Takeo Masaki

"Takeo is all that is man!"

- Takeo Masaki in Kino der Toten.

Takeo Masaki (Japanese: まさき　たけお ) was a soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army, as seen in Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops. He appears in Shi No Numa and Der Riese in World at War, and in Black Ops he appears in all four original zombie maps as well as Kino der Toten, Ascension and as unplayable heard in an easter egg in Call of the Dead. His player indicator color is yellow. He is voiced by Tom Kane.

Biography
''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 ''

Story
Takeo was one of Richtofen's test subjects along with Nikolai Belinski and an unknown Mexican who reportedly died and was replaced with Tank Dempsey. Richtofen was experimenting on live humans with Element 115 in order to try and create super-humans. He, Nikolai and Tank joined Richtofen after the breakout in Der Riese (that Richtofen caused) and escaped to Verruckt to rescue Peter McCain and Harvey Yena. They managed to find Peter, almost dead from his arm being bitten off when trying to turn off the power, but Yena was rescued by three marines sent to rescue them by the OSS. The four of them jumped the B-17 plane the marines arrived at the asylum and traveled to the 935 outpost Shi No Numa, where Richtofen killed Peter after discovering he sent all the Die Glocke experiment info to America. The four characters then found themselves once again fighting zombies, until Richtofen led them to a Teleporter located outside Der Riese, which is where they teleport. When fighting in Der Riese the four characters receive all three Wonder Weapons (Wunderwaffe, Ray Gun and Monkey Bomb) and presumably Pack-a-Punch most all guns, creating an overload of Element 115 and causing the Teleporter to rip time and space and back-track them to the early 60s (Black Ops). They arrive in an abandoned Nazi theater, where the zombies have taken over the theater. Soon they were forced to retreat and somehow got a hold of a Lunar Lander and traveled to a Soviet cosmodrone. There they freed Gersch. Because of another 115 overload, when the four characters jumped through the mechanism, they were teleported to the a crashed ship and were trapped in a small room in the lighthouse. However, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo and Michael Rooker rescued them, and received the Wunderwaffe DG-2. The four now teleport to Paradise.

Quotes
BEANERS!!! ROCK!!!

Trivia

 * Proved by various quotes in Ascension; It seems Takeo is getting his memory back. Also, he remembers Richtofen's work and mocks Dempsey, and Nikolai for not remembering anything from the past.
 * In Black Ops, Takeo's appearance has become noticeably different. He grew a mustache, his face looks older and he sounds older. He might have aged while teleporting 15 years into the future, which would explain his changed appearance. However, it is unknown how long the group stayed at Der Riese, so it is possible these features changed during their stay there.
 * Takeo is the only one in the group to call Richtofen by his first name (Edward), which only adds to the theory that his mind was in fact not wiped.
 * Takeo is a Captain, as shown on his wrist cuff insignia.
 * In World At War Map Pack 2 there are textures and in-game files of a "Japanese Officer Zombie" while "Japanese Officer" was Takeo's in-game name. The "Zombie" textures clearly show Takeo's face, but zombiefied. Indicating that some time during development Takeo actually was/or turned into a zombie.
 * Takeo is the most serious in the group, in addition, Takeo thinks the most strategic.
 * Takeo thinks the monkey bomb is very amusing.
 * Takeo seems to be the only person in the group having trouble with teleporting, as it is making him sick and is "not natural" according to him. Nikolai is also having issues with teleporting sometimes, as seen in the beginning of the trailer for Der Riese.
 * Takeo carries an unusable katana.
 * Takeo likes to refer Dempsey as "ugly American" and Nikolai as "Russian dog" and Richtofen simply as "Doctor" or "Edward".
 * Takeo appears to have a preference for SMGs.
 * He is the only Japanese character in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
 * Takeo may be allergic to prunes, as when drinking PhD Flopper he will say, "This makes my eyes water."
 * In Call Of The Dead, Nikolai, Dempsey, and Richtofen can be heard behind a locked door. Takeo is said to be sick and isn't talking at all during the dialogs. It is strongly hinted that Takeo is the one constantly throwing up, as the Richtofen's line "Well that's what you get for eating raw fish!" states that Takeo has eaten sushi, a Japanese food that Takeo likes, as he has previously stated.
 * If the player completes the Original Characters Trapped easter egg in solo, he unlocks an Xbox Live Gamer Picture of Takeo's profile picture from the Black Ops' Shi No Numa.
 * He seems to show the most respect to Richtofen, like his quote, "Honor to the doctor!", but it's most likely a facade as in Ascension he said he will make him pay when the time is right.
 * According to the hidden radios in Call of the Dead, Takeo is Test Subject N3WB, which spells out NEWB, a synonym of the word "noob."