The nameship of the Takao-class as represented in Azur Lane. Her censored name is "獒" ("Mastiff").

She wears a white military uniform with a white pleated miniskirt and black pantyhose. She has long black hair worn in a ponytail. Like most of the Sakura Empire ships, she has animal ears. In her case, dog ears folded down to resemble hair flaps (contrast to Atago's erect ears). Because they blend almost perfectly with her hair, they are often omitted by fan artists or transformed into actual hair flaps or hair ears.

She is often paired with her sister ship Atago, and like her sister she has large breasts.

Voiced by Kakuma Ai.

History

The real-life Takao was the lead ship and name ship of a class of four heavy cruisers designed as an improvement over Myoukou, with the same 20.3 cm twin mounts of an improved turret design in the same layout. Intended to correct seakeeping and firepower issues with the Myoukous, they ended up having the same top-heaviness that resulted in the last two members of the class (Maya and Choukai) built to a slightly modified design.

During the war, Takao saw action in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Aleutians, Guadalcanal, and Solomon Islands campaigns before sustaining damage in an air raid on Rabaul in November 1943. After repairs, she saw further action in the battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf, where she was torpedoed and put out of action for the rest of the war. She remained moored alongside Myoukou in Singapore where they were surrendered to the Royal Navy and later sunk as targets.