Atsushi Murasakibara

Atsushi Murasakibara (紫原 敦 Murasakibara Atsushi) was the Generation of Miracles' center. He now plays for Yōsen High and competed in the Winter Cup.

Appearance
Murasakibara is abnormally tall for someone of his age, even taller than Papa Mbaye Siki. He is the tallest player seen in the entire series. He has shoulder length, purple hair that touches his back. During the match against Seirin High School, he is seen with his hair pulled back into a ponytail during the fourth quarter. He has been seen wearing a white "Tonicwater" t-shirt and a working-overall.

Personality
According to his height, Murasakibara acts very lumpish. He fools around at serious times, which is not always well received. He is mildly sadistic and childish. The only reason he plays basketball, is because he's good at it, he doesn't care for the sport at all. He always told others that he dislikes, feels bored and even hates, players who play basketball with passion, even when they are losing. However, it is hinted that he actually likes basketball from the bottom of his heart due to his activation of Zone. He is sort of sweet tooth when he is seen eating sugar-related foods.

According to Kuroko, Murasakibara isn't the calm type, he was actually the opposite within the GoM. He was the one who like to attack, but since basketball bored him, half way Junior High school he stop attacking and has kept himself in the defense. His actual speciality is offense and when he gets angry in games, he returns to his past self.

Interhigh
Murasakibara is first seen after Kaijō and Tōō match in the Interhigh. He is walking in the hallways, eating his usual candy and is noticed by Kagami, who is amazed by his enormous height. He is called by his teammates and it is revealed that he was lost. He walks past Kuroko, who is bent over tying his shoelace and when Kuroko hears Murasakibara's name, Murasakibara disappears behind a corner, Kuroko was unable to greet him.

Pre-Winter Cup
Murasakibara went along with his teammate Himuro to the Street Basketball 5 on 5, even though their school Yōsen High doesn't let student participate in out of school activities. He got lost and wandered around the terrain, being noticed by Seiho High. He finds Himuro about to play against the Seirin High freshmen and interrupts the match by throwing his candy bar on the flying ball at the tip-off. He reunites with Kuroko for the first time since Junior High school and jokes around by first threatening him, but then patting his head, which annoys Kuroko.

As some other players asks Murasakibara about the Interhigh, he responds that he didn't play because Akashi said so. When the referee asked Murasakibara to clear the court, he remembers that he came to stop Himuro from playing. As they are about to leave, Kagami stops them and challenges Murasakibara to play. Murasakibara declines and makes fun of Kagami's eyebrows. Kagami then tries to pursue him by saying that he's too scared to play, which annoys Murasakibara and he agrees to play. Himuro and him join an unknown team in order to play against Seirin.

Winter Cup
Murasakibara appears at the Winter Cup when Akashi called the Generation of Miracles for a meet-up. When Kuroko arrives and Aomine makes a comment on him bringing Furihata along, Murasakibara notices that Aomine has brought Momoi as well. As always, Murasakibara is eating something sweet, this time a chocolate bar. When he finishes, he tries to open a bag of chips, fails and asks Midorima for his scissors, but Midorima refuses. Akashi finally arrives and after dealing with Kagami, takes his leave. Akashi then says that it seems that the Generation has not yet forgotten the oath they made.

Round 1
He is later seen watching the match between Seirin and Tōō.

Quarter-finals
In the quarter-finals, Murasakibara and Yōsen face Seirin. Murasakibara easily outjumps Kagami during the tip off and gives Yōsen possession; however this is overruled by the referee as he jumped before the ball had reached its maximum height. Possession is then awarded to Seirin, who begin a series of quick passes on Yōsen's perimeter. Hyūga then attempts a jump shot, but Murasakibara shows off his fast reflexes by blocking Hyūga's shot. Seirin get the offensive rebound and use Kuroko to change the trajectory of the passes, freeing Kagami for the open jump shot inside the three point arc. However, Murasakibara blocks him and Masako notes that he is not only big and fast, but he also has a huge wingspan. She says that the entire area inside of the three point arc is "his domain".

Yōsen scores their first points, but after the inbounds pass, Kuroko throws a full court pass to Izuki who runs up the court, but is confronted by Murasakibara, who is not participating in the offense. Masako says that although she doesn't like players who don't run up and down the court, the Yōsen defense is complete with Murasakibara himself. Murasakibara grabs the rebound from Hyūga's missed shot over Kagami and Kiyoshi, and passes the ball ahead.

