Kihara Noukan

Kihara Noukan (木原 脳幹) is a character introduced in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index. He is a member of the Kihara Family, first referred to by Kihara Byouri in Baggage City.

Etymology
The Kanji for Noukan literally translates to Brainstem (an important part of the brain that is located just above the hypothalamus).

Appearance
He is a golden retriever with arithmetic circuits externally attached to him.

Background/Characteristics
Despite being a dog, Noukan is capable of human speech, and has the voice of a man who seems to be in the prime of his life. Furthermore, he is said to be the most influential of the Kiharas in many different fields.

Trivia

 * It is possible that Kihara Noukan is an esper. This idea stems from the fact that a study was performed in Kirigaoka Girls' Academy which had concluded that apparently, the only reason that animals could not become espers was that animals were not as smart as a five year old child. After all, the minimum brain power to be able to start the esper power development program is that of a five year old child. Assuming that Kihara Noukan is one of the smartest Kiharas because he lectured Kihara Yuiitsu, it is possible that he might be an esper himself because he would have the necessary brainpower through his attached external arithmetic circuits.