Kousuke Endou

Kousuke Endou is a major character from the "Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest" series.

He is one of the students from Japan who was summoned to Tortus by its god Ehit. He is friends with Jugo Nagayama and Kentarou Nomura and was part of their party during the training in Great Orcus Labyrinth. He also has a very weak presence and tads to be overlooked by others, as a result.

After the final battle against Ehit and before returning to Earth, Kousuke fell in love with the rabbitmen Lana Haulia. After fulfilling the extremely difficult conditions she gave him, Kousuke not only became engaged to Lana, he also became the next head of the Haulia Tribe and Hajime's right hand man. After returning to Earth, he would get involved with different groups around the world and stopping a few dangerous situations, becoming a hero along the way.

Appearance
Kousuke is a young man with black hair that covers his eyes. Whenever he goes into "Lord Abyss Gate" mode, he would wear a pair of sunglasses. He usually dresses in black.

Personality
"I am the shadow! The right-hand man of the godslaying demon king that was born from the bottom of the abyss! I came from the deep abyss, from the darkness that is deeper than even darkness! Now, engrave into your soul, this taboo name!"

- Monologue

Kousuke has a normal personality, although he always complains about his very weak presence that makes it unable for the others to usually notice him. Even through he's aware of this enough to expect it, he can't help but complain about it. Reversely, he will become extremely happy when he meets someone who can notice normally, having fallen for Lana Haulia because she could keep track of him despite his best efforts and cried tears of joy when he found Claudia could naturally notice him. Nonetheless, Kousuke still cares deeply about those around him and hates the idea of abandoning them. When the Hero party was overwhelmed by Cattleya in the Great Orcus Labyrinth, Kousuke desperately wanted to save them and was full of guilt that he had to abandoned Meld and the other knights to survive.

After he falls in love with Lana, he keeps trying to win her over until she gave him two extremely difficult conditions that would make her consider going out with him. Despite everyone believing it would be impossible for him, Kousuke manages to successfully clear a Labyrinth and land a scratch on Hajime in combat (who fought him seriously in respect). This impressive display of dedication to his crush is what earned Hajime’s completely respect.

Kousuke is proud for being known as Hajime's right hand, but does not share his ideals with regards to how to deal with his enemies. He is against indiscriminately obliterating all of those in his way and will only use lethal force as a last resort. He also dislikes having to ask Hajime for help as he knows that Hajime will do so (depending on the request) but he doesn't wish to trouble him with any personal requests. Kousuke judgment has proven itself multiple times, as it allowed him to win over different groups he's come across despite being at odds with them at the start.

Kousuke has proven to be a very understanding person when it comes to other people goals and reason. He understood that Sharon Magdanese isn't an evil person, but one who does necessary evil for the sake of protecting her country, which separates her from those who want to use the Berserker drug for evil purposes. He also can be extremely supportive for those whom suffered yet wish to finish what they started, which earned him the feelings of Emily and Claudia when he chooses to help them. He even goes as far as to talk back to Yue in the latter's case, something his friends respected him for doing despite their jealously of him getting another lover and fearing for his life knowing what Yue will likely do to him for defying her.

Despite all of the powerful artifacts in his possession, Kousuke does not want to become too dependent on using them when he is is not in danger, as he is concerned that it will make him become too complacent and take the simple things for granted that he feels makes life worth living.

When his skill "Abyss Lord" is active, his personality becomes that of a. He would often do and say things in an over-dramatic manner that are considered completely pointless, such as turning on the spot, pushing up his sunglasses and making embarrassingly cool poses. He proudly calls himself Lord Abyssgate and refers to himself as the abyss itself. He would also give ninja base names to his techniques and act like a ninja as well. At the same time, he would also act very chivalrous when talking to women. After he reverts back, Kousuke generally falls into a depressed state out of embarrassment. While he curses this state, he doesn't hesitate to enter it when the situation calls for it. Overtime, he has displayed more of his Abyss Lord traits while in his normal state. This worsen after awakening Depth VI, causing him to need medicine to help him.

