Yamashiro Shoubu

Yamashiro Shoubu (山城 府昭) is a character introduced in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun.

Appearance
He wears a black student uniform and a mascot mask (apparently Ponkichi-kun from Win Win Sentai) which fully conceals his face. He has short untidy dark hair.

Personality
He proclaims himself as one of Academy City's masked heroes. Despite this, he has shown a degree of aloofness towards this fellow Jailbreak Trial participants. Regardless, he is willing to put himself in harm's way in situations where someone else is in imminent danger.

Background
When he was a young boy, he developed a prejudice against people he considered "evil" based on incomplete information. This resulted in him bullying Wanigawa Raifu with other children, thinking that he is being a force of good in doing so. In particular, Raifu was targeted by Shoubu because of her status as a Child Error and an orphan considered a "parasite". One encounter with Shirakinu Honoka, who wanted to protect the weak, and its resulting beatdown changed his views forever. Eventually, he took an interest in criminal psychology and the origins of criminal motives due to his powers.

Jailbreaker Arc
Shoubu was a participant in the Second Reformatory's Jailbreak Trial, although his motivation for joining was not revealed. During the trial, he joined most of the participants in attacking the security robots, but generally avoided interacting with other participants. He eventually reached the Girls' Building, where he accompanied a girl with a penchant for saying "ha wa wa" until separated from her when he shielded the girl from a taser attack from a nearby security camera. Shoubu eventually confronted Raifu in an empty alleyway after the Jailbreak Trial after sensing her malice, but he was quickly neutralized by Raifu, his leg left broken after the attack.

After Raifu's defeat and detainment, Shoubu met with Raifu, this time without the tanuki mask. He interviewed Raifu about her motivations and learned about her insight on heroism and "the ideal hero", while talking about how his views on good and evil changed in the past.

Abilities
His ability, Stress Dowsing allows him to sense a target's malice and hostility, though confirmation can be hampered when there are many people about.

He is also physically strong, capable of withstanding numerous attacks from the juvenile hall security system and breaking guard robots with his wooden sword. He wields a wooden sword and is proficient with it.

Trivia

 * His surname Yamashiro is also the name of a Japanese battleship. The was a  (see also Fusou Ayame).