Referee

The Referees that participated in the Kakerou match on Protoporos Island

The Referees (立会人, Tachiainin) are an integral and influential part of Kakerou and who attend to the gambles played between or for Kakerou members.

About

There are 101 Referees within Kakerou who act as neutral supervisors in gambles involving Kakerou members and the debt collectors for when gambles have been completed. By the nature of their role, all Referees are extremely proficient combatants.

All Referees wear formal black suits, with some Referees making unique and personalized attire customizations, such as Kadokura Yuudai's long coat-like blazer, Mogami Taeko's frilled suit jacket or Kiruma Tatsuki's single heely'd shoe. Every Referee has a personal handkerchief that they keep in their breast pocket; their handkerchief has their surname and Referee rank stitched on to it.

Exclusive Referees

Exclusive Referees are Referees who are assigned to a single Kakerou member and thus only attend and oversee their gambles. The majority of Kakerou members shown in the story have or had exclusive Referees.

Known Exclusive Referees
Kakerou member	Referee
Madarame Baku	Kyara #0 Yakou Hikoichi #0
Sadakuni Ikki	Mekama Kirou #10
Kurama Ranko	Mogami Taeko #91
Suteguma Satoru	Watari #35

Ranking Battles

• Kiruma Tatsuki and Yakou Hikoichi in their high-level ranking battle

1/10

Ranking battles (號奪戦ごうだつせん, Gōdatsusen; lit. number stealing battle) a special circumstance within the Referees that occurs when one Referee challenges another Referee for their rank. The circumstance begins when the two Referees pile their handkerchiefs on top of each other as a signal of agreement.

Rules

Original version

The challenging Referee is given 10 seconds to incapacitate or kill the defending Referee with the two Referees starting close to each other.

If the challenging Referee successfully incapacitates/kills the defending Referee, they receive the defending Referee's number. If the challenging Referee fails to incapacitate/kill the defending Referee within 10 seconds, their life becomes forfeit and they are killed on the spot.^{[citation needed]}

Because the challenging Referee will die if they fail, ranking battles (of this nature) are quite scarce; a Referee will think twice before risking their life.

New version

This version of the ranking battle was implemented by the 20th Royal Leader, Kiruma Tatsuki, at some point during his tenure. The only differences between this type of ranking battle and the original version are:

• There is no time limit, and the battle ends when one Referee has been visibly defeated.
• The challenging Referee will not lose their life if they fail to win.

This version of the ranking battle was scrapped by the 21st Royal Leader, Kiruma Souichi, and the ranking battles returned to its original condition.

Known Ranking Battles
Challenging Referee	Defending Referee	Result
Unknown # Kyara	#0 Makuro Souji	Kyara wins and becomes the new #0.
#10 Mekama Kirou	#2 Yakou Hikoichi	Mekama Kirou loses and is sentenced to die.
Unknown # Nowa Mitora	#8 Makuro Souji	Nowa Mitora wins and becomes the new #8, severely injuring Makuro Souji in the process.
#2 Yakou Hikoichi	#0 Kiruma Tatsuki	Yakou Hikoichi wins and becomes the new #0. Kiruma Tatsuki suffers grievously fatal injuries.
#10 Bandai Kaoru	#30 Mitaka Hana	Bandai Kaoru loses and is killed by Mitaka Hana.

Known Referees

Current

#0 Yakou Hikoichi (former #2)

#1 Nowa Mitoshi

#2 Kadokura Yuudai (former #16)

#3 Touya Masateru

#4 Makami Boro

#5 Ikon Jyuuzou

#6 Nowa Shion

#7 Amen Makoto

#8 Nowa Mitora

#10 Mitaka Hana

#11 Douji Haruaki

#16 Nanpou Kyouji

#22 Nowa Mirei

#28 Midara Yuusuke

#29 Manabe Takumi

#35 WatariKanji: 亘 (わたり) Romaji: Watari Info: Though never officially introduced, Watari was mentioned to be the exclusive Referee of Suteguma Satoru.

#90 Kushinada Tetsuma

#91 Mogami Taeko

Former

#0 Kiruma Tatsuki

#0 Kyara

#8 Makuro Souji (former #0)

#10 Mekama Kirou

#10 Bandai Kaoru

#25 Sagita SouyaKanji: 鷺田 糟谷 (さぎた そうや) Romaji: Sagita Sōya Info: Though never officially introduced, Sagita Souya was noted as being the #25 Referee; he died shortly before Kyara became a Referee.

Notes & Trivia

• They are sometimes referred to as the "black suits".
• While it is fine for a Referee to favor one Kakerou member over another, it often leads the Referee into dire straits as seen with Mekama Kirou during the Hangman Game.