Shinichi Izumi

"I can't cry anymore. I feel like I've lost something. An important part of being human."

- Shinichi Izumi

Shinichi Izumi is the main protagonist of the anime/manga series Parasyte. He is a 17-year-old high-school student who was infected by a parasite in his right hand. The parasite later named Migi is not hostile towards Shinichi but will do whatever it takes to survive and not let Shinichi endanger him. Shinichi's independence from his parasite and retention of emotion cause other Parasites to see him as a threat. He and Migi must defend themselves from attacks by other Parasites. Fortunately, their independent thinking and ability to work as a team, gives them a tactical edge over normal Parasites.

He is voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki in the Japanese version of the anime and Adam Gibbs in the English version.

Appearance
In the manga, Shinichi is of average height with a small build, short black hair and black eyes. In the anime, his hair and eyes are brown, and starts off wearing large square-rimmed glasses. He usually wears his school-uniform, consisting of a white shirt and a blue blazer, while in the manga he wears a Gakuran, an all-black, old-style japanese school uniform, with a white shirt underneath. He also tends to wear T-shirts with strangely appropriate words written on them. For example, when he first meets Migi, he has a T-shirt that says "Misery Confusion". This repeats throughout the manga.

After chapter 12 of the manga, or episode 5 of the anime, Izumi is left with a scar on the center of his chest and back. He becomes more muscular, and in the anime he removes his glasses, since he no longer needs them. After chapter 17 of the manga, or episode 7 of the anime, Shinichi begins spiking his fringe upwards. He claims to like the new look because it "looks more balanced" - symbolizing that he is no longer merely a human, and also referring to his newfound calmness and mental fortitude. After a confrontation with Gotou, he gains a new smaller scar over his right eye. After the one-year timeskip, he reverts back to his original hairstyle.

Personality
At the start of the series, Shinichi is a thoughtful and nice person who is considered to be a bit of a wimp. He loathes the fact that Parasites were feeding on humanity and is generally disturbed by Migi's apathy towards everything. However, he is also quite cowardly, letting Migi do all of the fighting. After being nearly killed by the Parasite who killed his mother and took over her body, followed by Migi using 30% of his body to save his life, Shinichi underwent a change, becoming significantly braver and harbouring a deep hatred towards Parasites.

Unfortunately, as a result of this, Shinichi becomes somewhat distant and unsympathetic, but also gains resilience. His bond with Migi becomes stronger and he occasionally begins to think like a Parasite, such as when he described a dead dog's body as 'a lump of dog-shaped meat', which Migi points out sounded like something he would say. He also loses the ability to empathize with others and even loses his ability to cry, which he is well-aware of and loathes. This was shown when he came into his father's room at the hospital, unable to speak as his grieve was too powerful and deep, but he could shed no tears.

His lack of empathy gets to the point that he was unable to cry when a close friend had just died. However, he does still care for his friends, and eventually, he decides that it's best to distance himself from them lest they come to any harm. After the death of Reiko Tamura, however, he reverts back into an emotional state, accepting his mother's demise and showing emotion once more.

Powers & Abilities
Before his "death" and "rebirth", Shinichi is an ordinary human teenager who mostly relies on Migi to fight the parasites.

After being saved by Migi from dying, Shinichi developed his own powers, because of having 30% of Migi's body disperse throughout his body. Shinichi can hear, see, and sense better than normal humans. His physical abilities greatly exceed those of normal humans.
 * Enhanced Strength: His strength has grown to where he can easily shatter bones if he used enough force. Another testament to his strength is being able to smash through a person ribcage and throw them through a concrete wall, all while ripping out said persons heart, with one arm.


 * Enhanced Leap: Due to his newfound physical strength, Shinichi can jump at a height over 20 ft.


 * Enhanced Speed & Stamina: Shinichi has shown to be able run faster than a car driving down a road. He stated that he could easily run 100 meters under nine seconds if he really tried. He is able to run and fight for long periods of time and only needs minimal time to recover.


 * Enhanced Durability & Endurance: Shinichi is able to withstand injuries that would affect a normal human. He is shown to jump from the school building at a high height while carrying Satomi and land with little consequence, barely flinch from the attacks of a grief stricken Mitsuo, was still able to run despite getting multiple cuts from Gotuo in their first fight, and even withstood the pain of getting stabbed in the left arm by Uragami and retaliate afterward in the series finale. His most epic moment of durability and endurance was shown as he got punched in the stomach by fully transformed Gotou that flung him several feet in the air and onto a pile of trash, and survived.


 * Enhanced Vision & Perception: In the anime, Shinichi originally needed glasses, though after merging with Migi, he no longer needed them. He's stated himself that he can easily see a person's face from 300 meters away. His brain is able to process visual stimulation to the point where a normal human appears to be standing still, when they're actually attacking him.


 * Enhanced Reflexes: Shinichi has demonstrated incredible dodging skills and agility, most notably when he becomes scared, he uses said skills to create distance between him and his opponent(s).


 * Mental Fortitude: After merging with Migi, Shinichi gains a high level of mental resilience as he walked through a hallway tainted with decapitated bodies of students with little discomfort.