Keet

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Shuichi knows how to lighten up the mood.
"I get tired just watching him."
—Suezo, on Genki from Monster Rancher

Best described as the human equivalent of a parakeet: small, cute, colorful, hyperactive and regularly loud. A hyperactive kid who is also somewhat In Touch with His Feminine Side. The Keet is often a male surrogate for female audiences.

Pops up here and there, especially in Shojo and shows with Boys Love Genre overtones; if he is the star, he is usually paired off in some form with his polar opposite. This character is born out of an enduring and surprisingly strict design plan for characters in Boys Love Genre manga commonly called the Uke. A more manly version is the Boisterous Bruiser, who is often a seme in Boys Love Genre.

Often subject to a crossdressing escapade.

Compare Genki Girl.

Examples of Keet include:


Anime and Manga

  • Bleach
    • The Sogyo no Kotowari twins from the Unknown Tales arc certainly fit the bill.
    • A very early installment had a boy who fit this trope who had literally been turned into a parakeet.
  • Naruto in Part I. Not so much in Part II, where he matures. This is lampshaded in the Shippuden anime when Naruto and Sakura do an Omake beside their younger selves, and Naruto can't believe how hyper he used to be.
    • Akatsuki member Tobi is also hyperactive, especially in the Anime version. When he reveals himself to be Madara Uchiha, though, he drops the act.
    • Not to mention Rock Lee and Guy, who are so energetic it even makes Naruto pause at times.
  • Yuri in Kyou Kara Maou. Most of the time.
  • Shuichi in Gravitation (see above picture). Ryuichi, however, is unarguably the show's biggest Keet. There's another side to him, however....
  • Yugi, particularly after finding friends.
  • A good 25% of the cast of Ouran High School Host Club, but especially Hunny.
  • Nagisa Shiroi in Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.
  • Tetsunosuke in Peacemaker Kurogane.
  • The aptly-named Genki in Monster Rancher.
  • Takeru Takaishi from Digimon Adventure.
  • Son Goten of Dragonball Z.
  • Hanagata from Saber Marionette J is also a Camp Gay.
  • Mizumachi Kengo from Eyeshield 21 is 203 cm of sheer moxie.
  • Momiji Sohma from Fruits Basket is the embodiment of this trope and seems to be in love with Tohru. He grows up at the end and stops being as much of a Keet, though he's still rather genki.
  • Eiji Kikumaru from Prince of Tennis, though he evolves more into a Bunny Ears Lawyer as his character develops through the series. Arguably, people like Jiroh Akutagawa and Gakuto Mukahi from Hyoutei Gakuen and Kintarou Tooyama from Shitenhouji fit more into the archetype.
  • Gash Bell himself.
  • Son Goku (no not that Son Goku) from Saiyuki. He's this...OH.SO.MUCH!
    • Son Goku from Saiyuki is often described as this, especially by fans who have only watched the anime. In the manga, he slowly grows out of it.
  • Chico from the second Boku no Pico OVA. Even though he's a Cute Shotaro Boy, he's the most outgoing and cheerful in the third OVA. Pico even gets annoyed with him for a bit.
  • Asato Tsuzuki from Yami no Matsuei waffles back and forth between being this and The Woobie.
  • Feliciano/North Italy from Axis Powers Hetalia mixes this with The Ditz.
    • Poland too, if in a different way (more teasing and playful than cute and hyper), gratuitously mixed with Cloudcuckoolander.
    • While not necessarily colorful or small, Korea and America are definitely hyperactive and loud.
    • And Japan at one point thanks to Italy.
    • How is Sealand not on this list?
  • Ushijima in Shikabane Hime is another hetero example.
  • Tony Tony Chopper from One Piece to a certain extent.
    • Also Luffy. Bright red/orange, prone to yelling, way too much energy...
      • And he's extremely short and drawn in a sorta "cute" style with big round eyes. So he's a very straight example...
  • In Mahou Sensei Negima, a good portion of the male student body falls under this. The final event in the previous year's Mahorafest was a game of tag. Which they aren't repeating this year because there were too many injuries.
