Koneko Toujou

Koneko Toujou is one of the many female protagonists of High School DxD. She is a first-year student at Kuoh Academy and a member of the Occult Research Club, where she is Rias Gremory's Rook.

Appearance
Koneko is a petite girl around 15 years of age with white hair and hazel eyes. At the front, her hair has two long bangs going past her shoulders and several loose bangs hanging over her forehead, while the back has a short bob cut. She also wears a black cat-shaped hair clip on both sides of her hair. She usually wears the Kuoh Academy girls' school uniform, without the shoulder cape.

In her Nekomata form, she grows a pair of white cat ears and a pair of matching white tails, and her eye pupils become more cat-like.

In her "Shirone Mode" that she used for the first time in Volume 16, Koneko can make herself grow older, and her attire consists of a short white kimono.

In the anime, during the Rating Game between Rias and Riser Phenex, she wore black fighter's gloves with pink cat pawprints on the upper palm.

Personality
At the beginning of the series, Koneko had a quiet and cold personality, rarely showing any feelings or emotions, even when she was speaking. She was also the only one in the group who did not get along with Issei, often insulting and rebuking the latter for his perverted nature, although she reveals that she respects him for never giving up and considers him a hard worker. She shows the most concern for her comrades when they are in trouble, often lending her strength in fights. Koneko apparently has a problem with people calling her a midget (although the context of the phrase could be used to be called flat, as in bust size), as shown in her second battle against Freed Sellzen.

At the end of Volume 5, Koneko experiences a change in her personality after Issei helps her overcome her fear of using Senjutsu, and now starts acting like a cat or showing emotions of love towards Issei. Her love for Issei grows so much that, at the beginning of Volume 11, she starts to go into mating season (though this was later stopped by her sister Kuroka). However, she still insults him when his perverted nature gets the better of him (at least when it isn't directed towards herself).

History
Born as Shirone, Koneko is a young Nekomata who is part of a rare species among her kind, called the Nekoshou. After losing her parents, she and her older sister, Kuroka, were later taken in by an unnamed Devil who reincarnated her sister as one of the members of his peerage. However, Kuroka's power as a Nekomata supposedly soon grew out of control, eventually causing her to kill her master and become a Stray Devil on the run from her pursuers. In actuality, he had planned to harm Koneko, causing Kuroka to kill him in order to protect her younger sister.

Following the incident and the failed manhunt that came after, Koneko was sentenced to death by the Devils in hopes of preventing another incident like Kuroka's from happening. However, Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the Four Great Satans, protected her, and left her under his sister's, Rias' care. Due to the trauma she experienced with her sister's murder and betrayal, she fell into a deep depression, eventually robbing her of nearly all of her emotions until Rias helped her out of it. It was around that time Rias gave Koneko her name, and made Koneko her servant.

The Red Dragon Emperor's Awakening
Koneko appears in Volume 1, introducing herself to Issei who just came to the Occult Research Club. She later assisted Issei in his attempt to rescue Asia Argento from the Fallen Angel Raynare.

In Volume 2, she and the other club members assisted Rias in her Rating Game against Riser Phenex. There, she manages to incapacitate Xuelan, allowing Akeno to defeat the Rook and the three Pawns that were incapacitated by Issei before being defeated by Riser's Queen Yubelluna, making her the first in the team to lose.

Birth of the Breast Dragon Emperor
In Volume 3, Koneko followed Issei when the latter attempted to form an alliance with the Church Duo, Xenovia and Irina Shidou, to help them reclaim the stolen Excaliburs in exchange for allowing Yuuto to break the Holy Sword. When asked by Yuuto and Rias who later found out about the alliance, she says that she doesn't want Yuuto to leave the team and become a Stray Devil. Later when Kokabiel attacks the Kuoh Academy, Koneko assisted in defeating the Cerberus Kokabiel took with him, before Kokabiel himself went to fight the Gremory Team and easily overwhelm them until Vali Lucifer came to retrieve Kokabiel under Azazel's orders.

