“ | No matter who my opponent is, I will definitely be able to cut them. | ” |
–Tobio to a Executive-class Grim Reaper, Light Volume 24, Slash.2 Slash Dog/Dog God of the Fallen |
Tobio Ikuse, better known under the alias of "Slash Dog" is a member and a top fighter of Grigori. He is the main protagonist of Ishibumi's previous work SLASH/DOG. He is the leader of the Slash/Dog Team as well as the possessor of one of the thirteen Longinus; Canis Lykaon. He is also a university student.
Appearance[]
Tobio is a young man with short black hair and pale grey eyes. His height is [174 cm] and his body weight is [65 kg]. In Volume 24, Issei describes him as a handsome man.
In battle, he wears a black Grigori combat uniform, as well as a black coat.
Personality[]
He seems to have a very quiet personality and is quite an introverted young man, preferring to fight behind the scenes as opposed to the front lines. However, he does seem to have a sense of humor, making a joke about Vali taking interest when Issei was rubbing sunscreen on Akeno.
Due to the suffering and loss of his grandmother; who was his primary caregiver and most recently his best friend Sae have taken a severe emotional toll on him. Tobio is also extremely gentle and kind as noted by Natsume and Lavinia.
Tobio cares deeply about his friends, willing to face great danger to help them as when he decided to fight Utsusemi Agency to save Sae and he risked his life to block a powerful attack from Seiryu Kushihashi to defend Kouki.
History[]
Tobio is a descendant of the Himejima clan. When Tobio was born with the Sacred Gear Canis Lykaon, it was one of the rare instances where it already had its Balance Breaker fully activated and because of this in his childhood his grandmother, Ageha Ikuse, sealed his Longinus, Canis Lykaon, for his safety and had his memories erased. Tobio had since lived a normal life with his grandmother and childhood friend, Sae Toujou. At some point he joined and became a member of the Grigori and met Walburga. At some point, the previous "Ouryuu" had been causing trouble for him and Vali.
- For a full detail on the events on -SLASHDØG-, please refer here.
Powers & Abilities[]
Immense Strength: He is powerful enough to be tasked with guarding Sirzechs and Azazel alongside Dulio, the strongest Exorcist and Brave Saint, while confronting Hades and his legion of Grim Reapers. Vali acknowledges Tobio as being among the two Humans who could force him to use Juggernaut Drive, with the Vali Team awed at his true strength. He is listed amongst the 5 Strongest Humans, alongside Arthur, Cao Cao, Mitsuya, and Vasco.[1]
Immense Speed: Tobio is exceptionally fast and agile, leaving the scene without making the slightest noise. He could outmaneuver an Executive-class Grim Reaper, and then Gressil without receiving one attack from either.
Immense Combat Skills: Tobio is considered one of Grigori's top fighters, being among the two humans able to force Vali into using Juggernaut Drive. He could easily fight armies of mass-produced Evil Dragons and Plate Mails before and after using his Abyss Side Balance Breaker. In Volume 24, he overwhelmed an executive-class Grim Reaper who served under Thanatos. In True Volume 3, Tobio could defeat Gressil, a Satan-Class Devil with potential to to become a Super Devil, with relative ease.
- Scythe Master: Tobio is extremely proficient in wielding scythes, in either hand or wielding two, showing ambidextrous skills. In his evolved Balance Breaker, he effortlessly sliced apart armies of mass-produced Evil Dragons and the Plate Mails. His mastery of the scythe was noted as being superior to an Executive-class Grim Reaper in a normal state and vastly overpowered him in Balance Breaker. In conjuncture with Canis Lykaon's ability to cut all things and cursed flames, Tobio overwhelmed Gressil, despite the latter's fighting talent and Resistance.
Master Magician: Tobio has incredible skills and understanding of magic, having used Canis Lykaon's blades to sever the tens of thousands of random spells used by Walburga, in a short period without her being aware of it.
- Communication Magic: Tobio can use magic communication circles
- Flight Magic: Tobio can use magic to fly with high speed and maneuverability.
Master Tactician: Tobio is a brilliant strategist with extraordinary tactical insight. According to Suzaku, Tobio's intuition is always correct, as shown when he correctly guessed the Grim Reapers would made their move on Koneko during Rias’ and Vali's Rating Game match.
