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Please note that this is the Neuro Wiki's article on the character, if you are looking for the article on the series then you should head to Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro.

Neuro Nōgami
Neuro anime
Neuro as depicted in the anime
First Appearance Chapter 1
Episode 1
Last Appearance Chapter 202
Episode 25
Voiced by (JP) Takehito Koyasu
(EN) David Wald
Profile
Birthdate 16月344日
10 March
Gender Male
Height 188~220cm
Weight 65~120kg
Status Demon
Private Detective
Yako's "assistant"
Puzzle Eater


Neuron

Neuro Nōgami (脳噛 ネウロ Nōgami Neuro), the title character of the Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro series, is a demon detective from hell. He looks for mysteries in the minds of humans for sustenance. When he dismantles the mystery and strips the culprit of all of their defenses, it releases the negative energies that caused the culprit to commit the crime, which he then consumes. He came to the human world in search of the Ultimate Mystery, as all of the mysteries in hell were bland and repetitive. Once in the human world, he forced Yako to be his assistant, and began to solve mysteries. As the series progresses, it seems that Demons have last names that may resemble their overall character or appearance; Nōgami means "Brain Eater".

Overview[]

Background[]

Neuro is a demon detective that came from hell, with the purpose of seeking the ultimate mystery in the Human World. In public Neuro makes Yako act as the detective, while he acts as her assistant; even though Neuro is actually doing all the detective work. In the human world Neuro needs to sleep at least for three hours a day. He has an odd sense of hatred for Capybaras, the world's largest rat.

According to Neuro "Shouki is like Oxygen to a demon" and natural hot springs are formed when excess Shouki comes to the surface, so the best place for him to be is near a hot spring.

Neuro has shown actually true disgust for only one thing "cultivated mysteries", or in other words, mysteries that are created for the sole purpose of being solved by Neuro. Neuro comments that cultivated mysteries lack the true evil intent that give real mysteries they "taste" and is what Neuro absorbs to fuel his powers. While Neuro never considered anyone to be his enemy (including X) above Earth, he regards Sicks as a foe because he threatens to destroy humanity, which will deplete Neuro's source of mysteries.

While never properly stated, it is heavily implied that Neuro is a higher-up demon in Hell. For one, he once stated when asked by Yako if there was a natural order in the Demon World, that: "It's as though people bow their heads before my modest self, daily".[1] This was also mentioned by Zera during the last chapters, who refers to him as "Hell's most intelligent demon". Neuro also has access to the 7 Weapons of the Demon Emperor. However, it seems that there is a Demon Emperor who is above even him (during his fight with Sicks, Neuro mentions that Evil Metal, if used correctly, could kill the Demon Emperor himself).

Appearance[]

As the laws of the Demon World require a demon not to draw too much attention to oneself in another world, Neuro usually takes his human form in most of his appearances. He can freely transform any part of his body into his demonic form though and appears to be capable of transformation as well, though not to the extent of X's abilities.

In his human form, Neuro takes the appearance of a tall handsome young man in a blue suit and black shoes and gloves. His blue coat has yellow triangular buttons and he wears a white sleeveless shirt underneath his coat. Neuro's hair is mostly yellow with three reddish-black bangs in front. He keeps triangular hairclips at the tips of his hair which, when tied together or bitten into provide Neuro with demonic energy. Neuro's black bangs appear to stand when Neuro senses a mystery nearby, acting somewhat like radars. Neuro doesn't keep his human form entirely human, as he still retains his sharp teeth, claws (underneath the gloves) and almost inhuman vibrant green eyes.

Neuro's true demon form resembles a purple bird similar to a toucan or parrot. He has a large yellow beak with sharp teeth and small beady eyes in this form. He has a pair of yellow twisted horns on the back of his head and his ears appear to be covered in dark brown fur. Neuro also has feathered arms in his demon form which he can use to fly as shown in the anime. In the manga, he does not have wings and states that he cannot fly. He is later shown using the demon tool Evil Flyer in order to be airborne.

Personality[]

Neuro is mostly a self-centered, sadistic and arrogant character, often focusing on getting the mystery as quick possible. As a demon, Neuro understands little on human feelings and is usually uninterested in the culprits' motives, though this becomes one of his weaknesses in the HAL arc. Neuro also commits blackmail and manipulation to achieve his goals. He sees most humans as mere food sources during the beginning of the manga even showing a little contempt for humans if not annoyed, with the exception of a crossover between him and Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, Muhyo apparently have at that time become a mutual accquaintance.

Neuro thinks of Yako as nothing more than a slave to use at the beginning of their 'partnership', and enjoys abusing and torturing her at every chance he gets; however, his most sadistic traits surface the most when he has been angered (for no matter the torture, he has never inflicted serious damage upon Yako); most specifically, in a situation similar to DR's battle, one of the most violent displays of Neuro's sadistic nature so far in the series, going as far as to abandoning him to his fate in a river.