    • Negi also qualifies when he's able to get away from his Training from Hell and responsibilities as a teacher. When he acquires a time machine during the festival arc and realizes he has enough time to do everything, he goes right into adorable-kid mode.
      • His first impulse was to use the time machine to go back and see the dinosaurs.
  • Kimihiro Watanuki in ×××HOLiC is so Keet that eventually Doumeki stops bothering to tell him to quit being so loud and simply covers his ears when Watanuki inevitably gets overexcited. Or annoyed, which happens more often in Doumeki's vicinity.
  • Jin from Yu Yu Hakusho This is not helped by the fact that he has the same Japanese voice actor as Ryuichi Sakuma.
    • The concept itself is horribly, horribly deconstructed by Kiyoshi Mitarai, though.
  • Yogi from Karneval can be overdramatic and flamboyant one moment, then more serious than his "rival" First Ship's female fighter the next. He's not small and cute, though; just loud and cheery. It annoys the heck outta Ineffectual Loner Gareki when his sunshiny personality is directed at him.
  • Cooro from +Anima.
  • Akito from Air Gear.
  • Micchi of Kamichama Karin takes this to whole new levels. His interaction with the rest of the main cast comes dangerously close to flirting (both with Karin and Kazune). This is even though he's a year older and One Head Taller than either of them.
  • Mizushiro Hizumi from Spiral is "the Devil"... a very, very cheerful and cute one. When he isn't being murderous and/or unbearably angsty, that is - he'll switch between all three moods in a matter of seconds.
  • Jun/Barry from the Pokémon anime.
  • Otani from Lovely Complex is this quite often... awww.
  • Haiji from Ai Kora is a hyperactive, always-cheerful girly Love Freak. Naturally, he just had to have Maeda's ideal arse.
  • Takuto from Star Driver. However, his gender is definitely in question.
  • Lavi from D.Gray-man is every bit as genki as any Genki Girl.
  • Vash the Stampede falls into this mode as a part of his Obfuscating Stupidity, but he also seems to take some comfort in the act, especially while enjoying his donuts, which is a sure trigger for it.
  • Kanda Yuusuke from Devil and Her Love Song tends to act pretty genki at times. He's not small or hyper-active, but seems to be the cheeriest out of the bunch. He holds a bright personality & tends to be overly friendly, which annoys his best friend Meguro sometimes.
  • Oz of Pandora Hearts at times.
  • Gau, who is hyperactive, passionate and regularly loud. Yukimi's nickname for him is "Tenpa-kun", which is derived from the slang term "tenparu" (lit. "about to blow a fuse").
  • Amasawa of The Weatherman Is My Lover.
  • Isaac Dian from Baccano! is quite the Keet. And since his partner Miria Harvent is a Genki Girl, well . . .
  • Kuranosuke of Kuragehime, while not as small or shrill as your average Keet, still fits the bill.
  • Toru Nanamine of Bakuman｡ is constantly enthusiastic, even when his one-shot, "Classroom of Truth" doesn't get an award. It turns out to be an act, as he is actually quite smug and manipulative.
  • JJ Adams in FAKE, who spends most of his on-panel time gleefully flinging himself at Dee.
  • Nava of Wild Rock as he gets older.
  • Mira from Papa to Kiss in the Dark.
  • Finnian in Black Butler. Prince Soma, too.
  • Uta no Princesama heroine Haruka Nanami's singing idol Hayato is this. Or rather being keet is his image for the fans.
  • Haru from from Tsuritama. Cute, eccentric, and least a third of his dialogue is yelled.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords manga, Red Link is this, much to the annoyance of the Blue Link.

Comic Books

Film


Literature

  • Tasslehoff Burrfoot from the Dragonlance series. In fact his entire race is pretty much this. The kender as a race never experience fear without massive magical power. Even dragons don't bother them.
  • Colin Creevey, Colin Creevey, good Lord, Colin Creevey. A extremely hyperactive, and extremely persistent Fan Boy of Harry's.
  • Sometimes, Miles Vorkosigan. Very short, hyperactive, doesn't know the meaning of "impossible", charm on overdrive, and if not handsome exactly, manages to attract various tall, beautiful women through sheer personal magnetism. He does have troughs that match the peaks, unfortunately for him.


