OOC
History:
Mukuro was born into the Estraneo family, one of the smaller families that act as part of the "mafia famiglia" in the Hitman Reborn universe. The Estraneo family was responsible for most of the research and development toward keeping the mafia families strong and powerful. This included weapons, but also human research into building better, stronger, and faster soldiers.
Wishing to keep some of the secrets and technology to themselves, they used their own family members as experiments, typically children and teens, which yielded some interesting results, but usually just caused a high mortality rate for Estraneo children.
As an Estraneo child, Mukuro was another of many children that became human test subjects. However, his experiment proved successful and he wound up with a very dangerous power. It is unknown exactly what Mukuro went through, but the result was called the “Six Paths of Reincarnation,” and was supposedly obtained by going through all six levels of Hell, and learning a new skill in each realm. (The details are fuzzy, but he can remember having gone through all the different levels in past lives, though how they awakened those memories isn’t explained.) When using each of the different skills, the number in his right eye will change to reflect the skill he is using(skills will be detailed in the abilities section).
Without hesitation, Mukuro wiped out all of his captors and rescued the only other two children who had been left alive, Chikusha Kakimoto and Ken Joushima. With Mukuro as their leader, they named themselves the Kokuyo gang and decided to exact revenge on the mafia and one day destroy the world (since it’s all corrupt and bad and stuff).
Since there were no survivors to talk about the incident, the children were thought to be the innocent survivors of a terrible tragedy and were adopted into other families. The name of the mafia family that adopted Mukuro isn't specifically mentioned, however, it is likely part of the Estraneo branch family. It wasn't long before Mukuro began his plans, and started using his powers to control one of the high-ranking family members, Lancia. For years he forced the man to kill others, and even made Lancia kill his own family. Once he had Lancia completely under his control, he forced the man to assume the identity of "Mukuro" and has used him as a scapegoat and a front for most of his “traitorous” activity. As such, he's able to avoid being tracked and until events in the manga, he had never even been photographed.
Mukuro spent the next five or six years furthering his plans. He reached a snag along the way when Ken, Chikusha, and Lancia(assumed to be Mukuro at the time) were incarcerated in a high-security Italian prison, but he was able to break them all out about two weeks before they were scheduled to be executed. Many other prisoners and prison wardens were killed in the escape, however, this had little effect on Mukuro as human life seems to be of little value to him, especially the lives of those in the mafia.
Mukuro's first appearance in the manga is after he has been attending a Japanese high school near the main character's (Sawada Tsunayoshi) school for about a week and a half. This was in order to gain more information about the series’ main character, “Tsuna.”
Tsuna is the reluctant heir to the Vongola family, the most prominent and powerful family in the mafia. He is a fairly average, if dimwitted boy attending high school in Japan. Tsuna is being “tutored” by a Hitman named Reborn, who appears to be about five years old (In actuality Reborn was an experiment too and is probably in his early twenties. There are seven other “baby” hitmen listed in the series. They are called the “Arcobaleno” and while hardly anyone seems to know about them, Mukuro is fairly well informed. He doesn’t give details, but it is assumed that he knows quite a bit about the experiments.). Reborn is training Tsuna in hopes that he will do well as the next head of the family.
Mukuro begins by kidnapping the Vongola's statistician, Fuuta, a boy who’s special ability is analysis and well… statistics (yes, it is actually his super-power). By using Fuuta, Mukuro is able to find out who exactly is next in line to become the head of the mafia and uses the boy to calculate a list of the strongest students attending Tsuna's high school.
Mukuro does not wish to kill Tsuna, but hopes to control him, as he controlled Lancia, and force Tsuna to destroy the mafia from his position of power by creating feuds and wars against the other families, effectively destroying the mafia from the inside out.
As a challenge to Tsuna, he begins defeating the strongest students, one at a time, slowly traveling up the list to the stronger opponents. Before he can reach the top, the number one ranked student, Kyouya Hibari (head of the disciplinary committee, heck yeah) decides to seek out the Kokuyo gang himself. He is defeated by Mukuro's illusions of sakura trees and then beaten until he is unconscious (Kyouya is usually a pretty good fighter, but because of an earlier plot-line, has the strange weakness of being allergic to sakura blossoms).
Mukuro ends up fighting with Tsuna and his followers, using a special trident. The end is detachable as a three-pointed dagger, but the special ability is that anyone who is cut with this weapon, Mukuro will be able to control. Sadly, even with all his powers, he’s unable to score even a small cut on Tsuna with the trident, though he does manage to cut several of Tsuna’s friends. They become Mukuro’s thralls when he uses the “Possession Bullet” (yeah, they can get shot in the head in this series and they’re still ok) which is a special bullet he fires into his own head. It makes him appear dead, but in reality he is able to control any and everyone he’s cut with the trident, all at once. It’s a pretty epic fight, but even this isn’t enough to help him win, and in the end, Tsuna defeats him.