As the second quarter begins, Kiyoshi attempts to lose Murasakibara using a spin move, but Murasakibara scorns Kiyoshi for believing that he could pass him with such a skill and blocks him. Kiyoshi then reveals that he had a different plan all along and throws an alley-oop to Kagami who attempts to dunk, but is blocked again by Murasakibara as his height and wingspan helped him block Kiyoshi's first attempt without jumping, thus enabling him to block Kagami. However Kagami manages to throw the ball out to Kuroko, leaving Murasakibara shocked as he thought Kuroko couldn't shoot. He then moves to block Kuroko, but is amazed as Kuroko's Phantom Shot disappears and falls into the hoop, giving Seirin its first points of the match. He then tells Kuroko that he is surprised that it was Kuroko who scored the first basket for Seirin.

In a subsequent play, the last of the second quarter, Kuroko manages to score another basket past Murasakibara with the Phantom Shot, and the score stands at 29 – 17 with Yosen up. In the locker room, Masako notes that Kuroko will likely be benched when the match resumes. Riko and Masako then come to the conclusion that the most important matchups in the thrid quarters will be between Kiyoshi and Murasakibara and Kagami and Himuro. Murasakibara resolves to "erase" Kiyoshi.

Confronting Kiyoshi in the third quarter, Murasakibara tells him that he won't be able to do a thing against him, to which Kiyoshi replies that he won't know that unless he tries. On the next possession, Kiyoshi gets the ball and faces Murasakibara who says that he'll crush Kiyoshi just as he did in Junior High school. He then asks Kiyoshi why he's trying to beat him when he knows he will fail, to which Kiyoshi replies that striving to be the number one team in the Nationals is fun. He then asks Murasakibara if he finds basketball fun, irking him. He then goes for a double clutch layup but is blocked by Murasakibara. Izuki gets the rebound and passes it back to Kiyoshi who has retreated beyond the three point arc. Kiyoshi then knocks down the three to Murasakibara's surprise, but he quickly recovers, deeming the basket a fluke.

On the next possession, Kiyoshi, playing point guard, drives past Fukui and positions himself for a jump shot. Murasakibara moves out to block him but Kiyoshi quickly passes to Izuki who drives toward to hoop. Murasakibara and Ryū are there to block him, but Kiyoshi notes that Izuki's Eagle Eye has evolved enough to enable him to make a play. In the stands, Aomine notes that Seirin will break Yosen's defense on this possession as Murasakibara takes time to land after a block attempt, thus allowing Seirin to pass the ball and make a play during that short interval. As predicted, Izuki throws an alley-oop to Kiyoshi, who dunks the ball over Murasakibara, Okamura and Ryū. Much to Murasakibara's rage, Seirin is able to repeat the play in their next possession, with Kiyoshi drawing him out by faking a jump shot and then passing to Izuki, who finds the open Hyūga for a successful three point attempt.

Kagami is then put back into the game, and after blocking Himuro, rushes towards Murasakibara on the fast break. Although his dunk attempt is blocked, Murasakibara realizes that he was attempting a shot that went wrong. In a subsequent Seirin possession, Kiyoshi manages to outjump Murasakibara and successfully dunk on him, after Izuki missed a three pointer. After this, a play by Kiyoshi enables Kagami to dunk on Murasakibara.

This move finally enrages Murasakibara and he resolves to "wring the pride" out of Seirin. He decides to participate in the Yōsen offense. The coach, Araki stated that she never expect this to happen and thanks Seirin for initiate Murasakibara, who she called "the beast". The benched Kuroko said that Murasakibara scored 100 points once in a single game when he went serious. He posts up Kiyoshi, but Hyūga and Izuki soon join in, Hyūga stating that their main objective is to stop Murasakibara. Kiyoshi tells him that he never intended to beat him alone to begin with, but Murasakibara doesn't even acknowledge the triple team. He pushes all three back, and when he gets the ball, he jumps into the air, his back facing the basket and performs a 360 dunk, called the Tornado Dunk, knocking Kiyoshi, Hyūga and Izuki to the ground. Seirin then attempt a fast break to catch Murasakibara out of position, but are shocked to learn that he fast over both long and short distances as he outruns Izuki and prepares to face Seirin. Kiyoshi attempts a layup but then converts it into a pass to avoid Murasakibara's block. However Murasakibara swats the pass away with his left hand and dunks on the Yōsen possession so powerfully that he brings down the hoop, leaving a shocked Seirin wondering how they could "stop this beast".

