President of the Student Council, Touga is an arrogant and handsome young man whose desire to be powerful drives him to cruel and unscrupulous deeds. Although he says that he wishes to be noble, he has little empathy towards anyone, and his powers of manipulation are second only to Akio. He also shares his playboy attiude and has many female conquests. He is a childhood friend of Saionji, although their relationship took a turn for the worse at a point in their childhood that is the centerpiece of their respective personal journeys.
Toward the end of the series, however, Touga's facade of chivalry is replaced with an apparently truer concern for Utena, to the extent that he very subtly attempts to substitute his head for hers on Akio's chopping block. Arguably, this is also an example of Touga's inability to see Utena as who she really is, rather than in a stereotypical feminine role. He also seems to have moral objections to homosexuality, as he lectures Nanami when he mistakenly believes that she has admitted to being a lesbian. Despite this, he seems to have no qualms about taking a ride with Akio and manipulates his sister into dueling Utena during the Akio arc.
The Manga portrays Touga as taking a more obvious and definite personal love for Utena. He vows to serve her when she defeats him in their second duel, and tries his best to protect her from the machinations of Ends of the World. In the anime, this does not happen until the end of the series, and Touga's concern for Utena is far more ambiguous.
In the movie Touga's significance is amplified and his bad-traits completely removed. He is not a flirtatious, over-confident playboy but a man who sees and knows Utena and loves her. He is her childhood love and a significant figure in Utena's psyche. His seeming abandonment of Utena is the reason for her wish to become a prince, but as the movie progresses, Touga is revealed to be a ghost, who died to save a young girl (Juri) while he was with Utena. There is also an apparent love triangle consisting of Utena, Juri, and Shiori, and is a major reason for the conflict between the three. Near the end of the movie Utena's repressed memory of his death is uncovered and she accepts it, allowing his spirit to vanish from Earth.
