Who is The Traitor in Golden Kamuy?

Golden Kamuy is one of the most well-written stories with a great plot and character development. It has managed to keep us entertained with its story development and bizarre humor.

The story puts together a lot of characters who do not essentially have a common ground. This makes us wonder when one of the characters will betray their group.

We have been suspicious of multiple characters, but who are the ones who ultimately betrayed Sugimoto and his group? Let’s find out!

Kiroranke betrayed Sugimoto at the end of Season 2. Ogata and Kiroranke take advantage of the chaos at Abashiri Prison and sweep away Asirpa. Ogata also shoots Nopperabo and Sugimoto during this event.

Events Surrounding to Kiroranke’s Betrayal

A great twist is not something you didn’t see coming from miles but something that makes you go “Darn,should have guessed it”. That’s where the writing of Golden Kamuy shines.

There is a heavy foreshadowing that Kiroranke is a traitor from pretty early on in the series. Even though he has been together with Sugimoto and Asripa, there was relatively less information revealed about him.

There were almost no flashbacks from Kiroranke’s perspective. We also learn from Hijikata that Nopperabo was a Russian partisan rather than an Ainu. It was implied that anyone with a similar background could be lying about being an Ainu.

It was nothing definitive at the time, but Kiroranke’s silence about Nopperabo’s true identity and background made him look quite suspicious.

All this foreshadowing boils down to the finale of the second season where Sugimoto and Nopperabo are both shot down by Ogata. We later find out from a heavily injured Inkarmat that Kiroranke was the one who signalled the attack.

True Identity of Kiroranke?

Kiroranke is actually an old friend of Asirpa’s father and a former revolutionary in Russia. He fought alongside Wilk for the independence of minorities to take back their freedom.

Kiroranke is a true contradiction, while he is manipulative on one side, he is a man of his ideals on the other which makes him one of the most likable characters in Golden Kamuy.

About Golden Kamuy

Golden Kamuy is based on a manga series written and illustrated by Satoru Noda. It was serialized in August 2014 in the seinen magazine Weekly Young Jump. The manga concluded in April 2022 and has been collected into 31 volumes.

The plot revolves around Saichi Sugimoto, who is a battle veteran from the Russo-Japanese war.

He is in desperate need of money, he decides to go on a quest, when he hears a story about hidden Ainu gold. A young Ainu girl, Asirpa, joins him.