Villain Case File K-06188

Mr. Therapist

"You carry so much pain, so much sadness... If it burdens you so much... Please! Let me help you forget!"
-Mr. Therapist, removing 10 months of memories from a client before police could question her.

Civilian Name:
Kagami Shinji

Villain Name:
Mr. Therapist

Location:
Asia
Kagami Shinji was born at Ebara Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. He is believed to have remained within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area for most of his life, primarily in the foster care system. It is only recently where movement indicates he has transferred to Kyoto.

Career:
Villain
(+14 XP, +18 QP)
Type:
Revolutionary
Kagami Shinji has claimed to be a Vigilante in the past, but his allegiances with various villains and the more heinous crimes he has committed lead most to classify him as a Revolutionary. He seeks to 'cure' people of their trauma and memories, believing that by being left with only 'good' memories, people will truly be happy.

Numerous attempts at convincing him of the contrary have been attempted, but the the memories that contribute to his belief system are so thoroughly ingrained and numerous in his mind that they have all been met with laughter - or, worse, violent retaliation.

Villain Modifiers:
Information Broker
(-2 XP)
With his Quirk, Sympathizers, and small army of animals, Mr. Therapist can quickly collect information on almost any topic or figure. Likely an additional source of income, alongside his other services, though documented sales remain elusive.

Nemesis (Akkoro)
(+2 XP)
Due to the potential threat Mr. Therapist represents for the population at large, one of the Top 10 Heroes in all of Japan has been personally assigned to capture him. If Mr. Therapist is spotted, please contact the commission as quickly as possible so that Akkoro may be informed.

Sympathizers
(-2 XP)
Despite the unethical nature of his power, Mr. Therapist has many supporters amongst the public. Dozens, possibly even hundreds of individuals who have had traumatic memories and phobias cleared away by his Quirk, and are incredibly loyal to his cause as a result. They won't report him to authorities, will likely pay large sums of money to bail him out of prison should he be detained, and some even go so far as to proselytize and suggest others seek him out to rid themselves of undesirable memories. There is a small division within the Tokyo police department, dedicated to taking down websites Mr. Therapist supporters create to advertise his services.

Direct confrontation should be avoided - these individuals pose a risk to themselves, other civilians, local authorities, and (in large numbers) even pro heroes.

General Modifiers:
Tactics
(-2 XP)
Mr. Therapist appears to demonstrate a high degree of tactical and strategic knowledge, particualrly in regards to other people. He can disect others with his quirk, identifying the optimal ways to utilize them for any given task. He appears to be fairly laisez-faire with his supporters despite this, only displaying his exceptional strategic abilites when cornered or enraged.

DO NOT PROVOKE HIM.

Genius
(-4 XP)
Based on test scores from his childhood, Shinji naturally possessed a somewhat higher degree of intellect than most of his peers. Through alterations via his quirk, Mr. Therapist had granted himself PHD-level knowledge (or greater) on almost every topic imaginable - with perfect recall. In the rare circumstances he encounters someone more skilled or knowledgeable than him in a given field, it only takes an hour of study before he can read and simulate most of their relevant memories.

It should be noted that his 'Genius' is more from Education rather than sheer intellect. He is knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics and can recall it perfectly

Public Relations
(-1 XP)
While he could simply alter the minds of anyone he sees into being his loyal followers given enough time, Kagami Shinji appears to prefer convincing people with the force of his personality instead. Maneuvering people into committing criminal acts is relatively easy for him, and combined with his knowledge, he can sway public opinion with a single speech - even with the negative stigma surrounding his quirk.

Wealthy
(-1 XP)
Kagami Shinji has acquired a ludicrous amount of wealth in the brief time he has operated as a Villain. Despite only charging a pittance for his memory erasure services, he has had so much business (and charged much more for the grafting of skills) that he has managed to become one of the wealthiest villains in the country. He appears to donate the majority of his income to various charities, typically anonymously or under a pseudonym. The motive behind this is currently unknown.

Quirk:
Psychotherapy

Template: Memory Manipulation
Method: Sight (-4 QP)
Speed: Fast (-4 XP)
Function: Reading, Creation, Conservation, Destruction, Transfer (-13 QP)

Psychotherapy is a potent Memory Manipulation quirk, allowing Mr. Therapist a wide array of options when it comes to altering the minds of others. He can read memories, delete them, move them between himself and others, make them stand out and become nigh-impossible to forget, and even create entirely fictional ones. While he was originally recorded to do this in real time, he appears to have grown far faster - capable of searching for and altering memories at a rate of 1 week per second of focus. Likely a consequence of his nigh-continuous usage of his quirk on his own mind.

The methods this can be used for evil are nigh-limitless - from creating intricate bonds and debts to turn others into willing slaves, to afflicting targets with a slew of mental conditions such as dementia, PTSD, and many phobias. Despite this, Mr. Therapist appears to almost exclusively use Psychotherapy for 'positive' acts, removing harmful memories from consenting targets and grafting years of experience in a skill onto paying clients.