Live-Action TV


Music

  • Electric Six One-Man Band Dick Valentine is... interesting. Even more so in his songs.
  • Kai Hansen qualified on the first two Gamma Ray live videotapes (later released on DVD) where Ralf Scheepers was singing, giving Kai free rein to bounce around like he's high on crystal meth, grin maniacally at the camera, and generally act goofy and silly. Unfortunately he's much more restrained these days.
  • Brendon Urie in the video for "Nine In The Afternoon". He was basically running around in pajamas for a good portion of the video and kept picking up random objects like an alarm clock and a vacuum.
  • Iron Maiden's guitarist Janick Gers is noted for being reallyhyperactive on stage.


Video Games

  • Fast talkin', skull bashin', cola swillin' Scout, from Team Fortress 2. Short, shrill, and hyper to the point of infuriating? You betta believe it pal! Obviously, he is also far more violent than most Keets—a trait that gets lost when he's subjected to Wimpification, as he frequently is.
  • Kieran and Tormod of Fire Emblem qualify.
  • Charmy Bee fits perfectly into this trope, as he is often energetic, playful, and very scatterbrained. Of course, his constant buzzing can be annoying sometimes.
    • Long before him, we have Miles "Tails" Prower.
  • Mao from Tales of Rebirth is a Cute Shotaro Boy who seems to be always ready to lighten up the mood.
  • In Dissidia Final Fantasy, Tidus feels like this. But it's a different play on this trope—he is not overly upbeat, but when you put him with the rest of the game's cast, he is a damn good machine of mood-lightening. Unless you bring up his Father, in which case he becomes a Ball of Angry Angst.
    • Zidane, as well, though he can occasionally get serious.
      • And Bartz rounds out the trifecta of cheerful FF heroes.
  • Zack Fair, the thoroughly Adorkable protagonist in the Final Fantasy VII prequel Crisis Core, is enthusiastic, bouncy, and friendly to the point that people start sticking him with the nickname "puppy".
  • Snow Villiers from Final Fantasy XIII.
  • Sora, of the Kingdom Hearts series can be relentlessly cheerful. He pretty much has to be to be able to keep up with a pair of classic Toons as his sidekicks.
    • Ventus is just as adorable and cheerful as Sora, but in a completly different manner.
  • Cloudcuckoolander Ellis from Left 4 Dead 2 is a Keet, though a toned-down, Southern version.
    • Arguably Louis from the original Left 4 Dead is another, perpetually optimistic flavor of keet, always hopeful, trying to keep the team's spirits up and looking at the bright side of things in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse.
  • More so then his anime counterpart, Barry/Pearl/Damion from Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
  • Claus from Mother 3. Until he gets brainwashed by the Pigmasks, that is.
  • The titular character from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg has some qualities of this, fitting his role as savior of Morning Land.
  • Yes-Man of New Vegas.
  • Cadet Ellis (No relation to the above) from Vindictus. Makes it all the more of a Player Punch when he eagerly runs off to prove himself and gets brutally killed by a giant goblin.
  • Parry Gotha in Dragon Quest V, mostly as the effect of the party talk system. He even think of his uber legendary sword as a toy.
  • Mario definitely fits as one of these, with his cheerful YAHOOs and WAHAHAHAs.
  • Surprisingly, Pit.
  • Inazuma Eleven, Endou Mamoru is probably the happiest of the major heroes in the Raimon Academy and Inazuma Japan National. His happy trait and Heroic Spirit are what drive the team to victory. Moreover, he almost never angst after the first game.
  • In most of his incarnations, Legend of Zelda's main protagonist, Link, is a rather serious young person. By contrast, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker's Link is cheerful, upbeat, and downright silly at times. He can still go toe to toe with the baddest of the bad, but he was also once turned into a human pancake.
  • Griff Simmons from the SSX Series fits well into this.
  • Morenatsu: Hoo Boy! Let me give you two words... Shun Kodori. Nuff' said.


Web Comics


Web Original


Western Animation

"Maybe he was the Knight! Or the Pixie!"
"The Pixie was your mom."
"Maybe he was the Knight!"


Real Life

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