Physical Abilities

 * Thin Presence (Thin Shadow) - A trait that Kousuke has always had ever since birth that makes it difficult to notice him under normal circumstances. This trait also makes it difficult for people to remember Kousuke at times, often failing to realize he's not present until someone actually notice he's not with them. His friends and family have more than often forget about him despite how long they've known him. When he challenged the Great Reisen Labyrinth, none of his classmates noticed he had been gone for a whole week. Highly trained and experienced warriors (such as Meld Loggins), apostles, the detection system of advanced machines and even Ancient Magic users fail to notice Kousuke most of the time. This is regarded as one of Kousuke's greatest strengths, as most people lose track of Kousuke, even when they're trying their best to focus on him and remember him. Many (including Kosuke himself) consider being able to notice him normally as an impressive feat.
 * Enhanced Physical Abilities - After being summoned to Tortus as one of Ehit's heroes, Kousuke was blessed with superhuman physical abilities. Kousuke focuses on agility and speed to aid his infiltration and assassination skills.
 * Enhanced Strength - After being summoned as one of Ehit's heroes, Kousuke gained superhuman strength. While not his strongest field, Kousuke could still repel monsters bigger than him with ease. He is easily able to physically overpower most human beings as demonstrated when he easily physically overwhelm Allen Parker. He can hold up to eight grown up people even while extremely exhausted.
 * Enhanced Speed - After being summoned as one of Ehit's heroes. Kousuke gained superhuman speed. Kousuke has confidence in his speed, but it pales in comparison to that of Hajime's. Combined with his stealth abilities, Kousuke was able to travel from the 89th floor to the 70th of the Great Orcus Labyrinth within a short period of time. In the After Story, with the assistance of the "Heavenly Eye" artifact, he is capable of dodging bullets. He can so fast that normal humans fail to realize what he's done to them until it's too late.
 * Enhanced Senses - After being summoned as one of Ehit's heroes. Kousuke gained superhuman senses. His sharpen senses allow him to pick up on the faintest traces of life around him and notice things others would have missed. When the Hero's party reached the 90th floor, he was the first one to notice the monster blood on the ground and walls. He was also the first one to notice that Cattleya had far more monsters hidden. He especially has strong hearing, able to hear people whispering a fair distance away. He can tell if there is anybody in a building without entering it first and how many people are present.
 * Enhanced Stamina -  After being summoned as one of Ehit's heroes. Kousuke gained superhuman stamina and could fight for extremely long periods of time. Due to Kousuke own strong will, he can further push himself until he accomplish his mission. The greatest display of Kousuke's stamina is how he managed to successfully conquer the Great Reisen Labyrinth, spending a week avoiding its death traps before facing Miledi's powerful golems and ultimately defeating it by himself.
 * Enhanced Durability - After being summoned as one of Ehit's heroes. Kousuke became far more durability. When facing the final test of the Great Reisen Labyrinth, he was able to survive Miledi's massive golems attacks and continue fighting until he won, through was using the Abyss Lord throughout the labyrinth. Albeit he would not have been able to withstand a single attack from the golem had any of the attacks hit and he only managed to clear the labyrinth because of items Miledi left behind to help challengers beat her.
 * Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant - Kousuke has displayed high level martial art prowess. Since returning to Earth, he has been learning new martial arts to improve himself. He is able to easily defeat Allen Parker (also known as Mr. K) who is infamous for his combat and assassination skills while also fighting the elite members of the British Security Bureau.
 * Expert Swordsman - Kousuke is very proficient in wielding daggers and duel-wielding short swords, both in reveres grip. His fighting style resolves around attacking his opponent's weak point. In the After Story, he's become skilled enough to easily kill several Berserkers in quick success.
 * Skilled Marksmanship - Being an assassin, Kousuke has excellent accuracy with throwing weapons, particularly kunais.
 * Stealth Master - Thanks to both his thin presence and job as an assassin, Kousuke is a natural at infiltration and scouting. While a part of the hero's party, he would usually scout ahead to determent what path they should take. After returning to Earth, Kousuke would uses his stealth skills to infiltrate highly secure organization and gather information about them.
 * Master Acrobat - Thanks to his superhuman strength and agility, Kousuke excels at gymnastic and can easily perform almost any form of acrobatic stunt humanly possible. He can gracefully jump across tree branches while carrying someone without slowing down or risk tripping.

Magical Abilities

 * Immense Mana - As one of Ehit's summoned heroes, Kousuke has a larger mana pool than most people of Tortus. When in the final depths of the Abyss Lord, his mana becomes strong enough to even surpass the magic dispersion effect of the Great Reisen Labyrinth.
 * Expert Magic User - Kousuke is a fairly high-level magic user. Although he is more suited for front-line combat, he has been shown to use his gravity magic in creative and skillful ways, including its most powerful spells. When using the Abyss Lord, Kousuke's skills improve the longer he's using it. At the final depths, he can create up to thousands of clones from his clones and uses the strongest abilities of gravity magic.