As the manga has progressed, Neuro has changed his views on humans. While he initially found humans interesting at best, he now shows some care and trust for them, specially for Yako; such as rescuing her several times in the series, leaving the responsibility of finding HAL's password to her, and even to give Godai and Sasazuka instructions to deal with Vijaya. Near the end of the manga, Neuro sees Yako more than a slave, but as a partner; although she gets caught into his torture habits, Neuro entrusts Yako to grow stronger and making sure his next arrival will be a world full of puzzles.

Abilities[]

As a demon, Neuro is most probably the most powerful being in the series when he is at full strength. During his second encounter with X however, he reveals his genetic structure was becoming more "human" to adjust with the conditions in the Human World. Nevertheless, Neuro is still much stronger than a normal person and is still able to defeat powerful foes such as X and members of the New Bloodline, even in his drained condition.

It should be noted, however, that most of the following abilities might not be at their "full capacity", seeing how the power of a demon above ground is only at 1/10,000th.[2]

Energy Drain: By consuming the criminal's mystery Neuro appears to drain them of their energy as well, since most of them either revert back to their non-monstrous form or become weakened.

High Endurance: Neuro is able to take hard hits like gunshots and easily shrug them off in seconds. He also proclaims that when he first entered the Human World he could easily resist an atomic bomb, though this isn't actually demonstrated. He also once stated that his body is able to stand a billion and thirty six degrees. With his gradual transformation into a human however his high endurance has become less apparent, and he is much more fragile than he was at the start of the series (though still surpassing a normal person's endurance).

Enhanced Strength: Neuro has amazing strength in his entire body, being able to easily tear apart wood and metal with his bare hands and in one instance, dropping down from a tall building and safely landing on his tongue. Shouki (Miasma) is the main source for his strength but since it's lacking in the human world, Neuro will be forced to use Demonic Energy to convert or replenish his strength. At one point in the series, he easily breaks several recording cameras just by snapping his fingers. He once showed to Godai that he can flatten a 500 yen into a thin pizza-sized plate with just a shonen-jump book.

High Intellect: Neuro is very intelligent and knowledgeable, being able to handle situations calmly and finding the best or most suitable solution to most problems. He had begun absorbing Human World knowledge since his entrance into the Human World, and in his first twelve hours he had already mastered knowledge equal to Yako's academic studies. He has shown to have great tactical ability, foresight and even small detailed knowledge that can be used to create successful plans.

Calm Composure: In battle, Neuro always stays calm and collected. He never panics and always tries to stay a few steps ahead of his foe. In most of his battles seen in the series, Neuro usually fights defensively, preferring to wait for the opponent to make the first move and turning the tables when the opponent thinks he or she had won. During his battle with Genuine however he reveals he prefers to be on the offensive, and the moment an enemy is careless enough to let him attack first he has already won.

Limited Transformation: Neuro is capable of limited transformation (though not to the extent of X's abilities), being able to transform his hands into claws or partially transforming into his demon form while still retaining some of his human form's features.

Sense Manipulation: Neuro can somehow manipulate a person's senses by coming in contact with them, giving them the image of a horrifying illusion (as seen with Takeda Keitaroand Elizabeth the dog]] and partially taking control of their movements (as seen with Shiho Ezaki). He can also brainwash a person's mind, as shown when he easily defeated and took control of Genuine.

Demonic Energy: Neuro emits a demonic energy from his body. It appears to have many uses besides being his own energy source, being able to revive Akane just by being around he presence. Neuro's 777 Tools of the Demon World are fueled by his demonic energy, and when he is completely drained he becomes very weak. The demonic energy seems to be what keeps Neuro a demon, as seen during his fight with X where X found Neuro's claw's genetic structure exactly like a human's, though it immediately shows its demonic properties later when it enveloped itself in the demonic energy to stab X.

777 Tools of the Demon World and 7 Weapons of the Demon Emperor: Neuro's main arsenal of weapons, the 777 Tools of the Demon World are odd items or creatures which Neuro uses for many different situations, ranging from swapping the taste buds on the tongue to making Yako resemble a grotesque monster. In more desperate situations, Neuro resorts to using the 7 Weapons of the Daemon Emperor, which are much larger and powerful compared to the tools. Neuro's access to the Daemon Emperor's weapons imply that he may have been a demon of high ranking during his time in the Demon World. The tools and the weapons each require a certain amount of demonic energy, so Neuro tries not to use the latter too often as the weapons drain a higher amount of demonic energy compared to the tools.

Plot Overview[]

Further Information: Plot of the series (manga), Plot of the series (anime)

Neuro is the first character seen in the series. Having exhausted the Demon World of its mysteries, Neuro decides to go to the Human World. He encounters Yako for the first time after her father's funeral, where she was grieving over her father's loss. Neuro almost immediately demonstrates his inhuman abilities and introduces himself to the surprised Yako and forces her to follow him to a nearby cafe. He correctly predicts a murder and after collecting the information and evidence, he demonstrates to the police how the crime was done while pretending Yako was the real investigator and she had merely informed him on how it was done.