After losing the fight, Tsuna purges Mukuro of his “evil aura,” and destroys the trident, but Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusha are still captured and taken away by the "Vendicare," a sect of the mafia's secret police, and taken away to the "Iron Wall," a prison created by the mafia itself to punish traitors to the family. It is known to be inescapable, however, about a month later, Mukuro and his two lackeys manage to sneak out (they just don’t build prisons like they used to). Unfortunately, the security is pretty tight, and Mukuro uses himself as bait so the other two can escape. The punishment for this ends up being very harsh, and he is thrown into an underwater cell which even keeps out light and sound. He is constantly bound by thick chains and kept alive by oxygen which is pumped down to him through an I.V. His right eye, the source of his power, has an even closer watch upon it. Wires and tubes seem to attach directly to it and Mukuro is kept in an almost comatose state (Which Mukuro isn’t happy about, but he can also dream-walk, so it isn’t too bad).
While dream-walking in his comatose state, he meets Chrome Dokuro,(now try saying Rokudo Mukuro and Chrome Dokuro three times fast...) a girl who has been abandoned by her family and is in a coma (they don’t say exactly how far away she is, but she speaks Italian, so… probably not too far since the prison is also in Italy). He gains her trust and helps her to recover by using his illusions.
She’s missing a few organs after a bad accident, but here we find out that Mukuro's illusions have gotten stronger. He is able to create “real” illusions, in other words, his illusions can become solid objects and for Chrome Dokuro that means she is able to recover with Mukuro’s help. She is able to leave the hospital shortly after that and joins the Kokuyo gang. The only downside is that if she or Mukuro are weakened in battle, the illusory organs may fade in and out of existence as it becomes difficult for either of them to sustain the illusion.
From that point on, Chrome acts as a proxy for Mukuro much of the time, since it is easy for him to take control of her. By using her body, he can create an illusion of himself that can do almost all of the things he could, were he there in person.
A short while later, one of the Vongola family representatives visits him in prison to make him an offer. Due to some shake-ups in the mafia’s hierarchy, things are unstable and Tsuna’s inheritance has been challenged. In order to keep his title, Tsuna and six others must fight in a tournament against those who oppose him. Tsuna’s father picks the six guardians of the Vongola family, and gives each of them rings from the family’s set. The rings are only halves though, and the Vongola guardians must fight to gain the other half from the challenger’s guardians.
The Vongola’s family representative tells Mukuro that if he will agree to be the Vongola guardian of the “Mist” (there are six different weather-related guardians) and fight on Tsuna's behalf in the Vongola tournament, in return, the Vendicare will leave Mukuro’s companions, Ken, Chikusha, and Chrome alone.
Mukuro agrees, claiming that the position of guardian will help him get closer to achieving his goal and make it that much easier for him to take control of Tsuna. In the tournament, Chrome (acting as a proxy again) appears to be the guardian of Mist and shows up to fight the challenger’s Mist guardian, Mammon. Chrome is fairly weak and easily defeated by Mammon and his illusions until Mukuro takes control of her. He defeats the guardian without trouble.
HG Mukuro comes in right after his fight with Mammon. He'll think he will be returning to his own body, but instead he'll wake up in prison, yay.
Personality:
Mukuro has a fairly complex personality. On the outside he is very strong, confident, and even charming. He takes the law into his own hands and claims to live only for revenge and to clean away the filth of this world. Even though he is often smiling and seems apathetic to the things that go on around him, he does care for his subordinates and looks out for their well-being. He will claim that the others just “slow him down,” but he goes to great lengths to help his companions escape and even teams up with the Vongola family itself to ensure that they stay safe. His friends all respect him a great deal and would put their own lives on the line for him. Chrome actually states that the real Mukuro is a very kind and gentle person, though this is a side that likely only Chrome has seen.
While he says that he only wishes to control Tsuna, I think Mukuro is also interested in what kind of “mafia” Tsuna will create. He thought the boy would be just like countless others that have been in power, but after seeing him fight for the sake of his friends, Mukuro seems to have had a change of heart. This is also seen in the current story arc in the manga, which takes place 10 years in the future. Mukuro is still helping the Vongola family and trying to take down their enemies even though there is no benefit for him in doing so.
