Ran Izumii

Ran Izumii (泉井蘭, Izumii Ran) is Aoba Kuronuma's older brother and the former leader of the Blue Squares. He lost his position when he was thrown in juvenile jail for kidnapping Saki Mikajima and breaking both her legs.

Appearance
Ran has an imposing figure, being very tall with slicked back black hair. He also has a very large burn scar on the right side of his face which he received from Walker when he and his friends rebelled against the Blue Squares. Ran's usual attire consists of a dark purple jacket, a blue scarf, dark greenish-grey pants, black boots, and sunglasses. The first season briefly shows him with bleached blond hair and purplish suit with a black undershirt, which is again shown in season two with a flashback in episode 10 of the second cour.

Ran is described as that he could be mistaken as a host using the 'tough guy' look as his appeal if not for his imposing aura, indicating that he's rather handsome despite his scars.

Personality
Ran can be described as a street punk taken to its worst extreme. He is violent, vulgar, sadistic, and misogynistic. He is also prideful and does not take kindly to being upstaged, as shown by his bullying of Aoba for being favored by their parents. This pride also makes him easy to manipulate, as he willingly and knowingly let Aoba use him as a figure head for the Blue Squares, planning to take the gang for his own only to get arrested by the police. Ran is also rather cowardly, as he is not above using unfair tactics against his opponents, but he is quick to shirk away if they prove to be too much for him. As such, he does not normally bite off more that he knows he can chew.

Ran is a skilled street fighter, though he rarely acts alone. He is shown to have a lot of raw strength, being able to swing a large sledgehammer around one-handed with ease. However, since he mostly relies on brute force, he can be easily outmaneuvered if someone else is not calling the shots for him.

He tends to be very loud, usually screaming and shouting when in a match, and often sticks his face much too close to people in order to intimidate them.

Despite all his shortcomings, he can be very calm and polite, as seen in his interactions with Shu Aozaki.

Background
In the past, Ran was jealous of his little brother due to the fact that Aoba always received more attention from his parents than he did. Ran would frequently abuse him to vent his frustration, and he quickly fell into the wrong crowd at school, even taking up smoking. After Ran went a little too far with abusing Aoba, his brother set his room on fire, which his parents blamed on Ran's smoking, leading to his father punching him in the face and breaking his nose.

A few years later, after their parents divorced and Aoba went to live with their mother, Aoba called on Ran once again to ask for a favor.

Aoba told Ran about a gang he made, the Blue Squares, that was quickly getting too large to control since there were adults who started joining up. Ran knew Aoba was trying to use him as a figurehead but agreed to take over as leader since he thought he would be able to surpass Aoba somehow.

Not long after, Ran began fighting with another gang called the Yellow Scarves and began losing the fights when Masaomi Kida started going to Izaya Orihara for help. Ran and his gang eventually decided to kidnap Saki, Masaomi's girlfriend, to lure him into a trap, but they were thwarted by Kadota and his gang, who betrayed Ran and saved Saki. Ran and most of the Blue Squares were arrested after the incident.

Yellow Scarves Arc
Horada and other surviving members of the Blue Squares who were loyal to Ran infiltrated the Yellow Scarves and slowly taking them over and destroying them from the inside. The plan almost succeed, but Kyouhei intervened yet again.

Adabashi Arc
Ran is released from jail and is called to join Izaya's gang of 'friends' that includes Kisuke Adabashi (who is knocked out with a broken leg), members of Dragon Zombie, Haruna Niekawa, Mikage Sharaku, Slon, Kine, Manami Mamiya, and Namie Yagiri. While there, Ran goes on a rant about why he's really there and lists off the people he plans on killing, including Izaya himself. Mikage, who was standing next to the raving man, tells him to shut up. Izaya invites them all to hot pot.

Dragon Zombie Arc
He participates in the rescue of Izaya after he gets kidnapped by Amphisbaena and Heaven's Slave. He calls the leaders of both groups, Earthworm and Shijima, claiming to be the real Izaya. He tricks the two of them into thinking that the person they actually have tied up is really their shared boss, Nakura, who was going by different aliases for each group. This prompts Earthworm to check. However, Izaya's ties had been loosened previously by one of Earthworm's men who was under Haruna's Saika's control.

