Kaneki was originally a human who encountered a female ghoul named Kamishiro Rize. After being assaulted by her, he underwent emergency surgery procedures. Rize used her charm and attraction towards Kaneki as a means to get her next meal. She was cunning and manipulative.
After the attack, Kaneki was rushed to the hospital in a half-dead state with Rize. A doctor named Kanou transplanted what he believed to be a kidney into Kaneki's body to save his life. However, this turned out to be part of Rize's kagune, which gave him powers of regeneration and kagune usage.
Due to the unnatural abundance of RC Cells in his body because of Rize's kagune, Kaneki lost the ability to stomach human food and gained the power to consume coffee instead. He also consumed other ghouls when necessary but refused to eat humans.
Later, he joined with several ghouls, including Banjou and Tsukiyama Shuu, to reduce the number of ghouls causing havoc in the world. His unique physical features earned him the name "One-Eye" among the ghoul community, and his kagune took on the form of a centipede when he was put under immense stress, pressure, and anxiety.
Kaneki's powers made him an SS-Rated ghoul, which is considered one of the strongest in the world.
During the time he is being tortured by Yamori, Kanekis hair turns white and his nails turn black because of the stress and repeated mutilations of his fingers and toes.
During his fight with Kanae, Kaneki regained his memories. With the return of his memories, Kaneki has become emotionally cold and detached. Its revealed that during his fight with Arima, Kaneki wished to die. This desire has remained in Kaneki. His cold demeanor is a result of Kanekis desire to die.
After surviving his battle against Arima, Kaneki loses his memories of his past and becomes unaware of his true self.Kaneki now lives under the new identity of Haise Sasaki and has been taken into the care of the CCG. He is a Associate Special Class Ghoul Investigator, the former mentor of the Quinx Squad and a member of Team Mado. Kanekis duties are overseen by Akira Mado and Kishou Arima.
When a ghoul cannibalizes another ghoul, some of their RC Cells are absorbed into the consuming ghouls body. As a result, said ghoul will eventually lose himself to insanity and madness because of the overabundance of RC Cells, even for ghouls. Yamori (Jason) is a prime example of cannibalizing ghouls and becoming a victim of insanity, eventually Kaneki will, too. Kanekis centipede state is a perfect example of his fight with losing himself to the RC Cells and memories of other ghouls.
22-23 (Tokyo Ghoul:re)