Rats (Region)

The rats are a hostile species that function as the secondary antagonists of the horror manga Region.

When Chief Togakushi was sent by a regional power company to check the installation of a wind farm, he and his co-worker Asagiri follow the guide down into the basement to check on the generators. To their horror, legions of rats were roosting in the basement. Immediately, the famished rodents attack the group, killing the guide. The rats erupt from the basement, and they escape into Tokyo, killing and eating everything in site. Eventually, rats began to infiltrate an elementary school and in his desire to save his own life - a teacher named Takada tricks his students into a corner of the classroom, and opens the door, allowing the rats to eat the children alive. When the coast was clear, Takada escapes the building, only to realize that Ryuuto was still alive. More rats attack a shelter, killing hundreds of people while Kanon and Ryuuto are able to escape with Kizaki. Throughout the manga, many characters speculate on whether or not Mother Nature itself was punishing them for mistreating the environment. Other than the rats, mosquitoes and ants also aid in decimating the population of Japan. The rats are also noted as being unnaturally intelligent, as they use the bodies of slain rats to act as shields.

Eventually, it is announced that the government was going to spray poison all over Japan as a feeble attempt to kill the rats. Ryuuto - being the good natured boy he is - convinces Kanon to return home with him so that they could leave a letter informing their father of the government's intentions. When it seemed as though the children were going to get eaten alive by the rats, crows swoop down from the skies, consuming the rats. As the plagues began to worsen, the legions of rats began to dwindle most likely because there was little more food left to consume.