physical

visual ➤ reference
voice ➤ reference (Shinichi: Nobunaga Shimazaki / Migi: Aya Hirano)

height

5'9'' / 175cm

build

thin

eyes

dark brown

hair

dark brown

accused crime

inventory

migi's abilities

background

• Shinichi Izumi was an average high school student living in present-day Japan. His life was the picture of normality until one night, an unknown species fell from the skies in the form of spore-like eggs. From these little pods emerged small worm-like beings who began to follow the instinct to make their way to the brains of humans and take over them.

• One such "worm" found itself at Shinichi's windowsill while the young man was sleeping. When its attempts to infiltrate Shinichi's brain were thwarted (thanks to Shinichi wearing earbuds), the parasitic creature desperately began burrowing into the boy's right arm and making its way upwards. By this point, Shinichi had woken up from the intrusion and, in a moment of panic, wrapped his earbud cord around his arm, cutting off the blood supply and succeeding in preventing the thing from going further. This meant that the creature "failed" in its mission to take over its new host's brain and instead reached maturation in Shinichi's right arm, thus "eating" and replacing it from the elbow down. Centered in Shinichi's right hand, it named itself "Migi", meaning "right".

• Suddenly thrust into a bizarre nightmare that seemed straight out of some science fiction story, Shinichi soon discovered that the horrors were only growing in number. He quickly learned that this creature was not alone, and over the next weeks, encountered more of these parasites who began to show up around the city. Their appetites seemed to be for whatever species of host body they had overtaken, which meant that the majority were feeding on humans and leaving behind messy remains that prompted Tokyo to dub them the "Mincemeat Murders", thinking it the work of a serial killer. (Shinichi's parasite had no need to feed on humans, since it had only taken over his hand and therefore simply fed on the nutrients from its host's bloodstream).

• Meanwhile, Shinichi alone knew the true explanation for the horrific occurrences. His guilt led him to want to turn himself into the authorities and offer his knowledge of the parasites, but he was quickly put in his place by his own hand, who threatened to remove Shinichi's ability to see, hear, or speak, should it have to. After all, its own survival was most important, and Migi would not allow anything to jeopardize that. Meanwhile, the intellectual parasite continued to develop and learn, perpetually curious about humans and its own kind alike, wanting to understand exactly what it was and why it was here.

• Other parasites invading the city began to see Shinichi's and Migi's existence (a human retaining his own mind and sharing his body with a parasite) as a suspicious anomaly to be exterminated. However, Migi proved a force to be reckoned with, and he and Shinichi were actually able to defend themselves against rival parasites more easily, as they could use having two working minds as an advantage. Not that the soft-hearted Shinichi wanted to do any crime-fighting or alien-hunting, but the desperate drive to protect other humans fueled him along the very gruesome ride.

• After several months of continuing to hide his secret and protect those around him, there came a time when another parasite looked into Shinichi's eyes and informed him that "although it's minimal, you're no longer pure." Disturbed and upset by this, Shinichi asked Migi what it could mean, and the parasite admitted that he wasn't sure, but it was possible that Shinichi could be undergoing changes both physiologically and psychologically, as a result of Migi being connected to him. Although it weighed heavily on Shinichi's mind, he was unable to confide in anyone about it — including his parents, who soon decided to take a trip out to the countryside. While initially worried for their safety, Shinichi relaxed a little when Migi informed him that the probability of his kind being out in rural areas was considerably low. While they were gone, Shinichi continued to quietly look after humankind back home, and protect whomever he could protect.

personality

• Growing up, Shinichi Izumi was perhaps the definition of A Very Good Boy. In fact, his parents frequently remarked that he was too well-behaved and worried over their son often, but Shinichi was happy being a "boring" high schooler. He had always been on the shy and soft-spoken side, never one to want much attention, preferring his status as a socially awkward wallflower. His sensitivity showed itself in other ways as well: he always had a weak constitution for things like horror, violence, confrontation, and insects.

• However, it is Shinichi's altruism that has truly defined him as a person. Despite being someone whom others may easily peg as cowardly or "weak", if a situation involved someone else being hurt or in trouble, Shinichi would interfere without a second thought to his own safety. This has led him to literally step into the line of fire, whether it be protecting a classmate being targeted by bullies and ending up beaten up himself, or literally moving into traffic to protect a child. He recognises that such acts can be foolhardy, but at the same time his protective nature and strong sense of altruism are not traits he's ever thought to challenge.

• Because Shinichi is absolutely led by his heart, and that's what has always felt natural to him.

• When Shinichi was quite literally invaded by an alien, nearly every aspect of the boy's personality was challenged. Suddenly he was now sharing his life and body with a cold, "insect-like" being without emotions, concerned solely with its own self-preservation and capable of extreme violence — violence that Shinichi found himself unwillingly exposed to, as he had to rely on and even help Migi deal with the other parasites in order to protect humankind. For Shinichi, who had never hurt a fly, bloodying his hands was a deep horror in him. Not to mention the nightmares involved with being hunted by monstrous parasitic organisms hiding in the brains of humans. That paranoia, the weight of having to hide this dark secret from everyone around him, and the guilt of not telling people about his situation and helping protect humanity on a larger scale, has led to a great deal of psychological turmoil that he has not remotely begun to process or even address. He now perpetually carries it with him, often making him anxious and depressive, prone to deep worrying and fretfulness.

• As time wore on, Shinichi began to experience subtle, insidious shifts — evidence that Migi's presence within was affecting the host. This ranged from small incidents such as Shinichi no longer fearing things like insects to intensely concerning times, like Shinichi seeming to lose himself and threaten to eat people who were being cruel to others.... Another parasite even noted that Shinichi was "no longer pure". And so, a dark new fear began to blossom: that he would develop an appetite for humans, and lose his precious humanity to Migi. After all, their situation held a great deal of unknowns; even Migi didn't know what might happen in their odd case, where a parasite and its host retained their individual minds in the same body.

• However, despite the moments of merging with Migi, there does remain a generally clear divide between them most of the time. If Shinichi is the emotional heart, Migi is the logical head. Perhaps the most accurate representation of them was when a girl with psychic abilities looked into Shinichi's eyes and was terrified to detect the image of a large, alien eyeball slowly opening itself wider. Migi may not have successfully taken over Shinichi's brain, but deep down, the alien is there inside the human's mind.

• Personality-wise, Migi is highly curious and inquisitive to the behaviours and life of other species. He won't hesitate to act to satisfy this scientific curiosity, often putting Shinichi in the most awkward of situations. He may seem approachable: being almost childlike in his curiosity, speaking politely and formally, and even hosting a sense of humour that pops up from time to time. Yet underlying this is a frightening side to his perception in that he fully lacks human emotions and sees things from a purely tactical perspective; his purpose is to keep himself alive, and that means keeping Shinichi alive — at any cost. Particularly, the concept of "altruism" (which is Shinichi's defining trait) baffles him. He also possesses intelligence beyond that of human capacity and is constantly adjusting to life and researching things, learning as much as he possibly can not only about the human world but also his own existence.