Atsushi Murasakibara
Formerly playing center for the "Generation of Miracles", he does the same now for Yōsen High School. Beyond possessing shoulder-length, purple hair, Murasakibara is immediately recognizable for his great height. Though his ability as a basketball player has never been disputed, he claims he finds the sport uninteresting, simply playing the sport because he is excruciatingly good at it. He has always told others that he dislikes, is bored by, and even hates players who passionately play basketball, even when they are losing, which Kuroko disagrees with. Mildly sadistic and bemusingly childish, he is easily riled though generally laid-back, and can often be found with some form of candy in his mouth. It is also mentioned that Murasakibara spends every single penny he has on all kinds of junk food. His abilities have yet to be seen in full, but no one debates dubbing him the greatest center among high school players in Japan. However, he is seen crying when Seirin defeated his team, confirming that he does have a burning passion in playing basketball. He likes to rub Kuroko's hair whenever he sees him, much to Kuroko's displeasure. He also has a tendency to be with people who can make decisions for him. In Teiko, he was always obedient to whatever orders Akashi gave him. In Yosen, he is seen listening a lot to Himuro's advice. He often tells players "I will crush you."
His true abilities are shown during the match between Seirin and Yōsen. Using his incredible height of 208 cm (roughly 6 feet 10 inches- the average height of a center in the NBA), top-notch reflexes, and monstrous strength from his weight of 95 kilograms (roughly 210 pounds) to dominate the area around the basket, he is able to tower any opposing player and block any attempts of jump shots, layups, and dunks without even jumping. He has been seen blocking shots from Hyuga and Kagami when the ball is underway, so much higher than the take-off. In offense, he utilizes his strength and height in conjunction in order to break free of any defense regardless of the players on defense, and overwhelm the opponents. Despite his colossal size and seemingly sluggish attitude, he is deceptively fast; able to easily sprint both short and long distances up and down the length of the entire court. He even outran Izuki and got back to defense easily. His strength is seen when he forcibly screens out 3 defenders and at the peak of his destructive power, he was even able to bring down the entire backboard. He has also been seen doing reversal dunks with ease: a feat that requires more power than a normal dunk; facing away the rim requires more strength to compensate for the lack of momentum gained from running towards the basket on a normal dunk. His special move is called Thor's Hammer, an tremendously powerful two-handed dunk combined with a mid-air spin easily capable of overwhelming 3 defenders simultaneously. Although he is known for his proficiency at defense, his actual specialty is offense, as stated by Kuroko. He even added that Murasakibara set a score of 100 points in a single game when he got serious. Along with Kagami, Aomine, Kise and Akashi, Murasakibara also possesses the rare ability to enter the "zone". According to Aomine, Murasakibara is incredibly strong that even he has difficulty bypassing him. In the sequel manga, Kise once mentioned that Murasakibara said that if he ever goes all out and play seriously, he might hurt his opponents, or even worse, his own teammates. The reason behind this is because no one can match him in physique and strength. However, that is until he met Silver, a player who is similar to him in terms of physique and strength. With an opponent like Silver, Murasakibara can show his true power as a basketball player and even play with a certain expression. An expression Kuroko recognized and said; similar to Kagami when he faces a strong opponent. This is proven true as he blocks Silver's attempts to score twice.