After the incident in the café Neuro asks Yako to bring him to her house again so he could solve her father's murder. He reveals detective Takeda Keitaro as the criminal and manages to drive him mad by putting him under an illusion. Shortly after Takeda's arrest Neuro disappears, and Yako, thinking it was all over, decides to spend the next few days with her family to get over the loss of her father. A few days later however Neuro reappears outside Yako's window, and states he would like to continue working as Yako's "assistant" as he had already begun building her reputation as a detective in the previous two cases.

After solving the Supreme S. case Neuro decides to get an office as a hub so that he wouldn't need to search for Yako all the time when he wants to solve a case. Neuro and Yako come across a finance company and Neuro decides to use the office. The occupants however, were Godai and his gang and they refused to hand over the office so easily. Neuro immediately informs them he knows a murder had occured in the office recently, surprising them as they didn't plan to let anyone else know. Neuro then decides to make a wager that if he manages to reveal the criminal of the case they hand over the office but if he fails, they can have Yako to do their biddings (much to her chagrin).

After some investigations Neuro reveals Washio as the criminal but he gets shot in the eye . Neuro easily survives the attack by stopping the bullet with his eyelid before it could get to his eye, and frights Washio with an illusion. After Washio runs off Godai and the rest of his gang refuse to hand over the office, but they run off as well after Neuro hands over some punishment. Neuro names the office Katsuragi Yako's Demon World Detective Agency and opens the investigation agency for business with Yako as his cover.

Aya Asia would be Neuro and Yako's first customer. Her case is seemingly solved when Neuro, Yako and the police manage to capture her alleged stalker. Shortly after the arrest, Neuro asks Yako for the first time her opinion on the results of the case. When he finds out that she too, felt something was amiss Neuro drags Yako with him to Aya's concert. In the middle of the performance, Neuro tosses Yako on-stage to accuse Aya as the culprit behind the murders. The combination of Neuro and Yako's deductions manage to bring Aya's alibi crumbling down, and Aya finally gives in. After Aya's arrest, Neuro praises Yako for the first time, telling her he looks forward to seeing her abilities over understanding human feelings mature.

Shortly after the Aya Asia incident, news of a criminal called X began surfacing. A man visits the office to request Neuro and Yako's services one day. He asks them to spy on his son who had been making suspicious outings at night recently. Neuro senses something odd about the case and agrees to help. Neuro and Yako with some assistance from the police finally corners the man's son, who is revealed to have been the local serial pet killer. The man expresses his respect for X's actions and admits he wanted to imitate X's style of killing using boxes, adding that he had finally moved on to the next step by killing his own grandmother. Neuro ignores his ramblings however and begins telling the real criminal to appear. Everyone else is confused by Neuro's words until the grandmother's corpse suddenly begins spitting blood. The corpse transforms into a young boy who reveals himself as X, much to everyone's surprise. The son begins praising X and asks X to take him in as a partner. X however is not impressed by the copycat's methods of killing. X wraps himself around the man and kills him, ironically leaving his remains in the red box. The detective present immediately arrests X, who surprisingly does not resist. On his way out, he asks Neuro how he sensed his presence and Neuro shrugs. X later kills the detective and his men and pays a visit to the detective agency under the guise of Yako. Neuro is not fooled by his disguise though and X flees, telling Neuro he will return for his head.

After the New Bloodline arc in the manga, Neuro (significantly weakened at this point) was visited by Zera, a fellow demon from hell. After an attempt at Neuro's life, which failed pathetically, Zera told him that unless he returns to hell, Neuro would die. Zera agrees to open a portal in his mouth to Hell, which would require a half-day. Neuro remained conflicted over returning to hell between nutrition on Earth and the ability to save his own life. As time moves differently between Hell and Earth, Neuro doesn't know whether it would take only 1 Earth year or 1000 Earth years to return. Neuro's unease came from returning to an Earth with the possibility of humanity's extinction and end of mysteries occuring during this time. After persuasion from Yako, Neuro agrees to return in order to save his own life. Yako and Neuro proceed throughout the night talking. While Neuro catches Yako in a trap, he slips out and goes back to Hell through Zera's mouth.

3 years after, Yako had recently finished negotiating with terrorists. Mid-flight on the plane ride home to Japan, she wakes up from her nap with Neuro outside her window, appearing to be completely recovered. He then tells her to wake up and that "The mystery is already on the tip of my tongue."

Trivia[]

  • Much like his rivals, Five fingers, his 7 Weapons of the Demon Emperor possibly represent 日(Sun), 月(Moon), 金(Venus), 木(Jupitar), 水(Mercury), 火(Mars), 土(Earth), seven planets that play major roles in ancient China and Japan's Astrology and myths.
  • He makes a guest appearance in the 11th and penultimate episode of Koro-Sensei Quest! as the retiring Demon King being replaced by Korosensei.
    • Takehito Koyasu, Nogami's voice actor in his titular series, also voiced him in Koro-Q!.
    • His English voice actor, David Wald, likewise voiced him in the English dub of Koro-Q!.

References[]

  1. Matsui, Yūsei. "Chapter 26". Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro. p. 6.
  2. http://mangahelpers.com/t/maluna/releases/11155
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