Boys Over Flowers/Characters

Here is the page detailing the specific characters that inhabit the world of Hana Yori Dango.

Makino Tsukushi
The protagonist. A poor but extremely determined girl that wins a scholarship to Eitoku Academy. Originally she tries to not stand out and ignores the bullying atmosphere despite her inclinations, but when her friends is threatened by the chief bully, she decides to dedicate herself to resisting it. The series focuses mostly on her romantic tribulations, first with the reserved Rui Hanazawa, then with the hot-blooded Tsukasa Domyoji


 * All of the Other Reindeer: As a family that moves from middle class to extremely poor, she tends to get a lot of flack at a school where its normal for students to go on field trips to Hawaii.
 * Break the Cutie: She goes through this over the course of the series, but her Plucky Girl nature tends to win out over despair in the end.
 * Brainy Brunette: She actually got into Eitoku due to her own booksmarts.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Although it's mostly wasted on the Sarcasm-Blind Tsukasa.
 * Friend to All Children: She has a soft spot for them, and they like her since she has no problem getting down on their level.
 * Hollywood Homely: In the manga she's a victim of Generic Cuteness. The J-Drama does a pretty good job all things considered of making Mao Inoue look a bit plain compared to the heavily made up and stylized wealthy girls of the series, but she's still very attractive.
 * Kelly Sheridan
 * Knight in Sour Armor: In her war against bullies.
 * Maki Mochida
 * Plucky Girl: Extremely so. She puts up with enough crap in the first few episodes alone that anyone without superhuman resources of moxie would just curl up and die.
 * Scholarship Student
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: First seen at Shizuka's party.
 * Single Woman Seeks Good Man: At first, at least, and it's worth noting that she very emphatically likes Tsukasa despite his Jerkass tendencies, and doesn't even give him the time of day before he shows his heart of gold.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Still ends up with Tsukasa in the end.
 * Tomboy: Has definite traits of this (especially compared to most of the other girls in the series), from her outspoken personality to her daily pushup routine.
 * Tsundere: Rui (at least at first) gets most of the "dere-dere" where as Tsukasa gets the lion's share of the "tsun-tsun" (oddly enough, he seems to prefer it that way).
 * Will Not Be a Victim: Utterly refuses to let bad luck and harrassment get to her.
 * Women Are Wiser: Especially when compared to Tsukasa, although Tsukushi is generally just more canny than the Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense people that surround her, regardless of gender.

Domyoji Tsukasa
Tsukushi's initial worst enemy. He starts out as a brutish, malevolent bully who is Tsukushi's main obstacle to happiness, then his attempts to harass her get less and less threatening and more and more amusing, and finally he becomes the main Love Interest. He's emotionally stunted, immature, and kind of an idiot, all of which get more sympathetic once you understand the incredible neglect that typified his childhood. The richest and most aggressive member of the F4, and therefore the leader. He has a definite soft side, especially when it comes to Tsukushi, but has an extremely gruff exterior.


 * Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Love At First Punch: With Tsukushi. So much that they provide the picture in the main page!
 * Malaproper: Very, very much. In the manga, other characters have even broken the fifth wall to point out his inability to speak certain simple words in Kanji (as represented in his speech bubble).
 * Michael Adam White
 * Naoki Miyashita
 * Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: AND HOW!
 * Would Hit a Girl: Or at least toss one to get away from her unwanted attention.
 * The White Prince: Gradually changes in portrayal from a more snobby and superior type to a more silly and naive type.

Rui Hanazawa
The closest that Tsukasa has to a best friend, and a member of the F4 as well. Tsukushi has a crush on him, since he has helped her out more than once. He's revealed to be still hung up on Shizuka, his childhood friend.


 * Elegant Classical Musician: Gifted violin player.
 * Kouji Yamamoto
 * Shrinking Violet: Used to have huge panic attacks as a kid. He got better thanks to Shizuka, but becomes emotionally dependant on her.
 * Stephen Park
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * The Quiet One

Akira Mimasaka
Third member of the F4, and a snarky playboy whose family belongs to the Yakuza in some continuities.


