| Kasper Hekmatyar | |
|---|---|
 Kasper Hekmatyar in Episode 16. | |
| Status | Alive |
| Affiliations | HCLI |
| Occupation | Arms dealer |
| Relatives | Floyd Hekmatyar (father) Koko Hekmatyar (younger sister) |
| Manga debut | Chapter 11 |
| Anime debut | Episode 5 |
| Japanese voice | Masaya Matsukaze |
| English voice | Eric Vale |
Kasper Hekmatyar (キャスパー・ヘクマティアル Kyasupā Hekumatiaru?) is the son of Floyd Hekmatyar and the older brother of Koko Hekmatyar. He is a member of HCLI's Asian Logistics Division and was responsible for recruiting Jonah to serve as Koko's bodyguard.
Appearance[]
Kasper is a handsome young man with short white hair that is swept to the left and light pale blue eyes, which makes him very similar to Koko, although they are not twins. He is always seen wearing suits.
Personality[]
Kasper's resourcefulness, craftiness, and ruthlessness are on par, if not superior to Koko's. He has resorted to cold blooded means such as assassination to achieve his goals, and a typical modus operandi involves maximizing the profits he can get by using his arms deals to eventually open up additional revenue streams. He is also more mature and does not throw fits when things do not go his way, displaying immense patience with Koko's moods. Although not in combat as much as she is, he largely remains calm and composed when in combat situations, relying on his bodyguard skill and experience. Unlike Koko, Kasper genuinely enjoys being an arms dealer and does not believe that Jormungand will completely eliminate conflict, stating that he would find any way to sell arms no matter what the circumstances when the new world arrives.
Relationships[]
Kasper and Koko largely get along, although openly they tend to be very professional and businesslike when dealing with each other. Nonetheless they will support each other when necessary. Koko however did not inform Kasper about Jormungand until the launch of the second quantum computer as he could potentially have interfered with the project. Kasper does not hate their father as much as Koko does and understands how she feels, but has expressed dissatisfaction with the direction HCLI is headed in.
He commands the unwavering and unquestioning loyalty of his bodyguards, who have no qualms about how their boss conducts business. Although they are not as loose and easygoing as Koko's Squad, Kasper enjoys traveling the world with them. Chiquita, who commands the team, is highly trusted by Kasper and acts as his right hand, tending to stay close by him and is allowed to speak her mind. While not displaying the same degree of closeness with his other three bodyguards, Edgar, Alan and Poe, Kasper too has an implicit trust in them and collectively the four form a type of surrogate family for him.
Kasper developed an early respect for Jonah after discovering that he had single-handedly wiped out the garrison of the base he was stationed at to avenge Malka. He decided to negotiate with the boy as an equal and treats him like an adult out of recognition for his maturity. However he also uses the financial control that he has assumed for the base orphans as a subtle means of keeping Jonah in line and prevent him from turning against him. Kasper anticipated that Jonah might leave Koko at some point and suggested that he work for him if he were to leave her service. When this came to pass he quickly accepted Jonah's request. Just as easily, Kasper let Jonah go two years later when he asked to be released, having again foreseen that Jonah would disagree about how he conducted business and want to leave.
After Tojo left the SR Unit he was recruited by Kasper and joined him in 20 minutes. Although he later left to work for Koko, there is mutual respect between them and Kasper has no hard feelings against him.
Abilities[]
Kasper's means of doing business sometimes involves using his arms deals to put his customers and their rivals in a position to eliminate each other. This allows him to afterwards return to the area and open up another source of revenue. He used this method to eliminate the base in a Certain West Asian country where Jonah was stationed to clear the way for a highway and later to facilitate the construction of an oil pipeline through a city. Jonah disagreed with Kasper's methods to the point that he eventually could no longer stand to work for him, a situation that did not occur while he was working for Koko the first time.
Kasper is suggested to be a tough negotiator, as Jonah gained some admiration by being able to reach an agreement with him and to later talk him into taking him to see the three orphans that Kasper had agreed to relocate in Japan. As he has dealings all over Asia, he is implied to be fluent in multiple languages.
History[]
Both Koko and Kasper were born at sea due to the nature of their parents' work and they thus lack any sense of patriotism to a specific country. They were both exposed since a young age to the business of HCLI and thus have multiple passports and are used to traveling and working internationally. Kasper has his own bodyguard team of four, which includes Chiquita, who apparently began working for him after protecting Koko and Floyd.
Kasper and Jonah's first meeting in Episode 5.