Stealth Expert: Tobio has shown to be able skillfully mask his presence from people, being capable of appearing or vanishing without leaving any trace or being noticed. He was also able to keep himself hidden from Walburga as he sealed off her magic transportation escape routes without Walburga noticing.
Master Chef: Tobio has magnificent culinary skills, able to cook extremely delicious food. His cooking is enjoyed by members of the Slash Dog Team, Cao Cao and the Gremory peerage.
Equipment[]

Tobio's Longinus, Canis Lykaon
Canis Lykaon (黒刃の狗神, Keinesu Ryukaon): Tobio's Longinus and main weapon, taking form as a large black dog, whom he named "Jin" that acted as an Independent Avatar-type, granting it its own instincts. Jin can create black blades from shadows, moving through them and producing varied blades from shadows within Tobio's field of vision, as well as transforming itself into a sword. Each black blade has the unique trait of "cutting everything", ranging from concepts and magic. Tobio mastered his Longinus to the deepest point, with him and Jin acting as one being instead of two. In addition to this, he can melt into shadows as a means of avoiding attacks, then reappear from others.
- Scythes: Differing from the swords Jin produces, Tobio's main preference are scythes for melee combat, something that he's mastered, to the point of damaging souls, no different from Grim Reapers. As a result of being the byproduct of the Ame-no-Ohabari, a divine sword used to kill the Fire God, Hinokagutsuchi, Tobio can release cursed black and crimson flames from them.

Night Celestial Slash Dogs.
- Night Celestial Slash Dogs (夜天光の乱刃狗神, Naito Seresutiaru Surasshu Dogguzu): Canis Lykaon's original Balance Breaker, which Tobio achieved the moment he was born and has since mastered to the limit. It causes him to become covered in darkness, resembling a six-tailed humanoid black hound with Jin at his side. In this form, aside from gaining an increase in strength and speed, his shadows can be extended far passed his field of vision; in the past, it covered the mountains, creating innumerable blades, seeming to almost cover the sky and earth in darkness.
- Perfectus Tenebrae Lykaon et Fortis Densus Laelaps (深淵なりし冥漠の獣魔、英傑であれ常夜刃の狗神, Perufekutusu Tenebrae Ryukaon Eto Fortis Dens Rairapusu): Tobio's Abyss Side Balance Breaker, which he achieved having become accustomed to Canis Lykaon and polishing Night Celestial Slash Dog to the limit. After reciting a curse-like chant, where he transforms into a humanoid black beast, while creating a pack of large jet-black hounds. In this form, Tobio produces countless black blades across the mountain, most of which can be carried around in the hounds' mouths. Him and the hounds can move around and attack through shadows, attacking opponents from their blind spots, and disperse to avoid attacks. Tobio in this state can cut "anything and everything", including space-time and gods, taking either "real" Satan-class or God-class to wound him.
Trivia[]
- Tobio's birthday is on the 4th of May[2].
- Tobio is 22 years old. [3]
- The appearance of Tobio's Balance Breaker is based on Batman from DC Comics.[4]
- His first name Tobio (鳶雄) means "Male Black Kite".
- His surname Ikuse (幾瀬) means "Several Rapids".
- Tobio is the second Japanese human to possess a Longinus Sacred Gear.
- Tobio works a part-time night shift as the bartender at the Black Dog BAR, a bar created by Azazel. In addition to this, he sometimes cooks at a restaurant in the same building on the first floor below the bar, which is on the second floor.[5]
- The bar seems to have been named after Tobio himself (sharing said name with Jin).
- The bar seems to be vaguely well-known by higher-up supernaturals, such as Odin who has been there with Rossweisse.[3]
- Before Azazel left, one of the last things he said to Tobio was that "You should join their adventures sometimes."
- Tobio is the first protagonist from another Ishibumi work to appear in High School DxD, starring in SLASHDØG. The second one is Mitsuya Kanzaki, the protagonist of Ishibumi's first work, Denpachi.
- Tobio is Ishibumi's second main protagonist, the first being Mitsuya Kanzaki, and the third being Issei Hyoudou.
References[]
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 24, Life.4 — The Limits of Humanity and Ultimate Evil Dragon
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ishibumi_ddd/status/939147011802009600
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Light Novel Volume 24
- ↑ High School DxD, Harem King Memorial
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 24, Life.2 — The God of Death and the Dog of the Blade