Murasakibara then proceeds to block Kiyoshi again and mock Seirin, saying that he didn't even need to get serious if this was all of the challenge that Seirin posed. Kiyoshi then attempts to catch a rebound using Vice Claw, but Murasakibara rebuffs him and shocks the spectators when he uses a Vice Claw of his own. He then takes the ball coast to coast and dunks on Kagami and Kiyoshi, sending them sprawling to the ground. Kiyoshi, having reached his limit, is unable to get up, but Murasakibara "helps" him up. He tells him that like before, he was unable to defend anything and states that with him gone from the Junior High, Seirin would lose. He then asks him whether he still felt basketball was fun after all this. As Kiyoshi exits the game, he tells Kuroko to win and Kuroko tells Murasakibara that he will beat Yōsen for Kiyoshi. Murasakibara doesn't take him seriously, but Kuroko then says that he will not lose someone who looks down upon the efforts of others prompting Murasakibara to shout that Kuroko's ideals made him sick. Kuroko then passes Ryū and goes for the Phantom Shot, but Murasakibara, after being warned by Himuro, blocks the basket so that Kuroko can't see it properly. Kuroko then throws a high alley oop to Kagami who dunks the ball through. An angry Murasakibara prepares to post up, but is shocked to see that he is being guarded by Kuroko. After this Murasakibara turns around to dunk the ball, but is bewildered by Kuroko's lack of presence. He sends Kuroko sprawling and is called for the offensive foul. Murasakibara then says that Kuroko has really annoyed him.

After Kagami asks Riko whether Seirin can replicate Yōsen's formation, with him defending the paint area, Murasakibara dunks on him twice. After being rebuked by Kise, Kagami manages to enter the zone. He then blocks both a normal dunk and Murasakibara's special Tornado Dunk (Thor's Hammer), even pushing him to the ground, leaving him shocked.

Semi-finals
The first semi-finals of the day was Shūtoku High vs Rakuzan High, to which Murasakibara and Himuro go to watch. They arrive in the building as the match is about to start and it appears that Murasakibara reluctantly went along with Himuro. Himuro asks Murasakibara's opinion on the match and he simply replies that he can't imagine Akashi losing. He is later impressed about Midorima's improvement. During half-time, Murasakibara tells Himuro that Akashi's power is one "that negates everything". As the match restarts and Akashi steals Midorima's ball, Murasakibara explains the system of Akashi's eyes, how they can detect his opponent's movements and use it against them. As the match ends, Murasakibara says that a 16-point difference is around what he expected.

The next semi-finals, Kaijō High vs Seirin High commences and Murasakibara and Himuro stay to watch. As Kise goes full-power from the get-go, they witness his "invincible" Perfect Copy.

Defense
Murasakibara mostly relies on his height to get rebounds, block shots or dunk. Because he doesn't like basketball, he prefers staying on defense, but even then he doesn't feel like blocking if he doesn't want to. At important matches like in the Winter Cup, he is forced to do his best and his skill is truly shown. There, it is seen that especially Murasakibara's arms are long. He has seen blocking shots from Hyūga and Kagami when the ball is underway, so much higher than the take-off. He can also tower above all the team's centers and catch the rebound easily. According to Aomine, Murasakibara is strong, that even the ace of the Generation of Miracles has difficulty to pass him.

Offense
Not only block and rebounds, but he also bursts his way through in offensive dunks. His force is enough to withstand three people and still dunk. He has also been seen dunking backwards, not having enough time to turn around. At the peak of his power, he was able to bring the basket down.

When Murasakibara was attacking, it was also seen that in contrary to popular belief, he can indeed run pretty fast, both short and long distances.

Thor's Hammer
Murasakibara has a signature dunk called the Thor's Hammer. This is basically a two handed, rotating dunk. Murasakibara posts up under the basket, receives the ball, jumps and rotates while in the air. He turns to the goal and, still two-handed, ferociously dunks it. Because of the sheer force that Murasakibara produces, it looks like a whirlwind surrounds him when he is rotating. Thor's Hammer can overpower three players.

Zone
According to Aomine and Kise, in terms of ability, he meets the requirement to enter the "Zone" but unfortunately, he will never be able to because he does not have the most basic term needed, the love of basketball. However, these were proven wrong when Murasakibara entered the "Zone" during the last 20 seconds against Seirin in the Winter Cup. In the end of the game against Seirin who had won, although it is not explain directly, it is hinted that Murasakibara loves basketball as Aomine double confirmed that the requirement of this state and Kuroko stated that it is impossible for him to hate basketball, another hint being his frustration towards his lost, where after he states that he will quit basketball, Murasakibara cries at his loss.

