Tomie Kawakami initially presented as an ordinary high school student, though accounts imply a longer existence. Her origins remain deliberately shrouded in uncertainty, featuring unreliable claims of French heritage and artistic connections, consistent with her deceptive nature. Her documented emergence began on a school trip where classmates uncovered her secret affair with their married teacher, Mr. Takagi. Fueled by existing resentment and this revelation, a violent confrontation ensued, resulting in her fall from a cliff. Fearful of consequences, the classmates, including Takagi, dismembered her body into 42 pieces and distributed them for disposal. This act activated her supernatural regenerative abilities, transforming her from a human girl into an immortal entity. Her childhood friend, Reiko, disposed of her heart by dropping it from a bridge, but it washed ashore and began regenerating into a new Tomie. Her defining trait is an almost supernatural, flawless beauty described as captivating, typically featuring long black hair, pale skin, and a distinctive beauty mark beneath her left eye. Her appearance exhibits slight variations between iterations, including changes in hair color (blonde or brown) and style. This beauty acts as a powerful lure, primarily affecting men but occasionally women, inducing intense obsession, jealousy, and ultimately homicidal rage. Affected individuals feel compelled to kill her, often through dismemberment, regardless of consequences. Her presence exerts a psychological compulsion, gnawing at minds and driving victims toward violence against her, each other, or themselves, overriding rational thought and morality. Her core ability is extreme cellular regeneration. Any separated body fragment—a limb, organ, drop of blood, or even a single hair—can regenerate into a complete, independent clone possessing her memories, personality, and powers. Each clone considers itself the original and sole true Tomie, developing intense hatred toward others and scheming to eliminate them, often manipulating obsessed men to burn them. Regeneration time varies but accelerates through nutrient consumption, including cannibalism, or exposure to concentrated radiation. Conversely, immersion in acid significantly slows or halts regeneration. Fire remains the only consistently effective method for permanent destruction, requiring every fragment of flesh to be completely carbonized; any surviving tissue allows regeneration. Her biology is contagious. Contact with or transplantation of her cells, blood, or organs into another person initiates a gradual transformation of the host into a new Tomie clone. This process overwrites the host's DNA and personality, erasing their original identity completely. Even surgical removal of transplanted organs cannot stop residual cells. Her hair possesses a similar, more aggressive property; attached to a scalp, it burrows into the skull, wraps around the brain causing Tomie hallucinations, replaces the victim's hair, proliferates wildly throughout the body, and ultimately kills the host. Severe emotional stress can also cause spontaneous splitting, manifesting as a second head growing from her body that develops into a separate clone. Her personality shifted dramatically after her first death and regeneration. Initially somewhat manipulative but capable of genuine affection, particularly toward Mr. Takagi, she became devoid of empathy or humanity. She evolved into a profoundly narcissistic, hedonistic, and cruel entity, viewing all others—humans and Tomie clones—as inferior tools or obstacles. Her primary motivations are self-gratification, maintaining her status as the most beautiful being, and manipulating others to fulfill desires like acquiring luxury items and inciting violence. She feels no genuine attachment, discarding victims callously once they cease to be useful or entertaining. The only things provoking strong negative reactions are being called a "monster" or "diseased," triggering intense rage, or being completely ignored, frustrating her need for attention and admiration. Tomie clones can age if developing naturally from infected hosts who haven't replicated, as seen with "Ayaka Nakamura." Regenerated clones or those created through cellular division appear ageless, maintaining a youthful appearance indefinitely unless undergoing natural aging before replication. Beyond fire, she possesses other vulnerabilities. Photographs can inadvertently capture her monstrous nature, revealing extra eyes or emerging secondary heads, leading to a strong aversion to cameras. A notable containment attempt involved encasing a clone in concrete; years later, investigators discovered she escaped through cracks in the block, her cries revealed to be wind whistling through the fissures.