 * Likes Older Women: He likes his ladies older, since his mother is a massive Adult Child.
 * Team Dad: A rather sui-generis case. He doesn't particularly care about forcing morality on the group (and probably couldn't if he wanted to) but is the general mediator for conflicts and seems to take it upon his shoulders when the group isn't getting along, eventually leading to him getting in a fistfight with Tsukasa when the latter won't stop stirring up drama with Rui.
 * Yakuza Prince: Specifically, in the live action.
 * Yuta Mochizuki
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Tuxedo Kamen? Is that you?!

Soujiro Nichikado
Fourth member of the F4, he comes from a very traditional family involved in the tea ceremony business.


 * Andrew Francis
 * Casanova
 * The Dutiful Son: He serves this purpose in his family; his oldest brother left to become a doctor and is considered the black sheep of the family, while Soujirou stayed behind to train to take charge of his family's tea ceremony enterprise. However, while he's not the protagonist, he's a far more important character than his never-seen brother, and is a flagrant hedonist and womanizer.
 * Ship Tease: With Yuki, in some continuities.
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky
 * Yoshihiko Akaida

Yuuki Matsuoka
Tsukushi's old friend, who works part-time with her in a dango shop.


 * The Cutie
 * Kanako Tobimatsu
 * Girl Next Door
 * Tabitha St. Germain

Makiko Endou
The first friend that Tsukishi makes in Eitoku. It's thanks to Tsukushi standing up for her sake that she's at first targeted by the F4.


 * Fuuko Misaki
 * Broken Bird: For such a shy and sweet girl, she's very cynical about Eitoku as a whole.
 * Nicole Bouma
 * Shrinking Violet

Shizuka Todou
Rui's girlfriend, a beautiful actress and teen idol.


 * Cool Big Sis
 * Keiko Imamura
 * Living Emotional Crutch: For Rui
 * Nicole Oliver
 * The Ojou
 * Team Mom: She seems to have formerly filled this role for the F4, and her absence may have something to do with the extreme levels of jerkassery they've fallen to by the beginning of the series.
 * Team Mom: She seems to have formerly filled this role for the F4, and her absence may have something to do with the extreme levels of jerkassery they've fallen to by the beginning of the series.

Kazuya Aoike
Tsukushi's old friend, who arrives to Eitoku after his parents make it to the top of their business.


 * Brad Swaile
 * The Chew Toy
 * Dogged Nice Guy: To Tsukushi
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend.
 * Nouveau Riche
 * Undying Loyalty: Towards Tsukushi
 * Youji Ietomi

Sakurako Sanjou
A really pretty girl whom Tsukushi protects from some people harrassing her. However, she has a far darker side...


 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
 * Jocelyn Lowe
 * Rumi Shishido
 * Jocelyn Lowe
 * Rumi Shishido
 * Rumi Shishido
 * Rumi Shishido

Kaede Doumyouji
Tsukasa's mother, as well as the leaderess of the Doumyouji family.


 * Abusive Parents: To both Tsubaki and Tsukasa, and to borderline Complete Monster levels. It says a lot when we see that she's the ONLY person who terrifies the plucky Tsubaki into submission.
 * Arranged Marriage: Ropes Tsubaki into one, wants to do that to Tsukasa and Shigeru.
 * Evil Matriarch: And holy goddamned shit HOW!
 * Mika Doi
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Yissssss.

Tsubaki Doumyouji
Tsukasa's older sister, and the one who was mostly in charge of his early upbringing due to Parental Abandonment. A gorgeous and famous top model, she lives with her husband in the USA.


 * Cool Big Sis
 * The Ojou
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * Tsundere: Type A, to the core.

Shigeru Ookawahara
Tsukasa's very, very eccentric fiancée.


 * Arranged Marriage: With Tsukasa. She does sorta like him, but is aware that he loves Tsukushi
 * Boyish Short Hair
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * The Ojou
 * Shipper on Deck: For Tsukasa and Tsukushi
 * Strange Girl

Yuriko Asai, Minako Yamano, and Erika Ayuhara
Three girls who are INSANELY jealous of Tsukushi for the attention she gets from the F4.


 * Alpha Bitches - Girl Posse
 * Clingy Jealous Girls
 * Green-Eyed Monster
 * Rich Bitches
 * Satellite Character: Their whole gig is about them bullying Tsukushi due to jealousy over the F4.

Urara-sensei
The head nurse from Eitoku.


 * Canon Foreigner: Only appears in the anime
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Though, if you pay some attention to her rants, you may find some useful advice.