Alright so people are still undecided about the identity of the “Puppet Owl”, and I can admit that my own perspective has shifted multiple times already. At first before chapter 166 came out I 99% believed it was Karren. Then immediately after chapter 166 came out I 99% believed it was Eto.

Now my perspective has altered once more after having some time to think, and now I 99% believe that the Puppet Owl is actually Hairu. (Hopefully my perspective remains unchanged this time around lol.)

Before I delve into the symbolism of the event, first let’s go over the details of the chapter and why we’re being misled to believe that this is Eto.

How Ishida mainly misleads us is by giving direct references to Eto, pretty much forcing a red herring on us so that we’ll be just as shocked as Ui once the reveal comes. Right now the Puppet Owl is being treated in the story as synonymous to the One-Eyed Owl, just like the readers are. So far the Puppet Owl has pretty much nailed all the classic things that Eto does. It comes crashing down from the sky to shock the characters, its kakuja form is gigantic and to top it off the body of the host inside is wrapped in bandages. Let’s not forget that the chapter title “Et” is often a way that Eto’s name is spelled.

It’s safe to say that if Ishida were faking us out and this character isn’t actually Eto, then he’s trying his hardest to convince the readers that it is. However when you take the context away from Eto and focus it onto Hairu then you will notice a much more fitting pattern.

Namely, Ui’s confrontation with the Puppet Owl is the main focus of the chapter, also referencing to the time he fought Eto a long time ago, which further adds to the misdirection. Before he declares to defeat the Owl himself he conveniently has another flashback of Hairu (and Arima). Now, let’s consider the context of Hairu’s position.

Unlike Eto, who we haven’t heard a single word about since she disappeared in cochlea, we do know a whole lot of Hairu’s position. As we already know, Hairu was killed via impalement through the chest (presumably the heart) and decapitation (she also lost an arm in the process).

The major point here is the set up, and Furuta has directly brought up the notion of bringing Hairu back to life through the knowledge of Noro’s research, all the while waving her head in front of Ui. However Furuta afterwards claims that it was impossible to Ui, which I see as both truthful and deceitful. For a start, through characters like Noro himself, we know that it’s very plausible to re-animate dead characters, however they may not come back like their old self, which is also represented by Okahira.

Now let’s get down to the symbolism that I wanted to bring up. If we presume that the identity of the Puppet Owl is truly Hairu, then the symbolism aligns together in a convincingly intentional fashion.

Aside from the narrative of the story, the biggest hint of Hairu’s resurrection comes from her birthday illustration.

People have been theorizing for years that this illustration was the biggest foreshadowing to Hairu being reborn with the Yoshimura kakuhou, hence the bat wing design. However people became distracted by this lone factor and thus failed to notice the costume that Hairu is wearing. Coinciding with the bat wing, this is very clearly a vampire costume.

Now you may ask, why does it matter if Hairu is wearing a vampire costume? She wears unusual costumes all the time in her illustrations (her lion costume for example), so surely this would be irrelevant right? Well it would be if not for the fact that Hairu’s costume fits eerily well into the Halloween illustration which also dresses up our favourite half-ghouls as traditional Halloween monsters.

In this illustration the costumes worn by these characters foreshadow the events in the story and the secrets that these characters hold, let’s go through the list:

Kaneki the Zombie . This no doubt refers to the degrading condition of his body and health during the 24th ward to the point that he was crawling on the floor and eating children. Then he was a zombie no longer after being rebirthed by Dragon.



. This no doubt refers to the degrading condition of his body and health during the 24th ward to the point that he was crawling on the floor and eating children. Then he was a zombie no longer after being rebirthed by Dragon. Seidou the Mummy . Since the entirety of Seidou’s character arc in :re revolves around him distancing himself from his human past, the mummy costume no doubt symbolizes that the wrappings refers to his ghoul self, and the dead carcass inside refers to his human self.

. Since the entirety of Seidou’s character arc in :re revolves around him distancing himself from his human past, the mummy costume no doubt symbolizes that the wrappings refers to his ghoul self, and the dead carcass inside refers to his human self. Amon the Demon . I believe this symbolism refers to Amon’s inability to accept his ghoul side. He views ghouls as sinful (ironic since his foster father is a ghoul priest), and on top of that his dark side tends to run rampant when it loses control and his kakuja takes on a horrific form.

. I believe this symbolism refers to Amon’s inability to accept his ghoul side. He views ghouls as sinful (ironic since his foster father is a ghoul priest), and on top of that his dark side tends to run rampant when it loses control and his kakuja takes on a horrific form. Eto the Witch. Do I really need to explain this one?

So when you look at these and then look back to Hairu’s position, you’ll see things in a very different light. The reason that Hairu isn’t included in the Halloween illustration, and the reason why she’s symbolized by the vampire is because well, she’s dead.

You’ll also notice that the method in which Hairu was killed is also heavily symbolic of a vampires. First, she was impaled through the chest, most likely the heart, and initially survived. In most common stories, vampires can’t die just from being stabbed, unless it was specifically a wooden stake through the heart. Then, Hairu was successfully killed via decapitation, which is also coincidentally one of the effective methods of killing a vampire.

Where am I going with all this? It’s heavily symbolic, and Ishida tends to use foreshadowing through the means of referencing to different pieces of history and culture, he’s certainly done so plenty of times before. Anyway another big piece of the puzzle here is the involvement of Donato Porpora who ALSO coincidentally fits well into the symbolism.

Donato, the Priest, is the one who has turned Hairu into the Puppet Owl through the usage of his kagune. Even though Hairu has been reanimated by the Owl kakuhou and overwhelming RC cells, her consciousness is still locked away. In Hairu’s coffin she still sleeps, and a cross damns her from returning.