Tetsuya Kuroko
Kuroko and Murasakibara have a rather up-and-down relationship because when it comes to basketball, they're complete opposites. Murasakibara plays basketball effortlessly and has no passion for the sport itself, while Kuroko loves basketball and clawed his way up, even with his lack of talent. Off the court, it was shown in the Replace novels that they got along quite well, with Kuroko even buying or winning snacks for Murasakibara to try. However, in Junior High school, they once got into a huge fight due to Murasakibara humiliating a member of the second-string from playing basketball again, causing Kuroko to flare up in anger. After Seirin defeats Yōsen, Murasakibara stated that he hated basketball and would stop playing. Kuroko, however, smiled later on and said that there was no way Murasakibara really hated basketball. Murasakibara stated in the Characters Bible that he got along with Kuroko the least.

Seijūrō Akashi
Akashi was Murasakibara's favorite member of the Generation of Miracles. Akashi is one of the few people whom Murasakibara willingly listens to and obeys. In the Replace novels, it was revealed that Akashi was also quite gentle towards Murasakibara, promising to give him the bag of sweets he would recieve as a prize from winning a shougi tournament. Not much more of their relationship has been shown thus far.

Teppei Kiyoshi
Kiyoshi is the type of person which Murasakibara hates the most: the type who never gives up and passionately loves basketball, even if they don't have the talent. Murasakibara defeated Kiyoshi before in Junior High school, even hating him back then already because of these reasons. They later re-encounter each other during a Street Basketball 5 on 5, with Murasakibara not recognizing Kiyoshi at first. He later recognizes his persistence and his will to crush Kiyoshi down fires back up. Kiyoshi was Murasakibara's first rival in the Winter Cup, purposely focusing on defeating Kiyoshi early on in the match. Kiyoshi uses this to his advantage to provoke Murasakibara purposely, causing others to say that even though he "looked honest, he's actually pretty sly". In the end, Murasakibara succeeded in breaking him, but Kiyoshi still didn't give up and returned nonetheless. Kiyoshi also understands that Murasakibara doesn't really hate basketball.

Tatsuya Himuro
Himuro is another person who can keep Murasakibara on a leash, often doing it with snacks. Murasakibara stated in the Characters Bible that Himuro was the one who he got along with best in his current team. He nicknames Himuro 'Muro-chin' while Himuro calls him by his first name, 'Atsushi'. Himuro often drags a reluctant Murasakibara to watch matches with him. Himuro is also jealous of Murasakibara's talent and, during the Seirin vs. Yōsen match, punches him when he refused to play anymore. Himuro broke down in tears, stating that it drove him crazy when talented people took things for granted. Murasakibara, possibly moved or guilty due to Himuro's tears, started to play in the match seriously.

Quotes

 * "It's so disgusting that I feel like puking. All these things you guys seek: hard work, guts, faith. I'll crush them all. Everything."
 * "I'm gonna quit basketball." (To Teppei Kiyoshi after losing to Seirin)

Trivia

 * KnBCBibleAMurasakibara.png, "What IF Murasakibara was a Pastry Chef!?"]]He ranked 8th on the second character poll, with 573 votes.
 * The kanji 紫 (Murasaki) in his name means purple (or violet), hinting to his hair color. There is no distinction between "violet" and "purple" in Japanese language.
 * He has a habit to shorten names and add suffix chin, for example Kuro-chin, Mido-chin, Mine-chin, Akachin and Sa-chin.
 * If Murasakibara had an alternate job it would be as a Pastry Chef. His type of girl is one who is tall, but not taller than him. His motto is "Sweets are Justice."
 * Murasakibara hates crows, the reason being that they make weird noises
 * As shown in Kuroko no Basket novel Replace I, Murasakibara and Kuroko got along surprisingly well as friends during their early days at Teikō. It was later in time that their different opinions on basketball led them to clash, making Kuroko the GoM member with whom Murasakibara fights most often. Still Kuroko has stated that he likes Murasakibara as a person.
 * Murasakibara has the record for making 100 points in a game, this could be a tribute to the NBA Wilt Chamberlain, the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game.
 * Murasakibara has 3 older brothers and 1 older sister.

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Atsushi Murasakibara