In Volume 4, Koneko assisted in training Rias' other Bishop, Gasper Vladi, who was recently unsealed, chasing him around with garlic. During the peace talk between the Three Factions, Koneko was subjected to Gasper's time-stopping powers which was used by the Khaos Brigade in an attempt to kill the leaders of the Three Factions and was unable to help.

In Volume 5 when Rias returns to the Underworld for the Young Devils Gathering, Koneko was burdened by the thought of her being the weakest in the team but was afraid to use her Senjutsu at the same time due to the fear of being like her older sister, Kuroka, who killed her previous master, overdoing her training to the point of collapsing out of fatigue. During the party for the young Devils, Koneko meets Kuroka for the first time following the incident that occurred years ago, with Kuroka intending to take Koneko back with her. While initially wanting to leave with her sister out of concern for Issei and Rias, she eventually decided to stay with Rias after hearing Rias' speech that is full of love towards her (she tells Koneko that she is her Rook, and will not let anyone, including Kuroka, lay her hands on her). Kuroka, who could not help but be bothered with that much trouble, then attempted to murder the two of them, releasing a special mist that immobilized both Rias and Koneko. They are, however, saved by Issei who achieved his Balance Breaker on the spot and manages to beat Kuroka until Arthur Pendragon came to call both Kuroka and Bikou to retreat. During Rias' Rating Game against Sona, Koneko faced off against Sona's Pawn, Ruruko Nimura, and defeated her after starting to use her Senjutsu. On their way home, Koneko starts to sit on Issei's lap while making a feline smile and exclaims, "Nyan♪”, hinting she starts to have feelings for him.

In Volume 6 during Rias and Diodora's scheduled Rating Game, the match was interfered by the sudden appearance of the Khaos Brigade and the revelation of Diodora's alliance, the Gremory group facing Diodora's peerage along the way. She along with Issei and Gasper defeated Diodora's pawns who are promoted to Queen. She was last seen, with the other members, cheering Issei and Asia on their three-legged race.

The Heroic Oppai Dragon
In Volume 7, Koneko is seen doing a Senjutsu healing session with Issei, asking Issei to never use the Juggernaut Drive again while telling Issei that there is a faster method to heal his lifespan (which would involve him sleeping with her) but was interrupted by Rias and Asia. She is later seen assisting her group in their battle against Loki and Fenrir.

In Volume 10, Koneko assisted her master in her Rating Game against Sairaorg Bael, where she and Rossweisse team up and fought against Sairaorg's Rook, Gandoma Balam, and Knight, Misteeta Sabnock under Dice Figure Rules. While Koneko and Rossweisse manages to win the match, both Gandoma and Misteeta launch one last attack on Koneko eliminating her from the Game.

In Volume 11, Koneko went into mating season because of her feelings for Issei, but was deemed too young to risk pregnancy. Fortunately, her sister Kuroka was able to seemingly negate her mating season, allowing her the time to reach physical maturity. Her relationship with her sister also improves, after seeing her sister protect her from an incoming attack and agreeing to Kuroka's proposal of teaching her a Nekomata's Senjutsu and Youjutsu. Also, after Issei asks her to recognize Kuroka as her sister, Koneko asks him to make her his bride when she got bigger. At the end of Volume 11, Koneko, like the rest of the girls of the Gremory Team, was surprise to see only Issei's Evil Pieces return and was weeping quietly while hugged by Ravel.

In Volume 12, Koneko, along with the other members of the Occult Research Club, were staying at the Gremory Palace after being at shock with Issei's "death", holding her feelings in until Ravel criticizes her as she finally breaks down in tears. She later accompanies the others to the human world to visit Ajuka Beelzebub to have him check on Issei's Evil Pieces, and was happy to find out that Issei's soul is alive. At the end of Volume 12, She with the rest of the Occult Research Club member and Azazel, wants to go on a date with Issei.

