Kyuu

Kyuu (九) (also known as number 9) is a recurring character in Beastars. Along with San, she is Louis' former friend and cellmate from when they were raised as a livestock and locked up with other herbivore children in the Black market.

Appearance
Kyuu is a small female lop-eared rabbit with Siamese markings. Her fur is a lighter shade while the fur around her muzzle and ears are darker. She has thick eyebrows and large, dark eyes. Like Louis and San, Kyuu also has her livestock brand imprinted on her left foot.

Personality
Kyuu appears to be cold and calculating and is clearly hardened by surviving as a herbivore in the world of the Black market. She shows no hesitation when it comes to taking on a larger predator like Legosi and her skills even allow her to overpower him within seconds of meeting him. Although abrasive and distant, Kyuu does eventually drop her guard after recognizing Louis as her old friend, but refuses to apologize to Legosi for attacking him and justifies her actions by saying that she was simply doing what it takes for a herbivore to survive.

Equipment

 * Daggers: Kyuu keeps a pair of daggers hidden in her ears, and can dual-wield them with great skill. She also uses them for her imaginary chimera, in order to manifest claws.
 * Rope: Kyuu wields a long rope, which she uses with great skill. The rope is shown to be strong enough to not only choke large carnivores like Legosi but also lift him off the ground without any sign of wear.  Kyuu also uses the rope for her imaginary chimera; she spins it around very fast to make her body appear as a larger, more intimidating animal.

Skills

 * Imaginary Chimera: According to Kyuu, an imaginary chimera is when you 'compensate for what you lack by conjuring an image' of a larger, stronger animal. Her chimera, in particular, is a mix between a panda and a rabbit (a reference to her master, who taught her the skill), which is conjured from strong feelings towards other species, Kyuu's, in particular, being hatred and envy towards carnivores.  It is later revealed that this skill was taught to her by Gouhin.
 * Knife Fighting: Kyuu is extremely skilled with her knives, able to dual wield them against larger animals without fear or hesitation. While never seen on-screen, Kyuu has stated that she has used her daggers for dismemberment in order to sell opponents' body parts on the black market.

San
Kyuu and San were both friends of Louis while sharing the same cell during their time as raised livestock. After Louis was adopted by Oguma, Kyuu and San have since found ways to survive the black market together, and have presumably been friends and companions ever since. Between the two, San is quite friendly, while Kyuu is more standoffish.

Louis
Though Louis was a childhood friend of Kyuu, she fails to recognize him immediately and as a result, both she and San attack Louis and Legosi after they crash through the floor into their hideout. She seemed to have no problem slicing him up for meat to sell at first. Kyuu eventually recognized him and called off the attack, showing that she remembers their time together and has no desire to hurt an old friend.

Gouhin
Gouhin is/was Kyuu's mentor, just as he was to Legoshi. He rescued her from her imprisonment as livestock and trained her to fight in order to survive. Amongst the skills he taught her was the imaginary chimera skill. As a result of him training her, she seems to have picked up some of his traits, like his smoking habit. She also seems to hold strong memories of Gouhin, noting that he'd have never trained Legosi if he were younger, stating that he's gotten soft since leaving his wife.

Legosi
Legosi and Kyuu first meet in chapter 159, and from the start, Kyuu makes it clear that she hates him. Despite attacking him and Louis before realizing the latter's identity, she holds no remorse to almost killing them, stating that she did what she did to survive. From there on, she remains standoffish towards Legosi, wrongly pronouncing his name as "Degosi" and seeing him as an arrogant carnivore who doesn't hold female herbivores in the same high regard. Despite this, she agrees to train him to fight against Melon, but still remains distant only until learning that he trained under Gouhin just as she did, something that visibly outrages her upon learning. While it's unclear how she feels towards him at this time, she at least seems to trust him more and now properly pronounces his name.