Takeo Masaki

"For the Emperor!"

- Takeo Masaki in Kino der Toten.

Takeo Masaki (Japanese: まさき　たけお) was a soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army, and he is a playable character in the Zombies game mode. 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 Verrückt 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 create an overload of Element 115 and cause the Teleporter to rip time and space and back-track them to the early '60s. 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 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. The four now teleport to Shangri-La.

Appearences

 * Nacht der Untoten (Black Ops version only)
 * Verrückt (Black Ops version only)
 * Shi No Numa
 * Der Riese
 * Kino der Toten
 * Ascension
 * Call of the Dead (Heard only)
 * Shangri-La

Trivia

 * Takeo has great respect for Dr. Richtofen, though he utterly hates Nikolai, and doesn't have good feelings towards Dempsey, though he doesn't seem to actually hate Dempsey.
 * Takeo is the most respected out of the crew being respected by both Dempsey and Richtofen rather than just one person like the other three.
 * Takeo, makes the most references to the real word. (ex.: Facebook, 300, Star Wars, Bob Dylan, etc.) This is Ironic, as Takeo is suppose to be the most serious of the crew, yet this makes him seem more humorous.
 * 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.
 * Takeo thinks the monkey bomb is very amusing.
 * Takeo carries an unusable katana,
 * 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". Also, Dempsey will say "Tak can't stand prunes" noting that Tank knows about Takeo's allergies.
 * 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, they 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.