Information

Tetsurō Okonogi is a villainous character in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series, and the leader of the Yamainu.

He is hired to help Takano Miyo cover up the research on Hinamizawa Syndrome at first. At the end of Matsuribayashi-hen, he betrays her and surrenders to the Banken.

Personality

Okonogi is cunning and clever, able to think through a complicated situation quickly. Considering how the Yamainu, under his control, were able to cover up a series of incidents (the kidnapping of the Prime Minister's grandson, the dam manager's death, Satoko's parents' falling incident, etc.) which may have uncovered the true nature of the Irie Institution, Okonogi's ability to think through these situations is unmatched. He is also easily corrupted by money, as Takano's bribing allowed him to assist her in the creation of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. However, as shown by the ending of Matsuribayashi-hen, he is under the true control of Nomura in 'Tokyo'. He does not have a hard time accepting defeat in fair battle scenarios, but is prone to jealousy when he overestimates himself against those who are better than him (especially against "that Karate guy", whom he personally wants revenge against for his defeat at the Sonozaki Estate).

Involvement

Okonogi has been the leader of the Yamainu for ten years. He was trained in combat for the Japanese Self Defense Forces and is under their command. Although he has shown himself to be skilled in combat, he was placed in command of the Yamainu instead of the much-desired Banken due to his calculating and cautious nature.

Like the Banken, the Yamainu use codenames such as "Egret", "Skylark", and others. Okonogi is referred to as "Ōtori 1".

It is revealed in Himatsubushi-hen that Okonogi was directly involved in the kidnapping of the Prime Minister's grandson, Inukai Toshiki. He first encountered Akasaka Mamoru and Ōishi Kuraudo here as they successfully took back his hostage. Despite Toshiki being successfully recovered, the dam project was still canceled thanks to pressure put on the Prime Minister from elsewhere.

In Minagoroshi-hen, it is revealed that Okonogi was bribed by Takano to assist her in using Document #34 to wipe out all of Hinamizawa and have her grandfather's research accepted as fact. After Takano's 'death', he sets up an elaborate plan to frame Irie as the true mastermind behind Takano and Tomitake's murders. The plan is received successfully and the GHD occurs.

Most of Okonogi's persona is revealed when he is working actively in Matsuribayashi-hen. In the manga, it is shown that he along with a few other Yamainu were directly involved in the murder of Rika's mother- particularly her capture. Up until June of 1983 Okonogi stayed out of the line of action until the day before Watanagashi- it is shown that he was in charge of all commanding operations regarding the capture of Tomitake Jirō, Rika, and Director Irie. It is interesting to note that he recalled facing off against Akasaka in the kidnapping case five years before and was glad to see that he had been training vigorously since. This however, was not present in the anime adaption as his appearance was replaced by a generic Yamainu member during the kidnapping.

During the battle on the mountain, Okonogi becomes visibly irritated with the Yamainu's incompetence in battle situations such as these. This is due to the team not being professionally trained as a combat force, like Okonogi would have preferred. He had overestimated the Yamainu's ability to handle themselves in guerilla warfare-like situations, and subsequently suffered many losses and ultimately defeat by surrendering to the Banken. The entire time he had maintained communications with Nomura, though, and by the time he was ready to surrender he was prepared to shoot Takano in order for their preparations to go smoothly. After surrendering, he left it up to Takano to shoot herself, while minding that he was going 'too easy' on her.

Trivia

He has a special scorning for the martial arts, particularly because they are 'all structured' - he described by saying "This is how you punch in Judo. This is how you kick in Karate" to clarify.

In Himatsubushi-hen , Okonogi was one of the kidnappers of the Construction Minister's grandson in Shouwa 53 (1978), however he isn't present in the anime adaptation, being replaced by a generic Yamainu member instead.

Okonogi appears in the Umineko no Naku Koro ni series where he's the president of a company and also the employer of Juuza Amakusa (Hibari 13).