Direct confrontation is difficult, as all that is needed to activate Psychotherapy is line of sight - and only a few seconds of exposure is needed before an individual may be compromised. Exercise extreme caution when engaging with Mr. Therapist - hyper-fixation on mnemonic devices is advised, as anything that is not immediately perceived is a vulnerability that can be exploited.

Quirk Compulsion:
(+1 QP)
Mr. Therapist's quirk does not have a direct impact on his mind, but the method in which he uses it and the extreme amount he has altered himself has led to numerous strange mental complexes. Most notable is his self-censorship. The instant Shinji encounters anything he dislikes, he will almost instinctively use his quirk to either wipe the incident from his memory, or alter his own memories so that it was actually something he enjoyed. For example, he instantly erases blood and gore from his memory, as well as sexual content and profanity. While this allows Mr. Therapist to act 'normal' even in truly horrific scenarios, his memory of these events will be heavily warped - and in extreme cases, completely absent. His mentality and worldview has been stunted to an extreme extent because of this, more akin to a naive child than a multi-disciplinary genius.

Should his quirk ever be neutralized for any length of time (or he is inebriated or otherwise mentally impaired), Mr. Therapist will likely suffer from a severe mental breakdown, unable to cope with the negative stimuli, emotions, and thoughts he is forced to endure for even a brief period.

Quirk Refinement:
(-2 QP)
Mr. Therapist can alter muscle memory and certain other aspects of the nervous system that extend beyond the brain at a massively reduced rate. While unusable in a combat situation, he can combine this alongside his ability to create memories in order to 'graft' complex physical skills into allies or paying clients - granting them years of proficiency in an area with no actual effort on their part. These grafted skills appear to be of lower quality than proper training, however, and do nothing to alter the physical condition of the individual being altered - despite having what is the equivalent of decades of martial arts training, Mr. Therapist's physical fitness and low stamina means he can often be defeated by most other combatants relatively easily.

This aspect of his quirk has other, more malicious applications. For example, the removal of instincts like 'automatic breathing', or making certain muscle movements feel completely alien and difficult to perform. Mr. Therapist appears to refrain from this, thankfully.

DLC:
Dog++++++++
Mr. Therapist has a small army of birds and rodents at his disposal, mostly corvids and rats. He can train most animals to a superhuman degree via his quirk, and uses them as scouts - trailing behind people of interest or searching for targets before returning so he can sift through their memories.
In Tokyo, he offered training services for a modest fee. His quirk is most effective on 'smart' animals, with 'dumb' animals that possess less intelligence (insects, most mollusks, etc) appearing to be resistant or even immune to his Quirk.

Background:
Kagami Shinji appears to possess no recollection of his life prior to becoming Mr. Therapist. He can be found within records in the Foster Care system, and had been introduced to several families before returning to the government's care. He was adopted a final time at the age of 15, transferred to a traditional high school near his new residence. The only other known interaction occurred 8 months ago, when Shinji reported a sexual assault incident to local authorities. Like the rest of his life, he appears to have no recollection of this event, and Mr. Therapist became active only a short time later.

Mr. Therapist is a fairly recent villain that first appeared in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area half a year ago. At first, he exclusively performed low-scale crimes - mostly unlicensed usage of his quirk for clients that wished to have certain memories erased. As he grew more accustomed to his Quirk, and used it to alter himself further, he began to branch into more intrusive acts. Some were seen as positive acts by the public - breaking into hospice care and retirement homes to 'cure' residents of their dementia, removing traumatic memories from veterans and abuse victims. Many had begun to consider Mr. Therapist a a positive influence on the city, often seeking him out for assistance and his services.

When his other crimes were revealed, notably erasing the guilt and remorse experience by many criminals in the prison system, local authorities became much more inclined to put Mr. Therapist into custody. He eventually moved on from simply erasing memories, and started crafting false ones for his victims. Childless couples altered to believe they had a son who was happily working in a distant country. Making loveless people fall for one another despite having previously having no attraction. There was even a brief scandal involving several lesser hero schools in the Tokyo area, with incoming freshmen that possessed multiple decades of martial arts experience - despite most only being 14 or 15 years old.

His activities would continue unimpeded for almost 6 months, before authorities eventually managed to track Mr. Therapist down. Upon arrival to the abandoned warehouse he had been operating out of, police and heroes found his 'clinic' to be swarming with supporters. There was a brief skirmish between heroes on the scene and these civilians, with Mr. Therapist escaping in the chaos - presumably via a supporter's teleportation or concealment quirk. After intensive questioning and interrogation by Clairvoyant Quirk users, it was revealed that Mr. Therapist had not actively manipulated these individuals - they merely agreed with his philosophy, and were appreciative that he had cleared their own harmful memories. To the point where they were willing to face incarceration in order to allow him freedom.

One supporter went so far as to say 'I'll plead guilty, sure. He'll help me forget I was in prison anyways.'

