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Aug. 11th, 2022 03:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quizpersonaIt's only when he's run into people he's not really aiming to kill that anyone might be permitted to peek behind the curtain. Gogol admits to Atsushi, for instance, that there are two versions of him. The first is the aforementioned sadistic killer who feels nothing but delight. The second persona is at odds with the first. This one complains to be completely sane and fully capable of understanding how deeply the evil it is to murder other people. The guilt affects him like it would any other human being.
He switches between these two versions of himself on a whim; implying that both have some truth and some falsehood behind each respectfully. Otherwise he goes to some lengths to control how he is perceived. If he can help it he often covers his partially with a mask, or his hand, or even by other means so he is harder to read.
Many times Gogol is seen engaging in general japery. From sudden pop quizzes, to puns, to practical jokes and teasing—he appears to experience genuine joy in getting a surprised or unique reaction out of other people. If not for being the local murderterrorism clown he could be classified as a playfully mischievous person.
Very little is known about Nikolai before he joined the Decay of the Angel. This is likely intentional on Gogol's part given his efforts to remain enigmatic.
We first meet him Gogol when he makes his grand first appearance in Chapter 57 of the manga. Here he is jovial about having been sent to "clean up" a mess. Despite having just shot a policeman point blank in the face he jumps right into a pop quiz or two that he uses to introduce himself to his would-be target. He doesn't kill the target this time ...although it seems that way thanks to the sound of a gun being fired off over the radio others are listening through. This time he simply captures them.
Next time we see any sign of him it's through the discussion others are having about a string of assassinations that have occurred in Yokohama. There are four so far and the brutality of them doesn't be missed by the Detective Agency. Each victim was relatively high profile and every one of their deaths is quickly discovered as an allegory for the murder association Gogol belongs to—Decay of the Angel. This sets the stage for the fifth and last act of brutality. It's a trap that the detective agency knowingly walks into.
While our protagonists pull together their resources to address the obvious trap Gogol is shown in the undercover disguise he's held for half a year. For that time he's been in the city as a doormat-like clerk for the Vice Justice Minister. After finally completing the task he was given by this man (collecting incriminating information) Gogol sheds this persona by shooting Tonan-sensei in the leg. The final "sign" is then set in motion. Gogol broadcasts holding several government officials hostage for the Detective Agency to come retrieve. Through this broadcast he explains the rules to the agency and the whole thing is presented in a very gregarious way: like it's a magic show just about to begin.
This event results in the agency being framed for terrorist acts, the hostages being sawed in half with chainsaws, and Gogol faking his death. Initially he had agreed to die to perfectly frame the agency. However as he realized the depth of empathetic understanding between him and his colleague he changed the plan last minute. He seemed to be one of the casualties and thus disappeared from everyone's radar.
In Chapter 78 he reappears to save a different colleague from certain death. He's got a new plan, he explains, and he needs that person's assistance to achieve it. Thus that ex-colleague unwillingly becomes his "Assistant." Among teasing that very normal person Nikolai also explains how and why he faked his death. It has now become imperative that he prove the existence of free will by killing his only friend, the only person who has truly understood his motives, so that they can both achieve the freedom that birds experience naturally.
With "Assistant" in tow Nikolai springs that friend and his rival out of prison only to force the both of them into a special jail break duel of his own devising just for the two of them. The urge to save that friend from a terrible fate is troubling for Gogol to the point that he refers to it as a philosophical conundrum. Because he feels affection for this friend he sets the rival up to kill him so Nikolai doesn't have to do it himself directly. Wanting to up the already high stakes he asks the two participants to inject a deadly venom with only one antidote.
Last we see of Gogol he is exiting stage left from the competition.
🕊️ Violence
If it wasn't obvious before let it be known that murder, torture, and etc. goes hand in hand with Gogol. While never mindless he will probably do it again like it's nothing.
🕊️ Existential and Self-Destructive Themes
Gogol was willing to put himself in a position where he would die just for an ideal. This verges on suicidal themes; that being said I don't have plans to go that far in tags very often. He's just pretty apathetic about his own death if it means he can prove his point. In canon when he did this it turned into a fake out. However it may come up that he will go to extreme lengths like this again.
Please opt-out here or on my HMD if any of these themes or the character himself causes you discomfort! All comments are screened.
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