Three months before Jonah joined Koko's Squad, he rebelled against and wiped out the garrison of the base he was stationed at to avenge the death of a young orphan girl named Malka. After he killed one of Kasper's subordinates, Yusuf Gasud, who had been responsible for her death, Kasper's bodyguards arrived on the scene and Chiquita subdued him without injury. Kasper's helicopter then landed and he immediately met with Jonah. He deduced what had transpired and revealed something of his and Koko’s background, stating that Jonah's betrayal of his former comrades shocked him a little. He dismissed Yusuf's death and admitted that he was attempting to destroy the base by selling the commander weapons, but Jonah had now done the job for him for free. A road enabling the transport of troops, oil, and weapons could now run through where the base was. Kasper then told Jonah that he owed him for killing Yusuf and had him locked in a shipping container with just enough water to sustain him, leaving the fate of the surviving orphans in doubt.
After several days Kasper opened the container and visited Jonah, revealing that he had sold weapons to the enemies of his villag and was thus inrectly responsible for his parents' death. This provoked Jonah into trying to bite his leg, but he was too weak and grief stricken to do anything serious. Kasper then realised that Jonah had decided to either use him or turn him into an enemy. When Jonah asked about the three orphans, Kasper revealed that they were safe and promised to relocate them in Japan. He then asked what Jonah could offer him in return, and as he had nothing of tangible value, offered to take his combat skills and labour as a bodyguard. Jonah had no choice but to accept and Kasper told him that he would work for his sister Koko.
Plot[]
Vein Arc[]
Kasper met up with Koko at sea, where he transferred a shipment of VL MICA missiles from his freighter onto hers, the Atlas. Prior his arrival Koko had Wiley hide Jonah to avoid a confrontation but did not tell him that Kasper was coming. Kasper met with Koko and discussed Scarecrow, mentioning that she would encounter the Chinese in Africa. When he went belowdecks to use the bathroom, he and Chiquita ran into Wiley in the hallway and the latter realised too late that he was supposed to hide Jonah from Kasper. Kasper used the urinal right next to Jonah and when he went to wash his hands, was attacked by Jonah with a tactical folding knife. However Chiquita quickly rushed in and was able to stop him from stabbing Kasper. Kasper calmly greeted Jonah when he began to wash up, calling him by his real name, Jonathan. After Chiquita bent the blade of Jonah's knife Kasper told him that he considered this a greeting from when they had met three months before. Following this Kasper left after Koko angrily expelled him for his and Chiquita's treatment of Jonah.
African Golden Butterflies Arc[]
The anime adds a scene of Kasper looking outside a window at night when Karen Low vowed to get her revenge on him.[1]
Kasper in Asia Arc[]
Kasper and his bodyguards next appeared in Southeast Asia where they had lunch at a local restaurant following a tough negotiating session and it began to rain heavily. Prior to eating, he informed them that R had been killed in the line of duty by taking on ten CIA paramilitaries. During the meal, Chiquita asked why things had slowed down and after learning that his other bodyguards were also concerned, Kasper updated them on the situation. He revealed that a covert unit which had nearly been forgotten appeared to be behind the trouble they had recently encountered in attempting to open up a new trade route. However he planned to take them on as they had previously caused trouble for his father. After the storm passed, he informed his bodyguards that Koko would be assisting them and they assassinated Korwit Nualkhair that night under the cover of a typhoon as a preliminary strike against the SR Unit. Kasper then informed Koko that the operation had begun.
Kasper and Jonah Arc[]
Following this event Kasper and his team flew to Narita International Airport, where they met Koko. When Jonah asked how the three orphans from the base were doing, Kasper had Alan get him a rental car to show Jonah himself, surprising everyone else. On the way over he tried to engage Jonah in conversation as the latter had remained silent and he was in danger of falling asleep. They arrived at the international boarding school where the orphans studied and lived and Kasper pointed out that it being a Saturday, the children had a half day and would be returning home. He then took Jonah to the dorm where they saw the three orphans coming back. After informing him about their living situation, he was about to go down to meet the orphans in person, but Jonah declined doing so and they drove back to Narita. On the way Kasper responded to Jonah’s comment that he could be trusted by stating that he should trust no one, but he himself did not lie as he wanted people to like him. He then suggested that Jonah work for him after he left Koko's service.
At an airport cafe Kasper sat down with Tojo and Koko and informed them that he gotten nowhere when he went through HCLI headquarters, but remembered Tojo when he asked them to meet in Japan. He discovered that the Japanese Ministry of Defence has a covert defense intelligence unit which itself has a division called the Joint Staff 2nd Division Special Research Unit, better known as the SR Unit. He then pulled out a photo of Yosuke Hinoki, the head of the SR Unit, and pointed out that it was Tojo's former outfit.
Castle of Lies Arc[]
New World Arc[]
War Monger Arc[]
Century of Shame Arc[]
Anime and manga differences[]
Additions[]
- The anime adds a scene of Kasper waiting to hear back from Nualkhair in Jakarta, but he is told by an aide that the meeting has been cancelled.[2]
Trivia[]
Kasper placed 15th in a character in a poll conducted by Sunday GX which ran from June through September 2012.[3]