Ken Kaneki (in Japanese: 金木 研, Kaneki Ken) is the main protagonist of the manga/anime series Tokyo Ghoul and its sequel Tokyo Ghoul:re.

Ken Kaneki was once a regular human studying in a college of Japanese Literature at Kamii University. He had lived a a peaceful life, until he met Rize Kamishiro, a beautiful femme fatale who attracts and manipulates Kaneki into believing that she loves him. The two would eventually be caught in the incident known as the Steel Beam Incident, which would change Kaneki’s life forever.

After his defeat during the Anteiku Raid, Kaneki was taken back to the CCG, where he suffered from blindness and amnesia. Eventually, Kishou Arima would help regain his sanity by starting a new life for him. Kaneki adopted the name Haise Sasaki and become a Ghoul Investigator for the CCG. In time, however, Kaneki regained his memories of his past self and would be reunited with his old friends. He would play a key role on ending the conflict between humans and ghouls, uniting the two species together.

Although he is the main protagonist, Kaneki commits a variety of terrible acts over the course of the series as his more ruthless and troubled personality traits show themselves.

He was voiced by Natsuki Hanae in the Japanese version, and Austin Tindle in the English version.