Niko Barata

Half-eyed Loser

Kara Monk (Temporarily)

Niko Barata ( Barata Niko?) is the protagonist of Kokoro Kara. He is a soldier in the Enforcer Corps, who joined to find the location of his parents who gave him away, and later swore to get revenge on The Gold Hoods, in order to prevent others from suffering the same fate as his comrades. Before he became a Enforcer, Niko was a low threat pirate before his escape alongside other captured children on the ship which ended in all but 3 being killed.

## Appearance

Niko is a young boy of average height with fairly tanned skin and an athletic, muscular physique. He has messy and curly, white hair, and wide, half blue half yellow eyes. He wears a eyepatch that conceals his right eye. It is noted that his legs are visibly muscular for someone his age, as a result of his rigorous training under Kaito of the North. Niko looks remarkably similar in appearance to his father Nigel Barata, possessing the same facial structure, eyes as him, although Nigel's hair was red and usually concealed with a bandana.

Niko first appears wearing a ripped tan shirt and stained, baggy white pants, along with his signature necklace. His hair is also kept messy and disorganized; as he trains with Justice and Sugi, his hair grows to his shoulders and is kept in way better condition.

During the Survival Exam, Niko wears a bandolier and tan pants, nearly identical to Kaito's outfit. He still wears his eyepatch, but his hair is cut shorter and remains the same length since.

After becoming an Enforcer, Niko wears the standard Enforcer uniform, replacing the black turtleneck with a brown leather shirt made by Sugi Michihara.

During his encounter with R. Doma, he injures his ribs as a result of not wearing the Enforcer's turtleneck to prevent the damage. As the battle progresses, Niko suddenly collapses and his wound turns to a large bruise. Later on, when Niko wakes up, he is claimed as "lucky to survive" due to his wound being extremely bad and almost unable to mend. For the rest of the time he wears a bandage wrap on his wound under his shirt.

During his fight against Uchis Hefner, he loses his eye patch which is replaced by a more advanced eye patch gifted by the Enforcer Corps.

## Personality

Niko generally is hyperactive and hot blooded. He tends to rush into situations without thinking, which always get him into trouble and having to be saved by Justice. One of the first examples of this is when he ditches his first mission to save a passerby from thieves. Niko's reckless personality is frequently played to comedic effect during more serious situations. However, his strong beliefs in getting stronger interests Kaito of the North, enough to label him as one of his star pupils, and his determination also leads him to possess an indomitable will. Niko's determination to never give up, added with his own steel fortitude during grueling or harsh battles, is a trait that becomes the basis for others to acknowledge him, such as Morrichi List. However, Niko has shown to have struggled accepting his lack of Kara, using his boisterous attitude as a front to hide his insecurity. After having his ribs broken by R. Doma, Niko nearly quits before his father's voice convinces him into continuing to fight.

Because of his upbringing overseas, Niko frequently receives cruel opinions and insults from almost all Enforcers he meets. Niko becomes irritated when others deeply insult his comrades; he will not hesitate to lunge at them as he tries to defend his friends.

Niko also has a very strong sense of justice, which is shown during his fight against the snake demon, as he believes that everyone deserves to be protected. It is also not limited to only his comrade but his enemies as well, as noted when he asks his fellow squad mates to take the wounded viper mutant along with them while the cave is collapsing. He argues that their mission is only to capture the snake demon as they are not ordered to kill any demons. Therefore, Niko seems to see the positive side of everyone during his missions. Even when Uchis Hefner is willing to kill R. Doma, he attempts to reason with him as a means to understand and talk him down from his rage, showing consideration for nonviolent methods of solving conflict even when he's been hurt.

His open, friendly, and non-judgmental attitude, indomitable will, and stubbornness has earned him the respect of almost everyone he meets, even The Five mention him as a hard working child. Commending his efforts to climb the ranks.

## Abilities

**Overall Abilities:** From the beginning, Niko was shown to be a prodigious fighter, having a strong natural aptitude for combat, especially in martial arts. Niko was already introduced to have superhuman characteristics, like extraordinary resistance to heat, a heightened hearing, immense willpower. His naturally obtained abilities go so far as to allow him to outsmart and catch, Senshinara, one of the most powerful Pirates, off guard and escape his ship. Moreover, in his first encounter with Kaito of the North, Niko managed to send the burly elder flying with a single punch and impress him, later being able to land multiple blows on him.

