Takeo Masaki

"Die for your dishonor!"

- Takeo (After killing a zombie that hit him)

Takeo Masaki (Japanese: Masaki Takeo 正樹 武雄) was a soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army, as seen in Call of Duty: World at War. He appears in Shi No Numa and Der Riese in Call of Duty World at War, but in Call of Duty: Black Ops he appears in all four original zombie maps. He is voiced by Tom Kane.

Biography
Very little is known about Takeo. However, he is shown as a loyal, Imperial Captain and is one of the 4 soldiers fighting off the Imperial and Nazi Zombie horde. It is unknown how he feels fighting against his undead brothers, but is shown fighting them off. He is the least seen of the 4 soldiers in the Shi No Numa trailer.

Tattooed on the inside of Takeo’s eyelids is the Japanese proverb “Life is light when compared to honor”. For Takeo, life has no meaning if not to perfect one’s discipline and to reveal a warrior’s true character and honor. He ponders this and other philosophical questions as his Katana slices through the flesh and sinew of his enemy.

Takeo was born into wealth. His family dynasty dates back several centuries, and throughout that time they have been highly decorated Samurai and Bushi. Takeo is no exception to this celebrated bloodline. When the family first saw the young, life-filled 5 year old Takeo playing in the street with his Katana and slicing the tails off terrified kittens, they knew he was destined to bring honor to the Masaki name.

The war was a perfect opportunity for Takeo to explore his blood-lust and study the nature of those less honorable than himself. If you fall victim to his swift action and might, know that you have helped a man better than you reach enlightenment.

Trivia

 * Takeo appears much older in Black Ops, with a more wrinkled face,mustache and hand wraps on. He resembles the Japanese officer in the beginning of the World At War campaign mission Semper Fi. The reason for this is currently unknown.
 * Takeo is a Captain, as shown on his wrist cuff insignia.
 * If Dempsey sees Takeo stabbing a zombie to death, he remarks, "You could have just put a smoke into his eye...", and he also says, "I'm surprised you didn't torture him first." referencing to the officer that put a smoke into Pyle's left eye on the campaign mission 'Semper Fi', suggesting that Dempsey was part of Carlson's Raiders, or this could be a joke about Japanese interrogation methods in World War II. He also could have said it because he was part of the Marine Raiders that attacked Makin Atoll, the base where Takeo's character skin put a smoke into Pyle's eye.
 * Doctor Richtofen and Takeo Masaki are the only playable Axis soldiers (in single player), not only in Call of Duty: World at War, but in all of the Call of Duty series as well.
 * Takeo always seems to team up with Dempsey in the trailers even if they were direct enemies, and even more oddly, Dempsey displays some respect for him.
 * It is found weird that Takeo is loyal to his emperor, even when he tells someone that his emperor will be pleased with them once they revive him. Takeo's emperor being pleased with someone from the allies is very surprising.
 * If the player is playing online Nazi Zombies, Takeo's score counter color is yellow, which may be an internal joke done by Treyarch, as calling someone of Asian descent "Yellow" is considered a racial slur, but this may be pure coincidence.
 * Takeo seems to be the quietest member of the team, because he rarely ever says anything, and very few of his quotes are even remotely funny, unlike the other characters. He is also the most serious of the group, and seemingly never resorts to sarcasm.
 * He apparently thinks Dempsey is an idiot since one of his quotes is "My gun is like Dempsey's head. Empty".
 * If the player is a different character in Shi No Numa and Der Riese, and he looks at Takeo's side, he can see his katana. Unfortunately, the blade is unusable, of course.
 * Some team members of the Imperial Army in multiplayer will have the same Katana as Takeo's, but they use a knife rather than the blade (obviously because the Imperial Army would have an unfair advantage when it comes to CQC).
 * Takeo's Bio picture has his face facing the opposite way from Richtofen, Nikolai, and Dempsey.
 * Many people think that Takeo's skin is based on the first Japanese officer the player sees in the game in when in fact, his skin comes from the enemy NPC Japanese officer.
 * Takeo in Shi no Numa curses in his quote like "Fuck, you will pay!", but in Der Riese he doesn't curse.
 * When the Hellhounds come he will say "The dogs hunger for the flesh of..us" -a reference to when the player calls in the dogs killstreak in multiplayer as the Imperial army the announcer will say "the dogs hunger for the flesh of our enemies".