He is fairly crafty, though he is still only a teenager, so some of his plans aren’t quite as well thought-out as others. In spite of all the power he has, he’s yet to understand it fully himself and use it to his full advantage. I think when and if he finally matures enough to do so, he’ll probably be a powerful force. Unfortunately, he is still overly confident in himself and his abilities, which usually leads to his downfall.
Before HG Powers:
Mukuro typically fights with a trident and anyone who is cut by it will be under his control (not that it matters much since he won’t have it here). However, his true power is his ability to cast illusions, as well as not be easily fooled by the illusions of others.
The power in his right eye, called the “Six Paths of Reincarnation,” was acquired during his experimentation when his body went through all six levels of Hell, granting him a powerful skill for each level. When he uses one of these skills, the kanji representing the skill will appear in his right eye (number 1 through 6). Each skill is detailed below:
Number one - the “Realm of Hell” - grants him the power to create illusions. These illusions are visible to many people all at the same time, so it’s more than simple hypnosis. The illusions will look completely real and if those he uses them on believe in them, even just a little, it is simple for him to manipulate their minds to slowly see something larger and more complex. For example, he might cast an illusion of living vines to wrap around his opponent. If the opponent believes they are there, he can further it by making them feel the vines wrapping around them, choking them, etc, however, if they don’t believe it, it would simply pass through them. But it doesn't stop there. Mukuro is also able to use “real” illusions, which actually makes his illusions become solid and real for brief periods of time. In battle he often switches between the two to throw his enemies off. In the case of Chrome Dokuro's illusory organs, they are a real illusion that is constantly sustained by Mukuro. Distance doesn't seem to be a problem either as long as he has some kind of telepathic link to his host.
Number two - the “Realm of Hungry Ghosts” - grants him the power to use the skills of those he has possessed. For example, if he has possessed someone powerful, he can still execute their “signature moves”, not simply make them use his own fighting style. Example: If he possessed Goku from DBZ, he could still make Goku use the Kamehameha.
Number Three - “Realm of Animals” - Mukuro is able to summon and control animals.
Number Four - “Realm of Asura” - Increases his battle skills. He can move faster, fight better, etc. The effect is similar to the “Dying Will Bullet.**” A dark flame is visible around his eye when he uses this skill.
Number Five - “Realm of Humans” - This is kind of like his “god-mod” move. It increases his battle “aura” which makes him stronger, faster, better, much like the Realm of Asura, but by about a hundred fold. To use this ability he has to actually pierce his right eye, as though he’d torn it out. His eye will be alright afterward, but this action releases a dark aura that surrounds his entire body, not just his right eye. The downside is that it acts as a poison as well, so he can only use it for a set amount of time before he is taken over by it.
Number Six - “Realm of Heaven” - allows him to control people. Even when he is not actively using this ability, his eye will usually show the kanji for number 6 as a sort of “default” setting.
In addition to the six abilities, Mukuro is one of the few Estraneo family members that can use the “Possession Bullet,” an ability that is forbidden even among other mafia members. If he is shot/shoots himself in the head with this bullet, he will appear dead, but in fact, he is able to possess multiple targets at once. Perhaps the most devastating aspect is that while possessing these bodies he is still able to use his “Six Paths” abilities in another’s body. So he can essentially have a different body for each skill, forcing his opponent to deal with all of his abilities at once.
Mukuro’s other ability, dream-walking, is a little bit vague. He is able to visit the dreams of other people and interact with them while he is asleep. It is unknown whether this is an ability he was born with or that he received after his experimentation, but it does hint that he has some telepathic abilities. This is hinted at again at a later point when he is able to communicate with Chrome even though he is possessing an animal's body. It is likely separate from his eye’s abilities, as even when his eye is sealed, he is able to use this skill.
** - Dying Will Bullet - This is how the mediocre Tsuna is able to perform high-level attacks. If shot with this bullet, a person is “reborn” to accomplish any regrets they might have had in life. The first time, for example, in the first chapter, Tsuna regrets not confessing to a girl. When he is shot, he is “reborn” with that sole purpose in mind. So he will attempt to complete his last regret with every ounce of his being. (Needless to say, he scared the poor girl away because once he found her, he screamed at her that he loved her and asked her to go out with him.) This can be used to various effect, but is usually used in combat situations to increase Tsuna's strength, speed, and endurance.
In-game Powers
Mukuro can only fight once a night, twice at the absolute most. He still has his power of illusions, but he has to maintain full focus on the illusion to maintain it, so it won't work if he's distracted. He is still able to dream-walk, but it must be backthreaded to show that it happened during the "sleep" shift. However, using this will make him tired the following day. He can also control animals, but the effect only lasts 5-10 minutes and does not work on Dogs, Monkeys, or Dragons, only those monsters listed under the "animals" category.