Kouki Yukishiro

WARNING! This article may contain major spoilers for the Dandadan manga series. Please read at your own risk.

Kouki Yukishiro
Kanji	雪白幸姬
Rōmaji	Yukishiro Kōki
Characteristics
Race	Human
Home Planet	Earth
Gender	Female
Personal Status
Status	Alive
Occupation	High School Student
Affiliation	Kami High
Residence	Kamigoe City
Relationships
Relative(s)	Alice Yukishiro (Younger Sister)
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 168

Kouki Yukishiro (雪白幸姬, Yukishiro Kōki^?) is a girl at Kami High who is currently being threatened with blackmail by an unknown individual to hunt down Momo Ayase and steal her powers.

In Dandadan, she serves as the main antagonist during the Kozuka Knives Arc.

Appearance

Kouki is a slender young girl with long hair that obscures most of her face and her round eyes have large pupils. As a student, she wears the Kami High uniform; a dark buttoned up blazer with her school emblem located around the left breast, a collared shirt, a bow, long socks and sandals. Similar to Rin Sawaki, she wears a long dark skirt instead of the standard short skirt.

She later does her hair up, revealing that her eyes are naturally almond shaped, as well that she has rather small eyebrows.

Gallery

Kouki in her school uniform.

Kouki in her second school uniform.

Kouki as a child.

Kouki with her hair up.

Personality

Kouki is a timid and dispirited girl. As a child, she took pride in her recognition as a talented pianist. After her time in the spotlight was replaced by a life of isolation from her peers, Kouki longed to once again be acknowledged, even if the means were improper.

Background

As a child, Kouki received accolades for her skills in playing the piano, distinguishing her as a prodigy to many. However, after losing to Aira Shiratori in the junior piano competition, she believed she had no talent and quit playing the piano. By the time Kouki reached high school, she found herself as an outcast by her classmates and even her own family with her younger sister Alice overshadowing her in talent.

In an act of desperation to once again be acknowledged, Kouki chose to post to her account an anonymous picture of herself undressed. Later, she was approached by an individual who recognized her as the girl in the photograph. Kouki was then coerced by the person to do their bidding in locating Momo Ayase to usurp her powers using a small knife if she desired their silence. After she consented to their terms, she was cut with a knife, which allowed her to see the pygmies, who accompanied Kouki to ensure that she fulfilled her mission.

Synopsis

Current Saga

Kozuka Knives Arc

Kouki targeting Momo for her power.

After one pygmy locates Momo Ayase in the library, Kouki makes her move to search for her and steal her power once her friends have left the room. However, she ultimately runs out of time to complete her task after the school bell rings and makes a hasty retreat. While alone, Kouki is told by the pygmies that her approach was wrong since she did not make Momo yield first and is urged by them to give in to her desires to become the person she wants to be.

Later, Kouki finds herself locking eyes with Momo as the History and Culture Research Club tries searching for her after the shrunken girl informs them about what happened in the library. She then flees from the group and manages to hide herself inside an Empty Space classroom using a cloak that has her blend in with the environment. Eventually, she is found and attacked by Momo using her psychic power to hurl a desk at her.

Kouki comes clean about her misdeeds to Queen.

Following Momo's attack that renders her unconscious, the pygmies carry Kouki out of the classroom in their escape. When they arrive at Queen's infirmary, where the nurse is also present in Empty Space, Kouki tries to win Queen over by wrongfully accusing Jiji and the others of being the attackers. However, as the story Kouki tells Queen begins to unravel, and upon the nurse's insistence on honesty, Kouki admits to her misdeeds of attacking Momo. This then leads to Kouki being angrily slapped by Queen for pretending to be the victim.

Later, Kouki explains to the History and Culture Research Club and Queen her reason for attacking Momo, revealing she'd been blackmailed into doing so, but is unable to recall the identity of her blackmailer. She continues, talking about her orders to steal Momo's powers, but she can no longer remember the conditions to perform it. Kouki also reveals how she got her powers to control the pygmies. Despite the creatures looking out for her, Kouki rejects them and wishes to return to a normal life. Queen then reveals the pygmies' origins and their loyalty to those who can perceive them. Kouki then becomes moved to tears as she recalls her solitude, which prompts the pygmies to stitch the words "Hang in there, Kouki" on the couch, which further moves her. Upon learning that Kouki can understand the pygmies, Momo asks if they know how to return a shrunken person to their normal size. Kouki consults the creatures but sadly answers none.

As the club plans their next move, they also decide to keep an eye on Kouki in case the enemy comes back for her, which will give the group the opportunity to ambush them and erase Kouki's image. Aira then asks for Kouki's name and immediately recognizes her upon learning it. As Aira explains how she knows her, Kouki also recognizes her, explaining that she quit playing because of her. She is then shocked to learn that Aira also quit later on out of tedium.

Abilities and Powers

Natural Abilities

Skill Set

Piano Playing: Kouki possesses talent for playing the piano ever since she was young.

Equipment

Asura (Knife)
Kouki wields a knife capable of extracting power from a living being or a yokai. This was given to her by an unknown individual for the task of robbing Momo of her psychic powers.

Chapter Appearances

Current Saga

Kozuka Knives Arc
166. Is This a Little Fairy?	Absent
167. Hey, There's Something There	Absent
168. There's Someone Here	Debut
169. Find The Culprit!	Appears
170. A Suspicious Woman	Appears
171. Corner the Perp!	Absent
172. Those Pygmies Are Scary	Appears
173. Corner the Criminal!	Appears
174. Queen Sensei's Infirmary	Appears
175. So Who's the True Perp?	Appears
176. Scattering the Bait	Absent
177. Let's Do Some Kung Fu	Absent
178. The Power of a God	Absent
179. This Seems Kinda Deadly	Absent
180. The Owner of the Kozuka Knives	Appears
181. Must Be the Influence of a Curse	Absent

Etymology

• The name Kouki means "happiness, good luck/luck, fortune" (幸) (kō) and "princess" (姬) (ki).
• Kouki's surname Yukishiro means "snow" (雪) (yuki) and "white" (白) (shiro).

Trivia

• Kouki's surname "Yukishiro" translates to "snow white", referring to the fictional character Snow White from two German fairy tales published by the Brothers Grimm: Snow White and Snow-White and Rose-Red. While the surname connects to both Snow Whites from the two unrelated stories, the Snow White from Snow-White and Rose-Red seems to have a more substantial connection, as the character's name in Japanese translates to "Yukishiro" (雪白), as opposed to the other Snow White's name translating to "Shirayuki" (白雪).
  • Kouki's bow headband she wore as a child matches the attire worn by the Snow White depicted in the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
  • Kouki being accompanied by pygmies gives reference to the seven dwarfs who accompany Snow White.
  • Ironically, her role is more reminiscent of the Huntsman, a character forced to attack the heroine with a knife.
• Kouki is shown to have a mole located on her left breast.