Tomoo's Partners

"The ones who aren't human...the ones who aren't people...are you!"

- Lucy to the bullies and the girl before she dismembers them

Tomoo's Partners were a trio of evil, highly disturbed children that were minor, but ultimately significant antagonists in the anime and manga Elfen Lied. The bullies, led by a ringleader named Tomoo, tormented and made the young Kaede (better known to most readers/viewers as Lucy, though this only became her name much later) miserable while they were all at the same orphanage, located in or near the seaside town of Kamakura, Japan. Young Lucy called it a place of misery where other miserable children sought out anyone more miserable than themselves. Arguably, the dismissive and contemptuous attitude she received from the teachers and staff there encouraged the bullying. While most there either taunted or isolated Lucy, Tomoo and his gang were the worst and most persistent.

Elfen Lied
Being the first of a new evolutionary species, Lucy had horns atop her head that resembled cat-ears, marking her off from others, causing the teasing, taunting and coldness the others exhibited, telling her she wasn't human, but some sort of animal. In response, Lucy shut herself down emotionally, her only friend being a stray puppy she found on the grounds of the orphanage, which she fed with her own food. The emotional shutdown only made Tomoo all the more anxious to see her react and cry.

One day, after spilling sour milk in Lucy's backpack, one of Tomoo's buddies attacks on Lucy, knocked her down, till a girl nearby threatened to call a teacher to stop Tomoo. The girl made an offer of friendship to Lucy, offering also to keep her secrets. Desperate to feed her puppy, and running out of food for herself as a result, Lucy showed the girl the puppy. The girl promised to help feed it and keep the secret of its existence from people like Tomoo.

Yet not much later, Tomoo appeared before Lucy, with the puppy in hand. When it became clear he meant to harm it, the girl appeared and said she would never have told him about it had she known he would hurt it. She apologized to an angry Lucy, but evidence in the series exists that she befriended Lucy for the sole purpose of betraying her confidence.

While his two hench-boys held Lucy's arms, Tomoo with a fiendish grin on his face proceeded to beat the pup to death using a rock (in the manga) and a (vase in the anime). He further taunted Lucy that he was "sorry" the puppy hadn't held out longer. Looking over at the girl she had briefly believed to be her friend, Lucy saw her covering her face, supposedly in horror at the puppy's death, but with eye-spaces to peek through, and a small smile on her face.

For Lucy, this was the last straw, and in rage she unleashed a power she hadn't known she had - invisible arms made of telekinetic force. Screaming out that they were the ones who weren't 'real people', Lucy killed all four children who bullied her and then left the orphanage forever, pausing only to bury her puppy and apologize for not being able to protect it.

Tomoo and the other bullies (including possibly the girl, assuming she wasn't just loose-lipped) created a monster that day, and the rage in Lucy's heart would kill many thousands of people, including, sadly, the family of the only boy she ever loved, not long after this incident, spurred on by the mistrust the bullies had placed in her heart. In moments of doubt and pain, Lucy would sometimes hallucinate and see the horribly mutilated bodies of Tomoo and the girl taunting and teasing her yet again.

Trivia

 * The bullies (and possibly the Orphanage Girl) are very similar to Chris Hargensen & Billy Nolan. Both bullied the protagonist and turned them into psychopaths, both are later killed by the protagonist's powers as a revenge & both appear as a hallucination in the protagonist's mind, in a similar manner to the ending of the 2002 version of Carrie.
 * Despite being minor villains, many fans and viewers have highly hated the the bullies, especially the ringleader Tomoo for bullying Lucy & killing her puppy on purpose, thus crossing the Moral Event Horizon. Also, the bullies can be considered as one of the most hated villains ever, even far more hated that Elfen Lied's main antagonists Director Kakuzawa & Unknown Man (in the manga), who have done worst things than they did.
 * Killing animals for fun is said to be the first sign of a serial killer, something which is feared by some viewers & fans. Had Lucy not killed the bullies there is a distinct chance they would have grown up to be such people and their fear will come true, as believed by viewers & fans.
 * Tomoo is the only known member of the group to be named throughout the series.
 * Even thought they are children, many people stated the the bullies deserve that kind of gruesome death.
 * A definition of "human" is having a kind heart and being considerate and thoughtful for others. The bullies clearly did not fit this description, meaning Lucy's accusation of them not being human is justified.
 * Various fanfictions about the bullies fate in the afterlife appears in Elfen Lied fanfictions. In a majority of these fanfictions, the trio are always sent to hell to suffer for their ruthless crime where they are punished.