Mr. Therapist has since fled Tokyo, and is currently believed to be in Kyoto - likely attracted due to the presence of the many villains (and, as a result, the many victims of their crimes) in the area. The recent arrival of the Red Finger cult has led the Tokyo police to regard his capture and transport back to Tokyo as a top priority, fearful that he might be manipulated into supporting the group like he had with the CRC.

Psyche Profile:
Mr. Therapist believes himself to be a 'Good Guy', reading and excising 'bad' memories from the minds of those that seek him out. He can't understand why anyone would wish to hold onto traumatic memories, and rather than encouraging people to take those experiences and grow from them, he instead wishes for them to 'forget and be happy'. In fact, making people 'happy' appears to be his only real motivation - he donates most of the money he raises from his activities to charity, and doesn't actively seek out fame or prestige. He even goes so far as to apply his quirk to himself - anything that causes Shinji to 'feel bad' will be meticulously altered within his own mind, until he is no longer disturbed by it.

The constant manipulation of his own memories has resulted in Shinji possessing a heavily warped world view and perception of reality. For instance, Shinji is seemingly unfazed by graphic acts of violence. In one case, he was observed whistling cheerfully as Mutants were slaughtered around him by CRC cultists, seemingly unbothered. When questioned later, he had no recollection of the incident - indicating he removes certain memories so quickly that he doesn't have a chance to become upset by them.

While he has acquired hundreds of years worth of memories in a very brief career, Mr. Therapist's personality is akin to that of a child. He refuses to use any profanity, and will admonish others for doing so regardless of circumstance. He can be easily tricked and lied to despite possessing far more knowledge than the average man, with most only being uncovered due to reading the liar's memories. He has an optimistic glee and interest in most topics he is engaged with, despite the fact he likely has decades of experience with it in his mind, and makes for an enjoyable conversation partner due to this ability.

Caution is advised to negotiators that speak with him. Kagami Shinji is not your friend. He has killed at least once before.

Mr. Therapist displays notable restraint with his quirk, typically only using it on those that seek him out or in physical altercations. It is unlikely that consent is required for Mr. Therapist to use his quirk, though he seemingly always asks for it before removing trauma from the minds of his victims. This indicates some level of respect for their free will. He seems much more willing to read memories, uncovering incredibly personal information which he peppers into conversations to bring himself closer to those he interacts. Should he notice exceptionally knowledgeable or skilled individuals, he'll attempt to 'copy' their applicable memories onto himself, sifting through them later so he could distill it into the pure knowledge or skill he desires.

Despite his claims of altruism and heroics, Mr. Therapist has worked alongside brutal monsters - most notably being hired by the Creature Rejection Clan (CRC) during their 'Mutant Jihad', grafting decades of combat experience onto the cult members so they could attack innocent Mutants. Mr. Therapist has no recollection of his involvement, indicating he had simply chose to remove the memory of his wrongdoing rather than atone for any participation he may have had.

Mr. Therapist appears to have an instinctual fear and anxiety around those immune to his quirk. It is unknown if this is a trauma that was developed prior to becoming a villain, or simply a desire to always be in control.

Tactics/Countermeasures:
Despite the brutal potential his quirk possesses, Mr. Therapist believes himself to be a good person. As a result, the most harmful acts he can perform are those that his warped logic lead him to believe are mercies - physical injury is almost unheard of in all incidents involving him, despite the lifetimes of combat experience he has harvested from others. He typically alters memories to confuse enemies in combat (remove the last few seconds or minutes of a fight from an enemies mind, or implant a memory that he had fled from cover and was somewhere else, etc), allowing for his allies to close in and deal actual damage or giving him time to escape.

Mr. Therapist seemingly relies on line of sight to activate his quirk. Usage of smoke grenades and tear gas may be authorized to prevent clear vision. Alternatively, sniping with tranquilizer darts or Heroes with exceptional movement speeds would be a useful countermeasure.

Rarely fights or works alone. Mr. Therapist is almost always accompanied by other individuals - either sympathizers to his cause, highly trained animals, or occasionally villain groups that hire him for his skill-grafting services. If possible, remove Mr. Therapist from the situation first - he is a force multiplier that can increase the capabilities of any team he is placed on.

Mr. Therapist cannot target individuals that lack a traditional nervous system - robots and many Quirk-Constructs are immune to him as a result, and should be utilized in encounters where he is expected to be present. Heroes chosen to engage with Mr. Therapist should be selected amongst Mutants that possess inorganic physiology, as that may grant resistance (or possibly immunity) to his quirk.

Kagami Shinji, the person, is young and naive. Despite his intellect and knowledge, his warped worldview has left him inherently trusting of others - he has erased or altered all the memories of being betrayed or lied to. This is believed to be how he could commit some of his more heinous acts - tricked by others into working alongside them. While Heroes might be able to use this to lure him into vulnerable positions, it is more pressing to eliminate nearby villains who can abuse his trusting nature.