelming aura, which some say is like the intensity of a wild tiger. He has two-toned dark red and black hair and red eyes. His eyes are pointed and narrow and his eyebrows are quite thick and split in two, which Murasakibara does not fail to remark on. He wears the red, black and white Seirin High jersey with the number 10 and wears black and red basketball shoes. He is also occasionally seen with a shiny metal necklace with a ring on it, which represents his brotherhood with Tatsuya Himuro. When he wears his school uniform, he keeps his gakuran unzipped, while wearing a white shirt underneath.

## Personality

Kagami is very ambitious, stubborn and determined. He refuses to give up in a difficult situation and he is also very head strong. He is well known for his undying and furious fighting spirit. Kagami enjoys to play against strong opponents and sees no point in playing basketball when there are no challenges; this was evident when Kagami faced Kuroko Tetsuya for the first time. The down-side of this, is that he is also very hot-headed and has a short temper.

When Kuroko brought Tetsuya 2 to training, it is revealed that Kagami is scared of dogs and suffered cynophobia. This fear originates from his time in America, where he was once bitten by a dog. He overcame this fear when he realized that Tetsuya 2 is a good motivation for the team. He is also a glutton and is able to eat at least five times a normal meal. He is shown to be a great cook when Riko Aida tried to cook for the team to save money, but ended up almost killing everyone with her food, leading to Kagami cooking instead and teaching Riko how to cook too.

During the series, and especially after the Interhigh and during the Winter Cup, Kagami matured a lot. Instead of going up against every provocation and loosing his temper quickly, he thinks before he acts and has developed some sort of hindsight that lets him simulate a possible one-on-one battle. Even though he still hates losing, he has somewhat accepted peace with it. Now, he has become a much more clever player that doesn't plunge into battles without thinking first.

## Main Skills and Equipment

**Basketball Skills**: Kagami is a incredible basketball player he has been said to be equal to the Generation of Miracles multiple times by many people, even some of the miracles themeselves. He is a naturally gifted player that trained in the States prior to coming back to Japan. Kagami is a very powerful and fast player that is able to execute the fast cuts that can foil even Aomine and Kise. His reflexes are top-notch, as he is able to react extremely quickly when facing a ball handling expert such as Aomine, and in the Zone Hayama's five finger dribble was not fast enough to pass even while Hayama himself was in a zone-like state. He could also block Aomine's formless shot due to his reflexes and sheer skill. While being marked by a double team of two Tsugawa level defenders, Kagami was able to easily pass them both.