With their trick serving it's purpose, Ran, Mikage, and several members of Dragon Zombie, bust through the door and incapacitate Earthworm's and Shijima's subordinates. Earthworm attacks with two broken bottles but Ran easily defeats her.

When finished torturing her, Ran then makes a grab for her clothes, appearing as if he wanted to rape her, but is stopped by Mikage, who is against the violation of women. She'd be perfectly okay with him killing Earthworm, but if he wished to violated her, she wouldn't hesitate to kill him herself. Ran backs off the unconscious woman and threatens Mikage instead. Seeing that she wasn't having any of it, he grows annoyed then decides he wasn't needed anymore and leaves.

Kadota's Coma Arc
He ditches Izaya's group and is seen working as a freelance mercenary for the Awakusu-Kai kanbu, Aozaki. Ran is not an official member of Awakusu-kai and doesn't answer to anyone else but Aozaki.

Ran meets Aoba on the streets and has a talk with him. He lets his brother know he knows what going on, and that he should meet Mikado Ryuugamine since he was a member of the Dollars now. Aoba misunderstands him as wanting to hurt Mikado and quickly tells him he shouldn't meet him. Ran then flicks his nose, and tells him what he actually meant, saying it's only right to pay him respects since he's the boss.

Final Curtain Arc
Ran later does meets up with Mikado to give him a 'gift', revealed later to be a gun, under the direct orders from Aozaki. He is doing this secretly without letting anyone else in Awakusu-kai know, since Akabayashi is the one in charge of handling any and all of Dollars business. This is because Aozaki believed that he can use the Dollars to make a profit.

Ran tells Aozaki that at first he thought Mikado was a weakling but he was more than he seemed and gave a higher opinion of him, which Aozaki responses that it was unusual for Ran to take a liking to anyone. He was amazed how Mikado seemed to think nothing of the gun, then proceeded to 'shoot the breeze' with him for a while. This sparked a vague interest in him, though he has yet to interact with the boy again.

Durarara!! SH
Ran is still working as a freelance mercenary for the Awakusu-Kai under Aozaki.

After Horada is attacked by someone going around hitting people with hammers, Ran visits him in the hospital. And hammers being Ran's specialty, the blame was quickly placed on him, and rumors started to spread. Not wanting the rumors to continue, he charges Horada with bring the culprit to him, and quickly. He doesn't want them ruining his image in front of his superiors; Aozaki and Akabayashi.

While there, Horada asks for Ran's permission to use the old gang. He asks why, then becomes cold and harsh when Horada mentions Aoba. He tells Horada that he doesn't care what he does with them, and would prefer if Horada crushed Aoba while he was at it.

Aoba Kuronuma
Ran's younger brother. To say their relationship is strained is an understatement. They hate each others' guts and wish each other dead. While Aoba simply hopes Ran will one day get himself killed, Ran plans to actively kill Aoba.

Mikado Ryuugamine
Ran believes Mikado to be the ultimate asshole, yet still finds himself liking him. He gave him a gun under Aozaki's orders.

Horada
Ran's upperclassman in high school, he dropped out of school and became a well-known delinquent. Horada became Ran's closest underling once Ran took over the Blue Squares. He tried taking revenge on the Yellow Scarves but ultimately failed. He's now terrified of Ran, who had 'a little chat' with him in jail.

Kyouhei Kadota
Kyouhei used to be in the Blue Squares. It is unknown why he joined, but while he was there, he openly spoke against Ran and his antics. Ran's kidnapping of Saki was the last straw, and Kyouhei is the reason Ran went to jail. Ran claims he will bury him in the mountains after he kills him.

Walker Yumasaki
Walker roasted Ran's face and arm when he betrayed the Blue Squares under Kyouhei's lead. Ran wants to kill him, but not without returning the favor first and making his face "just like his."