The Legend of Oppai Dragon and his Lively Companions
During the events of Volume 14, Koneko participates in the meeting of Mephisto Pheles in regards to making a pact with a Magician due to the Gremory group's recent popularity. Later, she participates in the meeting with the Vampires from the Carmilla Faction. She was later abducted from Kuoh Academy, along with Ravel and Gasper, by the Magician Faction who were after Ravel.

Koneko, along with the Occult Research club members, Bennia, and Loup Garou, went to Romania in Volume 16 to aid Rias and Yuuto who were confined in the Tepes castle. She then participated in the attempt to stop the extraction of the Longinus, Sephiroth Graal from Valerie Tepes and rescue her; fighting the enhanced Vampires along the way and in doing so, revealed her new move, Shirone Mode. After returning from Romania, Koneko participated in the meeting for the formation of D×D and coined the name for the team.

Powers & Abilities
Enhanced Strength and Defense: Koneko boasts a lot of physical strength and defense, a standard of the Rook. She can use this strength to lift heavy objects with ease and use them as projectiles. With her defense, enemy attacks have been known to bounce right off of her, including light-based weapons that would seriously wound or kill a regular Devil.

Enhanced Senses: As a Nekomate, Koneko naturally has heightened senses, such as the time she was able smell Fallen Angels within the Church.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Koneko is a master hand-to-hand combatant which she uses along with her Rook trait allowing her to overpower many enemies. In fact, she was able to defeat Xuelan, another Rook with no signs of exhaustion whatsoever.

Senjutsu and Youjutsu User: Being a Nekomata, Koneko is able to use Senjutsu and Youjutsu but she is still learning under her sister, Kuroka. Flight: Being a Devil, Koneko can use her wings to fly.
 * Nekomata Mode: When Koneko uses her senjutsu, she grows a pair of white cat ears and a tail.
 * Nekomata Mode Level 2: In this mode, Koneko uses her senjutsu to cover her body in Touki. This gives her explosive power for a temporary time and grants her a second tail.
 * Shirone Mode: In this mode, Koneko can temporarily make herself grow older by gathering the natural ki from her surrounding and synchronizing it with her Touki.
 * Kasha: Koneko can summon a big wheel that is covered in white flames that has the power of purification.

Quotes

 * "...I have become a hellcat. I won’t lose!" (Volume 5, Life 4)
 * "...Are you thinking of lecherous stuff again, Ise-senpai?"
 * (To Issei) ".....You're the worst." (Volume 8, Life 2)
 * "That insect reminds me of Ise-senpai." (Season 1, Episode 13)
 * "Flat Chests are sinners, Flat Chests are cruel... —I WILL DESTROY YOU..." (Season 1, Episode 13)
 * (To Kiba) "Senpai, if you were gone... I'd be sad." (Season 2 New)

Trivia

 * Koneko's body measurements are B67-W57-H73 cm. (B26-W22-H29 in.) and her height is 138 cm. (4 feet 6 inches), and her weight is 31 kg. (68 lbs.), as revealed in the visual book with her data.
 * Koneko's birthday is November 23, according to the Sodom Press Data File on her.
 * Koneko's name translates to "Kitten", in reference to her being a Nekomata.
 * Koneko's real name, Shirone, means "White Sound", in reference to her hair and tail color.
 * Koneko's last name, Toujou, means "Castle", in reference to her being a Rook (in chess, the rook piece is a castle's turret).
 * Koneko bears a striking resemblance to Yuki Nagato from the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise. In fact, in Episode 2, Mr. Morisawa, one of her regular clients, even has her wear Nagato's outfit as cosplay.
 * Koneko plays the mascot character, "Hellcat-chan" (ヘルキャットちゃん Herukyatto-chan), in Breast Dragon Emperor Oppai Dragon.
 * Koneko appears to be a fan of rap music (also demonstrated in the English dub of the show with quotes such as "That would be super rad" and "That was dope").