Karma Akabane

Karma Akabane is a student in Korosensei's Class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School who had been suspended from school due to his violent behavior.

Appearance
Karma is fairly tall for a middle school student. He has pale skin, short red hair, and pale sharp eyes that appear as either mercury or gold in color. Behind his usual innocent-looking smiling face hides a torturous and rather sadistic personality. He is slender and has also been shown to have exceptionally sharp canine teeth. In the anime, Karma is considered the most physically attractive of all the guys in Class E by the girls.

Personality
Karma is well-known throughout the school for his violent behavior and troublesome attitude. When he was in the main building, due to the betrayal of his most-trusted homeroom teacher, he began to hate all people who called themselves 'teachers' and as a result has almost zero respect for any adults. He is shown to be be skilled in fighting, tricky, and manipulative, and takes great pleasure in harming others. He excels at using weaponry and foul play and is one of the few students thus far to have successfully injured Korosensei.

Karma has been described by Karasuma as "at first glance, he comes across as being a lazy sort, but... there's a strong sense of mischief in his eyes." Karma is quite relaxed most of the time as he occasionally skips out on things he finds boring, such as the school assembly. When fighting, he becomes brutal and has no qualms of hurting people who threatens him or any of his friends from Class E.

It is also shown that he is one of the most intelligent people in the entire school, shown to be ranked 4th out of all 186 students in Kunigigaoka. He does not, however, want to return to the main building, stating that he finds assassination much more interesting.

Regardless of his lazy personality, Itona has stated that Karma was probably the strongest within the class despite him not excelling in any particular area (shooting, knifework, etc). Most likely this means that Karma prefers to stick to tricks and pranks for assassinations rather than going into full-out combat, and also because of a certain "vision" Itona described to Terasaka. It has been mentioned by Karasuma, and proven many times, that Karma likes to humiliate his opponent.

Despite all this, Karma actually has good morales behind his motives. The reason he was placed in Class E was because he had rescued a senior from Class E being bullied by students from the main building. He was, unlike his classmates, unprejudiced against them and still considered the senior a 'senpai'.

He's also shown to be hardworking when he wants to by studying diligently after the embarrassing exam arc although he hides it by making it look like he was playing video games.

History
Karma had for a long time been a rebellious student with a problematic attitude. However, due to his good grades, his homeroom teacher had supported him and proclaimed that "as long as you are in the right, sensei will be on your side".

One day he had found a senior from Class E being bullied and had jumped to his rescue, severely injuring his classmate in the process. Convinced that he was still in the 'right', he was shocked when his homeroom teacher told him that he was in the 'wrong'. The teacher then further elaborated that he had no right to protect a worthless piece of trash from Class E and instead injured a fellow student with a bright future. The teacher then told him that starting his 3rd year he would be dropped to Class E. This caused the teacher's worth to 'die' in Karma's eyes, also causing Karma to stop caring about teachers in general and instead focused on doing what he wanted.

In his first two years at Kunigigaoka, Karma had been friends with fellow classmate Nagisa Shiota. He first approached Nagisa when he saw the latter reading an article about Karma's favourite film director adapting a comic book, and invited Nagisa to watch with him. For a short time the two hung out together, with Karma being able to be less guarded with Nagisa. One day at a fast food outlet though, Karma was poked from behind by Nagisa in trying to find him but felt as though he had been viciously backstabbed with a sword. Sensing a mysterious but sinister aura within him, Karma was unable to respond how to deal with this. As a result Karma distanced himself from Nagisa. By the time of his suspension, their relationship reverted back to being just classmates.

Introduction: Karma's Time
Karma was still in suspension when Korosensei first arrived. However he was briefed by a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman of the situation currently going on at his class. He makes his debut in Chapter 3, reuniting with his friend Nagisa Shiota. Seeing Korosensei, Karma politely introduces himself and holds out his hand to shake. When Korosensei obliges, his tentacle fingers splatter, shocking him and the students. Karma reveals his hand to contain the same material as that of the anti-sensei knife, making him the first person to have injured his unkillable teacher.

Throughout his first day, Karma continually agitates Korosensei, one instance stealing the latter's Italian gelato, and pranks him but Nagisa worries that this will come back to hit Karma hard. The next day, Karma's next attempts backfire as Korosensei is now constantly on watch and gives Karma constant manicures. Eventually Karma resorts to suicide by jumping off the mountain as a way to destroy Korosensei's reputation if he decided not to save him (based on his previous experience with his former homeroom teacher). Korosensei does save him, also avoiding Karma's hidden BB gun and gets Karma to see how far his new teacher will go to educate him. Karma concedes defeat for the time being and becomes another ally for Class E.

