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What Was Aogiri Tree’s Goal & Objective In Tokyo Ghoul?

Aogiri Tree was an organisation that was shrouded in mystery throughout Tokyo Ghoul. Their unique brand of violent activism made them CCG’s main priority. Aogiri Tree was founded by Eto Yoshimura 13 years prior to the events happening in Tokyo Ghoul. They saw the doves and the CCG as their enemies, with most of their actions aimed at eradicating them or freeing the ghouls captured by them. They continued to be a thorn in the CCG’s side till they were utterly defeated in the Rushima Landing Operation.

According to Eto, Aogiri’s goal was to make the world a better place for the ghouls. However, her true motive was to expose the warped roots of the CCG, namely the Washuu Family’s secrets. But there seemed to be an ulterior motive behind the Aogiri Tree’s creation. 

It has been implied in Tokyo Ghoul that Eto and Arima have been in cahoots since their first encounter. Eto had revealed to a curious Arima that she wanted to plunge the world into chaos and give it a factory reset. Though her views were quite warped, Arima seems to have taken a liking to it. Perhaps, they then proceeded to form the Aogiri Tree. But in their current situation, both of them couldn’t bring about a radical change, or like Kanou would say, break the birdcage that entrapped the world. This is where the concept of One-Eyed King could have been conceived by Eto Yoshimura. 

What was the underlying goal of Aogiri Tree?

Let’s say that the Aogiri Tree, One Eyed Owl, the One Eyed King and Kishou Arima were all characters in an elaborate play. The Aogiri and One Eyed Owl had to exist as a force that would threaten the humans and CCG. And Kishou Arima had to be the superhuman investigator who would dispatch these villainous ghouls. 

First Arima would defeat the One-Eyed Owl. With the One-Eyed Owl defeated the ghouls would lose faith in the Aogiri Tree. Now enters the One-Eyed King, who would take down Arima, turning into the beacon of hope that the ghouls needed. Thus a perfect stage for the  One-Eyed King to make an entry would be created. This seemed to be the underlying objective of Aogiri Tree and Eto all along.

During the Rushima Landing operation, we get to see Tatara’s monologue (Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 89), where he wonders if Arima got what he wanted. This could be a reference to Arima and Eto wanting to find a suitable candidate to be the One-Eyed King (because we see Arima dragging an unconscious Kaneki away from the Anteiku Raid) Being the Operations Head for Aogiri, Tatara and Noro could have been the only people other than Arima and Eto who could have been privy to the real motive of creating the Aogiri.

Tatara's monologue before he died in Tokyo Ghoul

So was the Aogiri just cannon fodder? An enemy for Arima to kill and increase his stature? That seems like a very heavy price to pay, it’s not a very noble goal to have you know!! You might be wondering why create such a warped plan when you could just go and have a discussion with the humans once the Aogiri became strong enough. 

There could be multiple reasons for this. One could be that Eto could not sympathise very much with humans. The more plausible reason would be that the ghouls in Aogiri wouldn’t exactly consent to having a talk with someone they view as mortal enemies. This struggle, of not being to understand each other, or even having the patience or attitude to even listen to the other side, has been portrayed time and again in Tokyo Ghoul. The cycle of hatred played a key role in preventing this from happening. This could have made Eto come up with her Aogiri Tree idea.

Aogiri was supposed to be a hope for ghouls, but then the ghouls needed to lose hope in aogiri because of Arima being too powerful. The one eyed king would then come by and defeat Arima, giving the ghouls enough authority to bring the opposite side to the discussion table.

Aogiri Tree and One-Eyed King

The ghouls were a persecuted species. Eto hated how humans continued to live in ignorance surrounded by lies, while the corrupt CCG gnawed away at the ghoul society. However, despite her sadistic nature, she wanted to create a new world in which humans and ghouls could live together without fearing the other. In the Tokyo Ghoul universe, humans and ghouls are two sides of the same coin. Eto wanted the One-Eyed King to be someone who understood this. Her objective was to unite the two species eventually.

Symbol for ghouls

The ghouls needed a leader who could bridge the gap between them and humans. Probably a half-ghoul. Or even an artificial half-ghoul who could objectively view the struggles of both sides. 

It is not as if Eto and Arima always aimed for Kaneki to be the One-Eyed king. If Kaneki had not come by, the role of the One-Eyed King would have been taken up by Eto Yoshimura (and not Kishou Arima), who would have gone on to kill Arima and be the beacon of hope that the ghouls needed. Her identity as Sen Takatsuki would have helped the human crowd relate to her. This was seen when she surrendered to the CCG after releasing her final bookKing Bileygrand revealing her true identity. Her actions caused a lot of humans to sympathize with ghouls and even form ghouls rights organisations. The book also played its part in portraying CCG in a negative light.

This also explains the bandages and why Eto kept her Sen Takatsuki identity a secret from the Aogiri Tree members (other than Noro and Tatara). If everyone knew that Takatsuki was Eto herself (and also the one eyed owl), then the plan of killing Arima and having a talk with the humans would no longer make sense. 

Note that Eto only reveals her identity denies being the One-Eyed King (chapter 61) in Tokyo Ghoul:re, way after Arima began acting as a mentor to Kaneki. He probably asked her to set the final part of the plan in motion knowing that the right candidate for OEK has been found.

What do you think were the goals of Aogiri Tree and Eto Yoshimura? Let us know your opinions in the comments section!!

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