Rei Hōōmaru

Rei Hōōmaru is Ragyō Kiryūin's secretary at Revocs Corporation. She is a minor antagonist in Kill la Kill, and the main antagonist in the OVA special.

Appearance
Rei is a young, dark-skinned woman with light purple hair styled in locs. She has golden hoop earrings in both ears. Her attire consists of a white business suit complete with a white shirt, white tie, white shorts, white thigh highs and white pumps.

Whenever she is near her boss, Ragyō Kiryūin, she dons a pair of large, aviator sunglasses.

Personality
Rei always shows a very serious and professional front, though at times she seems comfortable making personal remarks about Ragyō, even as her underling. She also shows no objection to her boss's questionable character, due to the fact that she was saved and given a name by her.

Rei's loyalty to Ragyō is unwavering, leading her to unhesitatingly put herself at risk to protect her superior. She is even willing to offer herself as the final sacrifice to Shinra-Koketsu, allowing Ragyō to unleash the full power of the ultimate Kamui.

After her boss' death, she decides to take revenge, changing her calm and collected self into a rage-filled radical. However, despite all she did, she wasn't a heartless person. In the end, she proved herself capable of redemption by accepting Satsuki Kiryūin's offer.

History
20 years prior to the main series, Rei was originally an African child whose hometown was caught up in a civil war. Ragyō, who was searching for humans with high Life Fiber compatibility, saved the child by dismembering the soldiers who tried to shoot her. Ragyō then found that the girl was what she was looking for, took her in, naming her "Rei Hōōmaru" and giving her a pair of green aviator sunglasses.

Since then, Rei has served REVOCS loyally, doing everything Ragyo said despite knowing full well her horrible plans. In the final battle, she was absorbed into Shinra-Kōketsu, but was ejected by Senketsu when he bored a hole right through Ragyo's chest. Despite being forced out of the Kamui and dropped into the rubble below, she survived and managed to escape the heroes' notice.

After Ragyō's death, Rei plotted revenge on everyone responsible, either not knowing or not caring that Ragyō had ultimately taken her own life after being defeated by Ryūko Matoi. Setting up in the depths of the ruined Honnōji Academy, she gathered every Life Fiber left in REVOCS's possession, using them to create dark clones of Satsuki and the Elite Four as they were at the beginning of the series. At the "First Graduation Ceremony", Rei's minions captured Satsuki and Mako Mankanshoku before assaulting the rest of the assembly, with the captives used to power a generator that transformed the entire academy into a monstrous war machine.

However, Rei and her cloned minions were ultimately defeated thanks to Ryūko and the rest of the Academy's efforts. She then returned to the captured Satsuki and Mako as they were trying to escape, attempting to strike Satsuki with a knife, but only cutting her hair and the side of her neck. Satsuki told Rei that she "can't imagine the hell she had lived though because people don't understand, the world needs you". Rei replied, saying that she's not making any sense, to which Satsuki said, "That's who we are." Rei drops her knife, accepting her offer, and went with Satsuki to leave the now-sinking Honnō City.

Powers & Abilities

 * Rei has demonstrated some degree of fighting ability, although she was easily defeated by both Ira Gamagōri and Satsuki. Rei's primary weapons are the sleeves of her Goku business suit that she uses as whips, and can also shield herself from attacks with them. Her clothes possess the ability to change shape to some degree, indicating the presence of Life Fibers.
 * Rei also has an unusual ability to either recreate herself or enter superhuman speeds, having used her body to block Satsuki from cutting a then-impaled Ragyō. The cut supposedly destroyed Rei and her clothes, yet she was still next to Ragyō's side when Ragyō reappeared.
 * Rei has displayed the ability to not only grab the attention of the Elite Four members, but she also kept them at bay while Satsuki was abused by Ragyō.
 * Rei also has demonstrated how to form clones using Life Fibers. She created dark clones of the Elite Four with Goku Uniforms and Satsuki with Junketsu using the remaining Life Fibers from REVOCS and the memories of no-star students.

Memorable quotes
"You're a scamp of the highest order, Ma'am."

- Rei's comment to Ragyō

"This world is full of injustice! It's a place where the strong trample the weak every day! That is the truth about the stupid human race!"

- Rei to Satsuki

Trivia

 * The name Rei means "salute, bow, ceremony, thanks, remuneration" (礼).
 * Rei's surname Hōōmaru means "phoenix bird" (鳳凰) (hōō) and "round, circle, pills, purity" (丸) (maru).
 * Rei's voice actor, Ayumi Fujimura, also voices Matarō Mankanshoku.