First Semester
Karma saw the arrival of their new English teacher Irina Jelavic. However her arrogance and self-pride would cause the class to initially call her "Miss Jelabitch", of which Karma first came up with. They later settled for "Bitch-sensei" ("Professor Bitch" in the English dub). When the mid-term exams were held, most of Class E failed to get into the top 50 due largely to the principal's machinations and unexpected questions. However Karma was ranked fourth in the school overall and elected to stay in Class E due to assassinations being more fun.

During the Kyoto school trip Karma was invited by Nagisa to join him alongside Kayano, Okuda, Sugino and Kanzaki. While scouting for possible sites for assassinating Korosensei, the group was ambushed by high school delinquents. Despite Karma's desire for battle, the boys were overpowered resulting in Kayano and Kanzaki's kidnapping. With help from Korosensei's extensive guidebook, and the octopus himself, Karma got his vengeance as he, Nagisa, Sugino and Okuda (who hid herself during the ambush) defeated the delinquents and save the girls. That night, when the boys ranked their female classmates, Karma was asked which he liked. He answered Okuda, adding the reason being the opportunity to experiment around with questionable mixtures.

Karma saw the arrival of two transfer students (Ritsu and Itona Horibe) who both failed in killing Korosensei despite their enhanced abilities. He participated in the baseball exhibition game against the skilled baseball club, where he provoked the audience and the club members themselves as his contribution to Class E winning the match. Although not present when Akira Takaoka arrived in his short stint as PE teacher (skipping his class), Karma played a vital role when Itona and his guardian Shiro made a second attempt at Korosensei's life, strategising Terasaka and the class into following his plan to thwart the pair.

In preparation for the end of semester exams, Korosensei promised to let any student destroy a tentacle provided that they place first in any subject. Karma adopted a lazy approach, believing he will ace the exams no problem. As such he ignored Korosensei's concerns and did not join his classmates in study sessions or in helping out win a bet with Class A. This approach causes Karma to bomb out in the maths exam against Gakushu Asano, dropping from 4th to 13th overall. Korosensei mocks him for his attitude, further angering Karma and storming off. Fortunately, Class E won their bet against Class A and won a holiday vacation to Okinawa. Isogai, Nakamura and Okuda each scored first in their respective subject however Terasaka and his group demand their share, each tied for first place in Home Economics. At Chiba's egging, Karma snaps out of his depression and calls out Korosensei's feeble bluff, horrifying their teacher that seven tentacles will be destroyed instead of three.

Assassination Island Arc
Arriving at Okinawa, Karma helped the class prepare for the upcoming assassination by scouting underwater to determine the location's suitability. When the attempt does happen later in the night, Karma was one of the four that pulled the hut apart via speedboat to trap Korosensei. Despite the perfect synchronisation of the class's plan, Korosensei pulled out his trump card and protected himself with an unbreakable crystallised barrier that will hold for 24 hours until he returns back to normal form. However it costs him his mobility, which Karma uses to psychologically torment the teacher by showing him embarrassing pictures of himself or putting sea slits on the barrier.

Later when half of the class collapse from exhaustion and fever, Karma and the rest of the healthy students infiltrate the mountain hill hotel where the mastermind behind the illness is staying at to retrieve the antidote to the virus. Early on, Irina stays behind to distract the numerous guards in the lobby while Karasuma is affected by a paralysis gas despite defeating the creator Smog, leaving the students to essentially fend for themselves. The group come across another assassin named Grip barring their way further. Initially wanting to fight bare-handed his desire fell after seeing Karasuma incapable of fighting and elects to call for reinforcements. Karma however destroys the radio with a nearby pot plant, mocking the hit man for running away from a group of high school kids and goads him into fighting him. The hit man obliges and the two begin duelling in combat. Karma uses Karasuma's movements to dodge Grip's attacks, knowing that a single grab will crush his skull. Eventually Karma goes on the offensive and kicks Grip in the groin. The hit man turns away seemingly stunned until he sneakily fires a gas spray when Karma prepared the finishing blow. Karma collapses and is caught in Grip's grasp. But when his opponent faces in the direction of the students, Karma retaliates with a second gas spray, having nicked it earlier from the gas user. Karma also disarms Grip of his knife, as Terasaka and other boys pin Grip down and tie him up. Korosensei and the class sees how far Karma has come since tasting defeat at the finals exams, though the target takes back his statement when Karma celebrates his victory by pouring spicy mixtures through Grip's nostrils.

The class continues upwards until finally reaching the top floor. There they discover the mastermind to be Akira Takaoka, who wanted to claim the ten million yen bounty as well as revenge on the class (in particular Nagisa) for the humiliation he had to endure since returning to the the Ministry of Defense. Takaoka leads the group to the helipad, with Karma and the class forced to watch Takaoka humiliate Nagisa. He then blows up the antidote, making Nagisa rage in despair to fight and kill Takaoka. Although the adult initially has the upper hand, Karma watched Nagisa defeat him with the clap stun technique. During the reformed Korosensei's Test of Courage, Karma admitted to Okuda that Nagisa looked cool and calm when he was congratulated by the students rather than anything else.