Kagami has beaten a number of tough opponents including some of the Generation of Miracles and Uncrowned Kings on one-on-one plays. Kagami has beaten his teammate Kiyoshi (an Uncrowend King) in a one on one. Additionally, he has beaten Kise of the Generation of Miracles in a one on one isolation play, and has also beaten Aomine and Murasakibara of the Generation of Miracles in one on one isolation plays on separate occasions when both sides were in the zone. Kagami has also beaten Midorima multiple times repeatedly blocking his shots and scoring. Murasakibara also mentioned that even if it was unlikely, Kagami is the only one who could beat Akashi.
Kagami's skill drew the attention of scouts in America who believe he can make to the NBA, Kagami has moved back to America to achieve this goal and try to become an NBA player.
At first, he is a poor shooter who only relies on dunks, lay ups and his jumping ability. However as time progresses, he has improved this and is able to shoot mid range shoots with amazing accuracy. He also trained his left hand enabling him to pass the ball at the last second to Kiyoshi during their match against Tōō and win. During his Match against team Jabberwock he along with Aomine is called the "double ace" of team vorpal sword (a team made up of the generation of miracles).
When Kagami is in the "zone" his style of basketball becomes similar to Aomine's, somehow imitating his flexible streetball. Another reason for his sudden peak in ability, is the control of his animal instinct. This instinct enables him to play purely on feeling and greatly enhance his five senses, making his reflexes and speed top notch. His instincts have been compared to that of a tiger.
* **Jumping Power**: While he is a powerful all-around player, Kagami's unique skill lies in his ability to jump to great heights, his jump is said to get higher and higher as a match progress. This skill facilitates not only his most common move, the dunk, but also allows him to defend well, get rebounds against taller players such as Wakamatsu and Otsubo; he even used it to break Midorima's perfect shooting. When he makes a jumpshot, he also stays in the air longer than the blocker, making it almost unblockable. While he generally jumps with his left leg in order to allow him the use of his more dexterous right arm, his right is far stronger, allowing him to touch the top of the backboard (while tired) as opposed to just hitting the ring. The drawback to this ability is that, like certain members of the Generation of Miracles, his body is still too underdeveloped. Thus prolonged use of his jumping prowess can cause damage to his body.
	+ Having trained extensively since the Interhigh school championships, he can now dunk from the free-throw line, a feat that may have put him on a level with the Generation of Miracles. He is also able to jump from far away in a difficult position and still be able to block a shot. In the Zone, he can jump even higher that he can effortlessly block Himuro's Mirage Shot or out-jump Murasakibara, who is taller than him and was also in the Zone. Murasakibara compared his jumping ability to Michael Jordan's Airwalk.
* **Self Alley-Oop**: A normal alley-oop is when a team-mate throws the ball up high and the scoring player catches the ball and scores without having to fall. Kagami has found a way to do this by himself, that is instead of receiving the ball by passing, shooting the ball himself, grabbing and dunking the ball when it misses. This was a response to Midorima's shooting spree in Seirin's match against Shūtoku High. He tried this again in the match against Tōō Academy, but was screened out by Susa, Kagami being unable to reach the goal. This is also the one obvious weakness of the skill.
* **Lane-Up**: A lane up is a dunk from the free-throw line. Kagami had the ability to dunk normally and very high, but in the Winter Cup, against Josei High, he ended the game by breaking through their defense, jumping from the free-throw line and dunking. A lane up is very difficult, because being able to reach the basket after jumping such a distance is only possible with an extraordinary jumping strength, the kind that Kagami possesses. With the development of the lane up, he forced open the "Gate" and awakened his true abilities, reaching the same level as the Generation of Miracles. This is also called "Airwalk", which was made famous by retired NBA legend, Michael Jordan.
* **Meteor Jam**: A new dunk Kagami learned from Alexandra. While in the zone, Kagami prepares the dunk by leaping from the free-throw line, however; instead of following through with a lane up, Kagami uses his jumping power to gain height rather than distance. At the peak of his jump, he then hurls the ball into the basket which possesses even the power to penetrate through Murasakibara's defense while he was in the Zone. Kagami's way of throwing the ball directly into the ring is similar to a meteor crashing into earth (hence the name).
	+ Although the meteor jam has the capability of being an unrivaled dunk, it is a delicate technique that requires Kagami to calculate the location, height, and angle of his jump along with the balance and ball control after that jump which explains the reason why he needs the zone's assistance. Though, even with the zone, the distance from the basket drastically affects the accuracy of his shot.
* **Tactical Battle**: In Seirin's match against Tōō in the Winter Cup, Kagami displayed a never before seen skill, a high level tactical battle. This is a highly realistic simulation of a basketball one-on-one in ones minds by reading his opponents subtle feints or moves. This is only possible when the player possesses a skill to accurately read the opponent's strength and movements. Kagami used this to play a simulation of a one-on-one against Aomine and accurately determine that he would lose.
* **ZONE**: The **Zone** is a state of focused attention and energy that enhances one's performance. Kagami first experienced 'being in the zone' during the 4th quarter of 1st round match of the Winter Cup, playing for Seirin against Tōō. The combination of intense oppositional pressure from Aomine (ace of the Generation of Miracles) and sheer tenacity was enough to push Kagami into the Zone.
	+ When a player enters the *Zone*, electricity shoots and streams from their eyes and their true physical prowess can be expressed. Kagami experiences these same effects while in the Zone, with his reflexes, speed and especially jumping power, and strength being greatly augmented. He gains a greater field of vision similar to the eagle eye and hawk eye, and his shooting accuracy noticeably improves, as evident from his successfully three-pointers while playing Point Guard in the match against Yosen, in which Kagami's 3s were compared to Midorima's by Hyuga. Kagami is even able to perform a perfect fake better than Himuro's. While in the zone Kagami has accomplished amazing feats, he has beaten both Aomine and Murasakibara of the Generation of Miracles, while they were also in the zone. His defense shut down Akashi's offence for a large part of thier game, before Akashi himself entered the zone and beat Kagami. And Riko even said that Kagami's Zone is the only thing that could counter Kise's Perfect Copy.
	+ Operating at such a high level of performance gives Kagami an incredible field of influence from which he can respond and react to the actions of players on the court with extraordinary speed and technique; even players of Akashi's caliber, completely stopping Akashi from, doing anything other than passing, even with his Emperor Eye. Those who are inside the sphere will be reached by him and blocked because it means that it's Kagami's territory. Kagami does this by combing his animals instincts with his Zone.
	+ Kagami like Aomine is (by the time of the Rakuzan game) able to willing enter the Zone. The main condition for Kagami to enter the zone is "the will to fight for his teammates". He was also able to enter it again even though Akashi managed to shut it down earlier in the match. With the return of Kuroko, motivating him, he is able to enter the Zone twice during the match.
	+ Kagami's skill with the Zone is so great that he can it limit to his usage of the Zone to specific moments in order to converse stamina. During his match against Rakuzan, he only used the Zone for offense and not for other things such as escaping from a double team.
* **Kuroko-Kagami Alley-Oop**: A move that Kuroko and Kagami often execute. One of the opponents tries to pass, but Kuroko intercepts the ball. He smacks the ball onto the ground in the direction of the basket. Kagami jumps high in the air, grabs the ball and dunks it in. They have first showed this in the match against Shinkyō Academy and did it again in the game against Seihō High.
* **Pressure Defense**: During the match against Shinkyō Academy; Kagami had to defend against Papa Mbaye Siki, a foreign player who is 10 cm taller than Kagami. Before the match Riko had Mitobe teach Kagami how to defend against a player taller than yourself. This technique is simply putting a lot pressure on the regular defense, with the thought "I won't let you play as you want" in your head. When a player is pressured like this, he will experience playing a lot harder and won't get ready as easily. Tanimura called this pressure killing intent. Kagami also uses this against Okamura, another player who is 10 cm taller than Kagami.

## Relationships

* Tetsuya Kuroko
* Mii Konori
* Tatsuya Himuro
* Alexandra Garcia
* Seirin High
* Daiki Aomine
* Ryota Kise
* Shintaro Midorima
* Atsushi Murasakibara
* Seijuro Akashi
* Roronoa Zoro
* Yuno Grinberryall & Sylph
* Armin Arlert