Taihaku

"After seeing the horror he faces myself, I have nothing but respect for him."

- Taihaku

Taihaku (太白) is the guildmaster of Icolo, the arena champions guild. He is the Sage Palace champion. King Grunty is his Grunty.

Appearance
Taihaku appears as a dark-skinned old gentleman dressed in the clothing of a nobleman. His most distinctive feature is the long scar on his face. It appears he modeled his appearance on that of an experienced master swordsman.

Personality
As the leader of Icolo, Taihaku values personal strength above all else. He has little need for parties, or people who can't stand on their own two feet. The strength a person has by themselves is the most important kind to him. Because of this he has a great deal of respect for Haseo, who spent most of his time as a solo player and was still able to achieve great power.

Basic Info
In the real world Keisuke Kurokai The Player behind Taihaku is a 28 year neurosurgeon living in Aichi whon works for CC Corp at their Hospital in Tokyo. Offline Kurogai is described as a young man is in his early thirties with a gentle appearance and handsome face. His mission is to help heal Lost Ones who have fallen comatose while in The World.

Seven years ago during 2010 while Kurogai was still an intern he often played with the younger Ryou Misaki who was once recovering from an experience with paralysis due to a long term coma. Kurogai started The World to learn about the effects of internet games on the human brain and would later join the arena as the best place to observe people while becoming an arena champion as he proceeded with his research.

.hack//Roots
After being approached by Ovan at one of the Lost Grounds, Taihaku decided to test his skills by clearing the Forest of Pain event that had mysteriously appeared in The World R:2. Progressing through the event he came across Haseo and Saburou who were busy making their way to the center. Impressed with Haseo's determination he challenged him to meet him at the center of the forest, then continued on alone. Soon he noticed Saburou tailing him. Realizing that she was trying to leech off of his strength he increased his speed, and managed to lose her.

After abandoning Saburou he continued on his own, eventually reaching the center of the forest. There he found a steam gun stuck into a boulder. Pulling it out he was teleported to a strange area with an upside down Man. The man asked Taihaku if he knew anything about his daughter. To which Taihaku responded that he did not know the man's daughter, but wished her well wherever she was. As a reward for his polite answer the man allowed Taihaku to keep the weapon he had taken, and teleported him to the beginning of the event. As the first person to clear the event Taihaku's reputation increased even more.

Later Phyllo, an old acquaintance of Taihaku came to visit Icolo's @HOME. Approaching Taihaku he asked if Taihaku had seen Haseo within the forest. Taihaku said he didn't know what had befallen Haseo, but that he wished him well. When Phyllo responded that he hoped Haseo failed in the event Taihaku grew angry. He stated that after going through the horrors of the forest himself, he had a large amount of respect for anybody who tried to conquer it alone. In response Phyllo said that even if Haseo cleared the event, he'd find nothing but fighting after it. Hearing this, Taihaku merely said that if fighting was what Haseo had chosen to do, nobody had the right to tell him otherwise.

.hack//G.U. Games
While visiting Icolo's @HOME with Antares, Haseo is introduced to Taihaku, along with the other members of the Guild. Haseo recognizes him immediately, but is unable to remember exactly where he met him.

Much later, after Haseo's victory over Ovan, Taihaku is attacked by an AIDA inside Icolo's @HOME. As an AIDA-PC he fights against Haseo during the Sage Palace Tournament. Unlike other AIDA-PCs, Taihaku retains much of his own will, enough even to openly defy Sakaki, though it's unclear if this is because of his natural willpower or because the AIDA infected his sword Maxwell instead of Taihaku himself.

G.U. (Novels)
During the novels Dr. Kurogai is also the same doctor in charge of over seeing Shino Nanao, Chisagua Kusaka, Takumi Hino and Reiko Saeki. His name tag reads KUROGAI.

.hack//G.U. Returner
Taihaku is briefly seen at Δ Hidden Forbidden Festival.

Trivia

 * Taihaku knows all Arts for the Steam Gunner class.
 * Taihaku's name means "Venus", the planet, traditionally considered a star.
 * Taihaku apparently used to be friends with Phyllo, though Phyllo was using a different character at the time.
 * Taihaku's bayonet is Maxwell, a level 113 bayonet that nullifies all magical attacks. "Maxwell" is the second reference to Maxwell's demon in .hack, the first being a demon-type monster in the original Games. This weapon cannot be obtained unless through hacking and can be equipped by either Kuhn or Matsu.
 * Icolo's guild master is 192 cm in height.
 * After defeating him in the Sage Palace title match, you will gain the Silad, a rare level 140 Broadsword based on Maxwell. Silad appears to be a misromanization of Szilárd. Leó Szilárd was a physicist who tackled the problem of Maxwell's demon.
 * The Shopkeeper from .hack//LINK has a picture of Taihaku in his collection.