Skills
There is a demerit to the "Abyss Lord" skill. While it was activated, the user’s speech and conduct would be forcefully be made into a flawless chūni. This proves useful in battle, as his strange behavior confuses and infuriates his enemies (and friends), making him very unpredictable for more logical opponents. Furthermore, while the activation of the skill was essentially possible by the user’s discretionary, but it's possible for the skill to get activated on its own without the user’s discretion, which only worsen after Depth VI was awaken.
 * Assassination Technique
 * Dagger Art - A skill that increases efficiency in using a dagger and other knife weapons.
 * Stealth - A skill to hide the user's tracks, as well as erase their scent.
 * Tracking - A skill that allows the user to mark places or beings using their own mana, and track them with it.
 * Throwing Art - A skill that increases the throwing ability of the user.
 * Hidden Weapon Art
 * Transmission Wave - A skill to strain one’s ear to pick up vibrations in the air, or in the wall, to listen to conversations from someplace a good distance away.
 * Escape Art - A skill that gives aptitude correction to magic if it is used as a means to escape.
 * Abyss Lord - A skill that had the effect of a gradual "Limit Break". It didn’t raise his stats explosively like Limit Break, but rather strengthens all his specs little by little while the skill was activated. Furthermore, while being different from Limit Break, this skill doesn’t have the normal side effect of strong lethargy after use. However, more intense uses of this skill will exhaust him. The skill is divided into five depth levels from 'Depth I' to 'Depth V', with each depth mean a certain level of stats boosts. In order reach a certain depth level the skill must be activated for a proportional amount of time. Once the user reaches the desired depth, that depth can be activated anytime. During the battle against the Shadow Dragon, Kousuke awakened Depth VI.
 * Presence Manipulation - The user can manipulate the presence of oneself by making their presence disappear.
 * Hide Presence - Allows the user to hide/mask their own presence, to avoid tracking and detection by others.
 * Illusion Waltz - A skill that leaves behind a presence with an afterimage piled up on oneself to blur one’s own figure.
 * Dream Illusion III - A skill that produces up to three illusionary clones of oneself.
 * Clarity Phantom - A skill that gives substance to the clone.
 * Minimum Mind - An invisibility assistance skill. While the user is invisible, this skill would make the user’s breathing, heartbeat, presence, and even the fluctuation of the mind, and so on, to be in a flat state.
 * Shadow Dance - A skill that allows the user to run on walls. It can’t let the user stand still on a wall, but as long as the user has momentum, they can continue to run on walls.
 * Water Dance - A skill that lets the user walk over the water.
 * Leave Dance - A skill that lets the user use things like leaves that were falling in the air as instant footholds for jumping.
 * Wood Splinter Dance - A skill that lets the user use dust and dirt midair as instant footholds for jumping.
 * Gravity Magic - One of the "Ancient Magics" originating from the "Age of Gods". it gives the user control over gravity. The true power of this magic is the ability to 'interfere with the energy of star', and just not gravity. Theoretically, it could also interfere with things like earth vein or terrestrial heat, bedrock or magma; and it isn’t impossible to use this magic to purposefully generate earthquake or volcano eruption.
 * Language Comprehension - A base skill granted to all those who got summoned. It gives the user the ability to understand any language and be proficient in it.

Spells/Attacks

 * Obsidian Vortex - A basic spell that uses gravity magic to create a gravitational field around either the caster or a nearby target by touching it. It alters gravity's hold on the target to make them lighter or heavier.
 * Inverse Square - A spell that causes the target to be unaffected by gravity and float mid-air.
 * Spatial Severance - A defensive Gravity magic spell. It summons a black hole to absorb any incoming spells and attacks. It can be used to redirect any attacks it absorbs.
 * Heavensfall - Gravity magic which forms a black hole that is four meters in diameter.
 * Nether Burst - An extremely powerful form of gravity magic. It releases a powerful sphere of destructive energy.
 * Black Hole Nova - The most powerful form of gravity magic that can normally only be used when tapping into the planet's energy. It completely obliterates the target without leaving a trace.

Stats
Kousuke's stats as per "Web Novel - Chapter 199 (After Story)"

Note :-
 * The base stats given above aren't Kousuke's current stats, as the last time the author provided stats for him in the Web Novel was during the 'Berserk Incident' in the "After Story".
 * Kousuke's base stats gets increased based on his usage of Derivative-Skill "Abyss Lord", which has an effect similar to "Limit Break", but rather than explosively increasing the user stat, it gradually increased them depending on how long the skill is active.

