Ren Murakami


 * This article contains major plot spoilers from the manga that have not been revealed in the anime. Proceed at your own risk.

Ren Murakami (村上 蓮) was a low ranking member of the CCC, in which he went under the code name 15 (Fifteen (ジューゴ)). Before he joined, he made money from doing part-time work. He played one of the main roles in Plan B, also called the 'Ikebukuro Incident.' After fulfilling his roles, Kirio Kikuhara (Zero Two) killed him in order to cover up the truth.

Appearance
Murakami was a young man with an average build and below average height for his age, standing at. He had nape length, wavy and messy black hair which he often had tied in a ponytail, in which he rarely had it down. His bangs covered his forehead, and his most prominent feature was his freckles, which sat around his nose bridge. He was often seen in hoodies.

Personality
Murakami generally had a very light-hearted and friendly, sometimes even slightly childish personality towards his fellow agents. He was cheerful, straightforward and teasing and wanted to unite the CCC before they started their missions.

He knew that Kenichi Yoshii (Zero Nine) has a crush and Nanako Tenjo (Zero Seven) and would often create opportunities for them to talk. His age was close to theirs, so Murakami became close friends with both of them.

However, he also appeared to dislike devils. He had a deep respect for Kirio Kikuhara and the CCC for trying to accomplish the devils' extermination, and was very loyal to the organization and the latter. He believed that a few sacrifices would contribute to a society free from devils. He did anything that was asked of him and would do anything for the sake of society, even hurting and possibly killing fellow CCC agents, such as Zero Seven.

Story
Murakami was decided to be the main role in Plan B (The Ikebukuro Incident), in which the motives were to increase anti-devils protest.

During a live weather report right before it was ending, Murakami, crouching in the crowd of spectators, rushed to the reporter and sliced her throat with a kitchen knife. Seeing blood, the cameraman transformed and attacked her and drank her blood as the camera rolled on. The crowd and all of those watching at home were witnessing proof that devils exist. Murakami then quickly fleed the scene.

This action sparked rage in Nanako (Zero Seven). Murakami was seen fleeing Nanako and said that Plan B was a necessary step to take in order to eliminate devils from society. Since Nanako was predicted to trying to interfere with the plan which included to kill humans as well (which she was strongly against), Murakami had orders to kill Nanako. He stabbed her with a knife and tried to justify his actions. Right after, Kikuhara arrived and apologized for making Murakami do the dirty job but Murakami was pleased to have been useful to Kikuhara. However, Kikuhara stabbed Murakami with the knife Murakami used against Nanako. He explains that Murakami needs to die to be a cover-up for the incident, claiming that a few sacrifices would contribute to a society free from devils, which is what Murakami himself had said. It was to be reported that Murakami was a stalker of the weather reporter Yuriko Hyuga, and because she didn't return his affection, he attacked her, but he later felt remorseful and committed suicide. Kikuhara proceeded to push Murakami off a tall building, resulting in his death.

Legacy
Oryo was the only witness present when Kikuhara pushed Murakami off the building. He tried to save Murakami, but was unable to make it before the latter hit the ground. He even heard Murakami say something before dying, but was unable to make out what it was. Oryo didn't realize until later that Murakami's last word was 'Traitor.'

The police later went over the information they acquired regarding the CCC and its actions, and were able to piece together the clues that eventually revealed Ren Murakami as the "other comrade" of Zero Seven's who was killed. They also supported the theory that the Ikebukuro incident was staged by the CCC.

Etymology

 * The name Ren means "lotus, water lily" (蓮).
 * Ren's surname Murakami means "town, village" (村) (mura) and "above, top, upper" (上) (kami).