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Akutagawa Ryuunosuke
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Akutagawa Ryuunosuke |
| Occupation: | member of the Port Mafia |
| Relationships: | ex-mentee to Dazai Osamu; brother of Akutagawa Gin |
| Fandom: | Bungou Stray Dogs |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
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Akutagawa Ryuunosuke is a major character in Bungou Stray Dogs. He acts as a foil to protagonist Nakajima Atsushi in the main manga and anime, is a major character in Dead Apple, and is the protagonist of Beast.
In Canon
Akutagawa is known as a ruthless killer, the "Rabid Dog of the Port Mafia," where his sister Gin is also an assassin. He was recruited by Dazai, who treated him in ways which are genuinely considered to have been abusive, and will do nearly anything to earn his former mentor's respect and attention. Akutagawa's ability, Rashomon, allows him to manipulate fabric, generally his coat, to cut through space. While at first he serves as a major adversary to Atsushi, the two increasingly work as a team, and Akutagawa dies to save Atsushi but is resurrected as a vampire. He stops being a vampire as a result of Bram Stoker's actions but has temporary amnesia until Atsushi's parallel sacrifice.
In Fandom
Akutagawa is often referred to as "emo" and a "sickly Victorian child." Many fan works explore the effects of the abuse he experienced.
Following recent manga chapters, depicting Akutagawa in his knight outfit has become very popular in fan art.
Common Pairings
- Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi: the most popular pairing for both characters and the second most popular pairing in the fandom at large.
- Dazai Osamu/Akutagawa Ryuunosuke: Based in Akutagawa's devotion to Dazai, this pairing is frequently seen as toxic.
- Nakahara Chuuya/Akutagawa Ryuunosuke: May be partly popular due to their depictions together in official art as well as to both belonging to the Mafia and being people close to and abandoned by Dazai.
Fanon and Common Tropes in Fanworks
- Angst is very common in fics involving him.
- Akutagawa liking cats and trying to figure out how catlike Atsushi is is a trope mostly but not exclusively found in shipping fics.
- A relatively rare Akutagawa-specific tag, mostly found in smut fics, is Improper Use of Rashomon.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Writing
Art
- the fool reversed by @thornedarrow
- sheet of mr ryuunosuke because he hasn’t left my brain for two weeks straight, Archived version by candiedfright
- 🫀🫀🫀 by @marrewis
- twilight light by @j11nko
- "will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly by @thornedarrow
- first time drawing aku i like how he turned out by @kokoasci
- farmer aku can be something so personal, by @iztea
- Akutagawa petting a cat by @maru557