Second Semester
Karma takes a backseat role for much of the second semester. He takes part of Korosensei's Cops and Robbers game to test out their newly-learned free-running skills, which the students win due to Korosensei unable to dive underwater without harming himself. Karma participates in the boutaoshi against Class A, where Class E's unconventional tactics and Isogai's leadership gave them the victory over Class A despite their numerical superiority. The free-running skills would later get the class into trouble as the mid term exams approached, and Korosensei had forbidden everyone from studying as a way to teach them humility. Only Karma studied in secret, enabling him to come second overall and save his classmates from total humiliation. During the God of Death incident, Karma's combat prowess earned him a spot in Team A, only to be wiped out instantly from the pro hit man's speed.

Karma returns to the spotlight during the finals arc. With the exams approaching, Gakushu Asano asks Class E to kill his father's teaching philosophy by monopolising the top 50 rankings. Karma confidently states that he will grab top spot from Asano. Although he helped tutor the class in Maths (dealing out corporal punishment in the process), he virtually went up against Asano alone on the final Math problem with only a few minutes to spare. Initially perplexed by the question's complexity, he reflects on his surroundings and classmates and realises that the answer is quite simple. As a result Karma scores a perfect 500, grabbing the top spot from Asano, and the rest of Class E being placed within the top 50.

The end of the semester takes a dangerous turn as Kaede Kayano made a second, more serious attempt to kill Korosensei, ambushing the target with hidden tentacles. Karma attempts to dissuade Kayano with no success and is forced to watch the two battle. Nagisa ended the fight by kissing Kayano, shocking her into passing out. Karma, along with Nakamura, each took a photo of the kiss and teased their friend about it. After the fight, Korosensei reveals his past and how he came to be his present form. Everyone including Karma spent the winter break deep in thought and unable to make plans to kill their teacher.

Schism Time: A Battle Against a Friend
Two months before the March deadline, the class is still less motivated. However when Nagisa proposes to find a way to save Korosensei instead of killing him, Karma is the most vocal opponent to it. He accuses his friend of essentially rejecting everything that Korosensei did for them and would dishonour their target of not wanting to kill him. Their argument quickly turns violent when Karma insulted Nagisa's appearance and, seeing Nagisa's face as he usually looks when he feels insulted, goads his friend into fighting him. Nagisa grabs Karma in a flying triangular chokehold in self-defence but Karma's combat ability kicks in and is about to hurt Nagisa until Isogai, Maehara and Sugino pull them apart. Korosensei himself intervenes to mediate the situation, and offers the class to sort the schism out by playing a team death match, capture the flag style paintball match.

Karma sides with the red team (who wish to continue killing their teacher) against Nagisa's blue (those wanting to save him). He quickly takes command of the team, ordering Chiba and Hayami take out Kataoka and Takebayashi respectively to deny the blue team tactical options from the start, ends Kanzaki's early kill streak and has the other members employ hit-and-run tactics against the blue team's defensive strategy. As both sides have their strength cut in half, Karma ponders why he lost his temper at Nagisa and begins to understand why now that his friend is now an enemy. At the same time when the blue team take control of the area with only Maehara of the blue team surviving, Karma witnesses Nagisa emerge from his hiding spot and take out Nakamura, Terasaka, Muramatsu and Yoshida in an instant. After taking out Maehara, Karma challenges Nagisa to a one-on-one duel, and after reminiscing about their past friendship, their earlier fight continues.

The two resume their melee duel but Karma's knack for combat gives him the upper hand over Nagisa. However Nagisa was able to disarm Karma of his knife until the latter returned the favour. His beatdown of his friend, and allowing himself to get hit, makes Korosensei hypothesise that for Karma to unify the class to kill him, he has to ensure complete victory over Nagisa, and make him concede defeat. Karma eventually knocks Nagisa off balance with an uppercut and seemingly finishing him with an axe kick. Karma retrieves his knife and approaches his foe to end the duel, until Nagisa suddenly performs the clap stun technique. To weaken the effect of the shock, Karma bit his tongue as Nagisa stands back up to retaliate. However the latter catches Karma off guard by throwing the knife filled with his bloodlust at him, causing Karma to deflect it and get caught into an arm chokehold, intending to make Karma lose unconsciousness. In a vain attempt to throw Nagisa off, Karma finds his discarded knife but chooses not to strike him, much like how Nagisa chose not to gun him down when Karma challenged him. Instead he surrenders and Nagisa wins the war for the blue team. The two friends reconcile their friendship, dropping the honorifics in the process, though Karma still continues to tease him. Karasuma decides the honour the agreement but on the condition that come February the class resume their original goal to kill Korosensei should they fail to find a way to save him.