While on Mount Polar, Niko managed to impress Kaito of the North, the former member of The Five, evading dozens of traps hidden all over the mountain to complete success through the use of his sharp sense of sound and ultimately managed to get accepted as his student. When tasked to carry a wagon of potatoes up the mountain, Niko met Rollo, who trained him to properly utilize his Kara and hone his physical skills. After half a month of extremely intensive training, Niko was able to surpass Rollo in raw strength, a feat no one in the village could achieve. During the Survival Exam, he was able to easily take down numerous low-level demons while protecting the other examinees. Through his acrobatic skills, fighting prowess and sense of hearing, Niko managed to successfully reach the end of the room and pass the exam.

After officially becoming a member of the Enforcer Corps, Niko faces numerous more powerful and skilled demons, most of which utilized Cursed Energy. Against the Cave Demon, Niko and Justice managed to defeat the demon using their honed teamwork, saving the life of a captured woman in the process. During the Gold Hood Revenge Arc, Niko encountered Myke, a former member of The Gold Hoods, and was capable of analyzing and adapting to his unorthodox striking combos and defeat him. Despite still being a retired member of the pirate crew, Niko could hold his own against pirates who shared the powers of an actual member of The Gold Hoods. After recalling the Zero Heart, a Kara ability passed down genetically from his father, he almost defeated Senshinara, a feat which many believed only a member of The Five, the strongest Enforcers in the entirety of the corps, could pull of.

During the Unholy Pirate Arc, Niko recovered from injuries and also trained with Morrichi List, an extremely talented Enforcer Commander and the blood realative to one of The Five members, managing to match her at the end of the arc. Later, with the help of Justice, Morrichi, and Former Five member, Uchis Hefner, Niko defeated the second in command of the Pirate Demon crew. With the inspiring words of his father serving as a major incentive for Niko to push on, serving as a major factor in his growth as a Enforcer.

**Enhanced Hearing:** Niko possesses an extremely sharp sense of hearing. Before becoming a Enforcerer, Niko was known among his peers as the boy who has an extremely strong sense of hearing. He is able to pick up even the most subtle of sounds and track their location with terrifying accuracy over long distances. It is strong enough for him to hear his peers plan their escape before entering the room. His sense of hearing is so keen that he can perceive creatures by sound alone.

**Heat resistance:**

As a genetic trait, Niko's skin has a extreme resistance to heat directly from the sun. His Zero Heart ability doesn't affect him whenever his body overheats. With this trait even the second in command of the Pirate Demons had a hard time keeping up with the blazing heat emitting from Niko.

**Enhanced Strength:** After his training at Mount Polar, Niko has gained superhuman arm and leg strength and has demonstrated a great use of it leaping over buildings effortlessly. Niko also casually sent Kaito of the North flying all with a single punch. With raw strength, he could lift boulders and entire trees. While training, Niko is capable of doing hundreds of push-ups at once along with a plethora of other strength-related exercises. When he was angered, he caught the fist of Uchis Hefner, a former Five member known for his inhumane strength.

**Immense Speed & Reflexes:** Niko possesses superhuman speed and reaction time, being able to travel faster than the eye can see and even move faster than Justice, an extremely skilled Kara user who was able to easily move faster than Niko can process. Furthermore, he can react to the blistering movement speeds of demons even before he joined the Enforcers officially. After a few months of training, his speed and reflexes could match those of the strongest members of The Gold Hoods. When angered, he was able to move faster than Senshinara, the captain of The Gold Hoods, could even react.

## Fighting Style

**Martial Artist:** Niko was always shown to be a martial arts prodigy, starting out with skill rivaling Justice, one of The Gold Hood's strongest young pirates and equaling him in half a year's time. Despite being a First Rank, his skill with his Kara dagger was superior to many of his seniors, even to the point of partially defeating two high ranking pirates. His improvement is also exceptional, shown when he could take on high threat thieves, months after recovering from rib injuries and not having experience in fighting enemies of that caliber in the past.

**Kara Dagger:** given to him by the exam spectators, this is Niko's initial weapon for slaying demons. He became extremely proficient with it, enabling him to take on two high ranked pirates within weeks of training. However, due to his body not being suited for concentrating Kara at such a level, Niko decided to use guns and his fist for combat. Despite this, Niko has not abandoned his Kara dagger as a primary weapon when fighting high threat enemies, combining the Kara dagger with his dual pistols while fighting the Pirate Demon crew's second in command. Due to the strain Zero Heart placed on his body in order to have stronger strikes than when he used the dagger, he rejects using it for longer periods than he need. Unlike his father, Nigel Barata, when Niko awakens his Zero Heart ability the flame that appears on his dagger is a blue hue instead of the normal red flame.