Walker originally thought Ran might have been the person who hit Kyouhei but realizes that Ran would have finished the job if it had been him.

Masaomi Kida
Despite being one of the main reasons for his downfall, Ran feels he does not have a beef with him anymore. However, that does not stop him from attacking him on the roof 'on Mikado's behalf.'

Izaya Orihara
Ran's temporary boss. He's on Ran's to kill list for 'ruining his life,' but he's willing to work with him if it helps him get to the others.

Mikage Sharaku
She briefly works with Ran in Izaya's group. Even though she confronts him against Earthworm, her feelings towards him are neutral. They do not see each other again after Ran leaves Izaya's group.

Adaptational differences

 * In the novel, Adabashi's leg injury is mysterious, but in the anime it is very clearly caused by Ran.
 * While speaking with Mikage, a scene that was removed in the anime, he is illustrated as messing with her shirt and touching her breast. This does not actually happen in the text and is an artistic liberty taken by the illustrator.
 * Ran mentions that when he went to juvie, he had his hair shaved. In the novel, he said he considered shaving his head again while the anime did not.
 * After his fight with Chikage, Ran becomes injured. In the novel, he gets a fractured rib, and when he goes to meet Mikado, he is wearing a jacket that is open enough to see the bandages from the wound, which prompts Mikado to ask. Ran's discomfort from the pain of the injury is mentioned twice. In the anime, however, he is shown to have received a broken arm, but the sling and cast are gone by the time he runs into Kyouhei and the rest, making it appear to have been a fake injury. In this version, he hides the gun he gives to Mikado in the sling, while in the novel, he hid it in his jacket.
 * In both versions, he uses the excuse that he fell down some stairs. Mikado used this excuse previously himself.
 * In both versions, the fight between Ran and his gang verses the van gang was cut away from at the start of the fight. In the novels, it is briefly explained that Ran and his entourage were entangled in Celty's shadows while the van gang where left untouched.
 * In the novel, Ran meets Mikado with Aoba and the other Blue Squares, openly mocks Aoba in front of them, then goes upstairs with Mikado to talk. In the anime, Ran does not meet Mikado until another member brings him upstairs, leaving Aoba behind.
 * In the novel, when Ran is talking to Aozaki's lackey, the lackey mentions Ran kidnapping women. It is unknown if he is referring to what landed him in jail or what Ran is currently doing in the Awakusu-Kai. If the latter, it is also known why he would be doing that. The third option is that it is what he is doing on the side when not taking orders from Aozaki. However, he has not been out of jail that long, and thus makes it very unlikely that he has a side operation yet.

Trivia

 * Like Shizuo, Ran’s given name does not match him. 'Ran' means 'orchid.' Orchids generally represent elegance, something Ran does not possess.
 * Horada's take over of the Yellow Scarves was likely in preparation of Ran's release from jail as Horada says multiple times, 'everything's gonna be alright once Izumii returns.'
 * In the anime, episode 10 of Ten, they show his bedroom with fire, smoke and water damage in the flashback describing an incident that happened between the boys and their father. Among the clutter, it shows he has an interest in girls, skulls, surfing, motorcycles, license plates, and the band KISS.
 * Ran does not respect many people, but he tells Aozaki's lackey that he does in fact respect Aozaki, Shizuo Heiwajima, and Traugott Geissendorfer. It is heavily implied he also respects Akabayashi, but does not say it considering the company he is in.
 * It is vaguely implied that Aozaki wanted Ran to take over the Dollars after removing the control from Mikado. This way Aozaki could control them through Ran.
 * The van Ran was in when he was set on fire belonged to him, as revealed when speaking with Walker about the incident.
 * Walker thinks Ran is suited for 2D scripts.
 * He has mild PTSD triggered by fire alarms and large uncontrolled fires. This is referred to during his fight with Chikage and both fights with Walker.
 * Beside his burn scars, he has another scar on his mouth. It was never mentioned or shown in the novels, so it is unknown how he received it.