Ken

Background

A year or so before meeting Rohan, Ken's family moved into a house in Yuyanagidai. Ken initially complains that he has no friends there, but quickly becomes fond of the park near the house. One day, stopping by the park on the way home from buying dinner, Ken picks up a stick and declares himself leader of an expedition to find the people of Bendara. As his mother fiddles with her cell phone, Ken yells, pokes around in the bushes, and clangs on the park's fences.↗

The next day, Ken asks if he can play in the yard instead, and his mother obliges. Ken bounces a ball against his neighbor's fence as his mother does laundry, but he suddenly sees the monkey moving on top of the fence. As Ken points it out to his mother, it climbs down from the fence and approaches him. The two run inside the house, causing the monkey to seemingly give up the chase.↗

The day after that, Ken wakes up excited to watch his favorite anime, which would air that day at 6 P.M. He sits down in front of the television set a little after 5 P.M., constantly checking the clock in anticipation. When the show finally starts, as his mother goes to the kitchen to make chocolate cake for him, Ken sings the opening theme as loud as he can—and almost immediately sees the Grinning Black Monkey on the ceiling.↗

Ken's injuries aren't life-threatening, but he is unable to speak a single word afterward. Fearing for the safety of her second child, Ken's mother convinces his father to move the family away from Yuyanagidai.↗↗

Yuyanagidai

One day, Ken sees Rohan Kishibe drawing in his sketchbook in the park. As Rohan taunts a group of kids by throwing their toys in a private yard, Ken sits down on the bench and begins flipping through the sketchbook. Rohan orders the kid to stop touching his book, to no avail. Before Rohan can do anything, Ken's mother reaches the two of them and apologizes for her son's conduct.↗↗

After telling her story, Ken's mother asks if Rohan's heard of any similar stories, which he denies. As the mother runs back to look after her second child, now an infant, Rohan asks Ken to sketch the monkey that attacked him, offering him the sketchbook and a pencil. Ken takes the tools and quickly produces a sketch of the monkey, which Rohan doesn't recognize. As soon as he finishes, Ken wordlessly parts with Rohan, leaving him with the drawing and his mother's story about Yuyanagidai.↗↗↗

Personality

After the monkey incident, Ken is traumatized by his near-death experience and stops speaking completely.↗↗↗

Profile details

Status Status based on their final appearance in the part(s) they are featured in: Alive (TSKR)↗