Weapons & Equipment

 * Heavenly Eye - A pair of sunglasses that have been enchanted with "Riftwalk", "Foresight", "Night Vision", "Sense Heat", and "Farsight".
 * Demon Sword of Destroyer Calamity Crawling the Earth - A short sword enchanted with an enhanced earth element magic circle. It can be used to create a barrier using the surrounding earth.
 * Heaven Destroying Sword of Brilliant Lightning Flame - A short sword enchanted with a enhanced fire element magic circle. It can create a flame snake that randomly moves around to make the area fall and be surrounded with flames. It is also possible to do a lightning version of the attack and to instantly activate two elements of magic for escaping or assisting in battle. It was named by both Kousuke and Lana Haulia.
 * Rakshasa Black Hand of Second Advent and Rejection - A pair of fingerless gloves that converts mana into shockwaves. It is also imbued with restoration magic in order to repair themselves from the recoil of the shockwaves they create. They were named by Cam Haulia.
 * Light Severance Thousand Blades - Twelves kunai that can lay out space isolation defensive walls by making each other as a fulcrum. They flow freely using gravity magic and can accomplish space teleportation by replacing their position with the user. They were named by Par Haulia.
 * Staking the Pride of a Villager - A crystal pendulum in the shape of a 5 coin. It is imbued with spirit magic and allows Kousuke to hypnotize anyone and make them obey his commands.
 * Soul Shell - A white marble that was enchanted with the spirit magic "Heart's Guidance" that possesses the effect to convey one's will directly to the state of the soul, or possibly to the soul itself. It was originally designed to protect the wearer from the influence of Ehit's "Divine Edict".
 * Aerodynamic-Enchanted Boots - They allow Kousuke to walk mid-air.
 * Last Seele v.7 - A red gem that grants its user the skills "Limit Break" and "Overload".
 * Cheatmate ASAP (Abyssgate-san’s Special Awakening Present!) - Kousuke's exclusive magical tool. It's a syringe that contains a combination of Hajime's regular CheatMate mix, and well as a refined version of Emily Grant's Pandora's Hope drug. It enables Kousuke to boost his stats to be on par with using "Overload", without the time normally needed to achieve it. The effect only lasts three minutes, and causes severe recoil once it runs out. It was named by Vanessa Paradis.
 * Treasure Trove - A ring-shaped artifact that had small one-centimeter ruby set in its center. The ruby is actually an artificially created dimensional space where things could be stored.

Quotes

 * (To Hajime Nagumo): "Nagumo!? Is that really you!? It is, right!? Where are you!? Nagumo! You’re alive, aren’t you!? Get out here, Hajime Nagumo!"
 * (To Hajime Nagumo): "There it is again! That’s your voice! And just who are you calling the king of invisibility!? I’ll have you know that the automatic doors at stores open for me one-third of the time!"
 * (To Hajime Nagumo): "Everything about you has, changed though... like your appearance, and the way you talk..."
 * (To Daisuke Hiyama): "Dude, what the heck are you on about? Why would anyone want to impersonate Nagumo?"
 * (About Meld Loggins): "If only I'd noticed what was going on that night..."
 * (To apostles): "Prepare yourselves, apostles. You face Kousuke E. Abyss Gate, the Lethal Tempest!"
 * (As Abyss Gate): "Are you ready? It's show time!!"

Etymology

 * The name "Kousuke" means "prosperous" (浩) and "forerunner, herald" (介).
 * Kousuke's surname "Endou" means "far, distant" (遠) and "wisteria" (藤).

Trivia

 * Kousuke's face hasn't been properly revealed in any adaptation that he has appeared in. Whenever he is focused, his face is always shown to be partially hidden (particularly his eyes). This has become a recurring joke throughout the series. However in Episode 12 of the Anime, there is a close-up shot of Kousuke's eye.
 * Kousuke is currently the only member of his class to have successfully completed one of the Great Labyrinths single-handedly.
 * Kousuke is the only one of his siblings that does not wear prescription glasses.
 * All of Kousuke's fiancées are able to perceive him better than everyone else.
 * Kousuke's astrological sign is .
 * Kousukes presence becomes more noticeable when he's grows more depressed.
 * A running gag around Kousuke is people questioning what kind of inhuman creature he is, because of his thin presence and great strength, with Kousuke arguing that he is human.