Hakuren Oak

'''SPOILERS AHEAD! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! '''

Hakuren Oak is a main character in the 07-Ghost anime and manga series. He is first introduced as Teito's roommate at the Church and his self-proclaimed rival for the Bishop's Apprentice Exam. After a rough start, Hakuren later becomes a close friend of Teito. Hakuren is a member of the very wealthy Oak family in District 2, but he chose to become a bishop rather than follow the Oak family's tradition to go into politics or the military.

After passing the exam, he worked under Bishop Castor, but received a letter from his father asking him to return home to serve as a tutor to the princess. After realising the things that were covered up by the military and the cruelty to the general people, he decided to be the princess's tutor in order to let the voices of the weak be heard by the royal family.

Physical appearance
Hakuren appears as a fairly tall young boy of sixteen with a slender build, and who stands roughly at a height of 167 cm. He weighs 50 kg. His face is oval shaped, with a pointy chin and slender jaw, and his skin is a pale peach colour. His nose is long and thin, and he has a large mouth with full lips. Hakuren greatly resembles his mother and many other members of the Oak family, but bears little resemblance to his father. Hakuren also looks somewhat like Mikage Celestine, causing Teito to mistakenly call out to him when they first meet.

Hakuren's most distinctive feature is his eyes, which are narrowed and purple in colour with long bottom eye-lashes that appear to be a trait in his family, as both Shuri and Wakaba possess them. His hair is blonde, usually kept in a loose ponytail held with silver, metal clasps, and reaches his mid-back. His bangs reach past his eyes but are parted on the left.

He wears thin round glasses when reading, and his face is described as being 'pretty' (e.g. manga chapter 63) rather than handsome. Hakuren may be considered attractive within the series universe-while traveling with Ouka, Ouka's ladies-in-waiting admire the good condition of his hair and skin.

Ever since he became a Bishop's apprentice, Hakuren has had a Barsburg cross tattooed on his lower back, decorated with lotus flowers.

Clothing
He is first seen in the Acolyte uniform which appears as a long, white robe down to the ankles, having two slits, going from the bottom of the robe to the hips, at each side of the body, and long, white sleeves with large, dark blue sleeve cuffs. Down the back of the robe is a criss-cross stitching like that of a corset with dark blue thread. A small, white poncho (mid-back length) with a high collar and dark blue round the edges is worn over the robe, and he wears his exam badge at the front of his collar. He wears dark blue trousers and knee-length brown boots.

Later in the series, Hakuren becomes Castor's apprentice, and is shown wearing what appears to be a shawl decorated with the cross of the Church on the left, over a long, plain white shirt with full-length sleeves and long, plain white trousers.

While working as Princess Ouka's tutor, he wears somewhat more elaborate and formal clothing.

Personality
At first, Hakuren appeared to have a striking similarity to his younger cousin Shuri. When he first met Teito, he taunted him in a way similar to how his cousin does and also seemed to possess a similar sense of pride. He came across as vain, keeping a mirror in his clothing and assuming that Teito was jealous of his good looks. This vain side of Hakuren is demonstrated even after the more positive aspects of his personality are shown.

As time went by, Hakuren started to show a gentler and more thoughtful side to his personality. Upon seeing Teito's sklave mark, he felt very guilty for calling Teito an "elemetary school boy" earlier, because he realized that the other party probably hasn't even been sent to elementary school before, and apologised to him. After Teito risked his own life to save him, he wanted to become his friend and to always protect him.

Although he is kind, Hakuren can be somewhat immature and easily riled. He insulted Wade and Kyle during the bishop's apprentice exam even after telling Teito not to 'make a scene', regularly undermines his cousin Shuri's intelligence, and initially engaged in childish banter with Teito.

Hakuren's reasons for wanting to become a Bishop are to help people and take revenge against his father. He expressed outrage upon hearing what the military (in which many members of his family serve) had covered up and was determined to let the voices of the common people be heard by the royalty. Although Hakuren has rebelled against the Oak family, and was hesitant to return to them, he was very offended when Teito insulted his family name by calling them 'spineless Oaks' and thought that he would have beaten the other party if they were not within the church.

Hakuren is diplomatic and good at dealing with difficult people. He is also quick-witted, courageous, calm, strong-willed, gentle and princely. He enjoys studying and dislikes women (except his mother and Razette) to the extent that he feels ill around them, especially in enclosed areas.

Abilities and Attributes
Hakuren has demonstrated a quick mind and a skill for long division and multiplication shown during the Bishop's exam.

Zaiphon
Hakuren has shown exceptional skill with a Zaiphon, exhibiting precision and control that amazed those around him.

Attacking Zaiphon: Hakuren has an attacking Zaiphon and is able to use a Baculus to channel his zaiphon.

Hand to hand combat
Hakuren has demonstrated reasonably good athletic ability, and when in battle, his movements are quick and agile. He possesses a fairly large amount of stamina, shown when he recovered quickly from a punch that Haruse, a grown man and member of the Black Hawks, dealt him.

Other
Hakuren may possess some skill at cutting hair. He is a skilled dancer. Hakuren once made some desserts for Teito, hinting that he is good at cooking.