Abilities
Marksmanship: Karma is ranked 3rd for marksmanship, boys' side (fourth in the class).

Intelligence: Karma is one of the smartest characters in the series. He assets his wit and guile to assassinations as well as other scenarios that may require it and is often the first person to notice any oddities that may occur around and within Class E. Karma also has the gift to strategise and being able to command a group, something he kept to himself until Chapter 145.

Combat skills: Besides his intelligence, Karma also a knack for battle and enjoys it. He also has good physical abilities like mobility, fighting skills, and a good mind for pranks and foul play. He was also stated by Kimura that no one could compare to Karma at hand to hand combat. He is also the physically strongest student in Class E as he has no trouble subduing Terasaka who has the most muscular build in the class and it took both Maehara and Isogai struggling to physically restrain him before he could have injured Nagisa.

Nagisa Shiota
Nagisa is Karma's closest friend and seems to be the only one that he's willing to listen to. The two of them have been classmates since their first year at Kunugigaoka and as a result, they know each other well. The two often hang out together and seem to enjoy the same things like movies. Nagisa has once stated that he envies Karma's easy-going, brilliant personality, and Karma is sometimes seen asking for Nagisa's advice or intel. Karma also enjoys teasing Nagisa and often has many creative methods to do so; many of which poke fun at his androgynous appearance. Despite that, Nagisa really doesn't mind it and isn't offended by Karma's teasing. It has also been noted that Karma considers Nagisa a prodigy and has high respect for his skill, admitting to Okuda that he was a bit jealous of his friend's assassination skills. In the official character book, it was stated that Nagisa is the only person to have visited his house.

Chapter 147 reveals the nature of their friendship as the two friends had a sour disagreement. While Nagisa admires Karma for his intelligence and positive personality, Karma sees Nagisa as "a harmless little animal" who he can afford to be less cautious with, thus trusting Nagisa to spend time with. Over time the two began drifting apart. Nagisa believes to be that Karma simply became tired of 'sharing the stage' with him, particularly when Karma became violent, and invitations to hang out gradually became rare. Karma however believed he did not know how to respond to the mysterious feeling hiding within his friend after a surprise poke from behind that felt as though he had been violently stabbed in the back. By the time of Karma's suspension their relationship went back to being just classmates, until reuniting again in Class 3-E.

Manami Okuda
During the school trip, Karma was asked by his fellow male students of which female classmate he liked. Karma replied that he liked Manami Okuda. However, upon further questioning, Karma added that it was because she could whip up a bunch of shady chemicals for him to play around with. Maehara's reaction upon this confession was: "I really don't wanna let the two of you hook up..." During the Assassination Test of Courage, Korosensei paired Karma with Manami. According to the official character book, Karma also considers her the easiest person to talk to of the opposite gender.

Ryoma Terasaka
Karma enjoys messing with Terasaka since he considers him to be a muscle idiot and is easy to manipulate.

Quotes

 * (To Korosensei, Chapter 14) "Even if the questions change, it makes no difference to me."

Trivia

 * His favorite subject is Math while his least favorite is Japanese.
 * His hobbies/specialty are provocation, mischief, and harassment.
 * His favorite food is his own cooking.
 * Karma is the first student that managed to inflict damage on Korosensei.
 * He wants to become an evil bureaucrat in the future.
 * He didn't belong to any club before joining Class E.
 * He comes from a wealthy family.
 * His first name only appears in kanji (業) during his formal introduction. The other students, and eventually Korosensei too, refer to him with the katakana (カルマ) version of his name.
 * He was called "Chuunihan (中二半)" during Class 3-E training using code names. This was given to him by Hazama, and refers to how he's "half" of a Chuunibiyou due to him being so lazy.
 * Karma is one of the few people in the entire manga who is referred to by his first name.
 * He's noted to be very good-looking by the girls in the class, but his personality puts everyone off instantly.
 * He's able to speak English in a standard dialect.
 * His parents are financial day traders and are wealthy from it. As a result they are "free people" and spend most of their time traveling around the world and spend little time with Karma.
 * In the popularity poll of Volume 12, he was the highest ranked character, achieving 1st place.
 * In the tankobon extras, his statistics were listed as:
 * Physical strength: 4
 * Mobility: 4
 * Close-range assassination: 4.5
 * Long-range assassination: 4.5
 * Academic ability: 5
 * Characteristic skill: 5 (fighting)
 * As of Chapter 123, Karma is the top ranked student in Kunugigaoka, placed first with a perfect score of 500. His previous rankings were: 4th, 13th, and 2nd.
 * At the end of the class Civil War, Karma surrendered to Nagisa in their one-on-one fight, thus giving the blue team the victory.
 * He shares both his Japanese and English voice actors with Accelerator from the Toaru Series.