Haruhi Suzumiya/Characters: Difference between revisions

These are the characters that appear in the ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' series of anime and light novels. A warning: this series is [[Troperrific|the poster child of tropes]], so entries could get a bit long.

 

 

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An eccentric, [[Genre Savvy]], [[Genki Girl|hyperactive]] young woman who enrolls in North High in her first year. She starts off the plot by roping in an unwitting Kyon into forming a club with her, the "'''S'''preading Excitement All '''O'''ver the World With Haruhi '''S'''uzumiya Brigade", or the '''SOS Brigade''' for short. Her eccentricity stems from the fact that she can't come to terms with the fact that she's not a special person, so she spends every day trying to look for something out of the ordinary.

 

 

The story essentially revolves around the antics caused by her powers, directly or indirectly, and the [[Character Development]] which ensues within the SOS Brigade.

Tropes which apply to Haruhi:

* [[Agent Mulder]]: Or she'd like to be. Her inner [[Agent Scully]] keeps her from [[Weirdness Censor|actually recognizing the weirdness around her.]] When Kyon actually tells her about the truth about herself and the other members, she doesn't believe him at all and scorns him for it.

* [[Black Comedy Rape]]: With molestation rather outright rape.

* [[Black Hole Sue]]: An in-universe deconstruction. The plot ''literally'' revolves around her, but because of her [[Selective Obliviousness]] she never really seems to figure this out. Considering [[Go Mad From the Revelation|one of the possible scenarios should she ever find out about her powers]] this is probably for the best. It can also be theorized that the universe essentially bending over for her is what caused her screwed up personality in the first place.

* [[Broken Bird]]: One that manifests her disillusionment at the world through cheery obnoxious behavior.

** She appears to be one when Kyon first sees her in the alternate world in the Disappearance film. While she seems normal, you can clearly tell she's not very happy with life.

* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: What the other three members of the SOS brigade fear would happen should something drastic happen, particularly to Kyon.

* [[Eyes of Gold]]

* [[Fan Nickname]]: "[[God-Emperor|God Empress]]" Haruhi

* [[Faux Action Girl]]: Invoked in-universe. She can deliver a flying kick to the head to the [[Chew Toy]], but she can't be called on to help with the fights that are being kept from her because...''they're being kept from her.''

 

== Kyon ==

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Tomokazu Sugita]] (JP), [[Crispin Freeman]] (EN)}}

 

{{quote|''"The question of how long someone believed in Santa Claus is a worthless topic that would never come up in idle conversation. Having said that, if you're going to ask me how much of my childhood I spent believing in an old man in a red suit, I can confidently say that I never believed in him to begin with."''}}

 

 

Unfortunately for him, his curiosity gets the better of him when he is introduced to irritable [[Cloudcuckoolander]] Haruhi Suzumiya, and they strike up a sort of friendship, which eventually leads to him being the first member inducted into her bizarre [[Five-Man Band|"SOS Brigade"]], a club dedicated to finding all those things Kyon refuses to believe exist.

 

Kyon [[Unreliable Narrator|presents himself in the narration]] as a [[Blatant Lies|levelheaded, objective, philosophical guy]].

Tropes associated with Kyon:

* [[Accidental Pervert]]: Although his thoughts regarding Mikuru sometimes move toward [[Covert Pervert]] territory.

* [[Cassandra Truth]]: Kyon stutters out an explanation of the SOS Brigade to Haruhi in the prologue of ''Sigh''. She doesn't buy a word of it. Obviously.

* [[The Comically Serious]]

* [[Character Development]]: As mentioned under [[Pinball Protagonist]] Kyon goes from being incredibly [[Brilliant but Lazy]] to much more assertive and active in the story's action. This is because his lack of action and over-reliance on the other SOS Brigade members (especially Yuki) lead to the events in ''Disappearance.''

* [[Chick Magnet]]: He seems to be one due to the fact all the girls like him.

* [[Foil]]: Arguably the whole point of the Haruhi/Kyon relationship is how their opposing personalities come to a balance.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Yes, he really is. Only Yuki and he worked out what happened on Remote Island Syndrome, and Yuki worked it out only because she's an alien with special powers.

* [[Gratuitous English]]: Dubbed in one instance into [[Gratuitous Japanese]].

* [[Grumpy Bear]]

 

== Yuki Nagato ==

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Minori Chihara]] (JP), [[Michelle Ruff]] (EN)}}

 

[[The Reveal|Actually]], she's an advanced [[Artificial Human]] [[Robot Girl]] controlled by a [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] known as the Data Overmind, which exists on a mostly non-physical level. Her purpose (and that of her fellow Humanoid Interfaces) is to observe Haruhi and her [[Reality Warper]] powers. Her [[Character Development]] stems from her continuing closeness to Kyon, to the point that her loyalty ultimately lies towards him and the SOS Brigade.

 

Tropes associated with Yuki:

* [[Adorkable]]: Few people make dopey ignorance towards Earth-Technology so darned cute, as show with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHZmor8eadU&feature=related THIS little old scene].

{{quote|''"That's [[Classified Information]]."''}}

 

 

Mikuru is, as far as the audience can tell, the least diligent in the whole "observe/control" Haruhi business. Indeed, she seems content to be the SOS Brigade's personal [[Meido]] (having an especial fascination with tea-brewing for some reason), deal with 21st-century culture shock, and endure Haruhi's [[Black Comedy Rape|constant molestation]] and enforced [[Cosplay]]. It's not that she's around [[Ms. Fanservice|solely for window-dressing]]. It's just that she's passive to the point of being [[The Chew Toy]]. (And partly around for window-dressing).

Tropes associated with Mikuru:

* [[Adorkable]]

 

If Kyoko's words in Volumes 10 and 11 are anything to go by, he is {{spoiler|[[King Incognito|the founder and the leader of the Agency]].}}

Tropes associated with Itsuki:

* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]: Oh, so much. That he keeps his own emotions hidden behind [[Stepford Smiler|a plastered smile]] makes him the one character in the series almost no one in the fandom agrees on.

== Secondary Characters ==

 

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Natsuko Kuwatani]] (JP), [[Bridget Hoffman]] (EN)}}

 

 

In the [[Alternate Universe]] stemming from ''Disappearance'', she is a normal student and still the [[Class Representative]] of Kyon's class. {{spoiler|Nonetheless, she ''still'' ends up trying to kill Kyon at the end, when things are about to return to normal.}}

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: All Ryoko wants to do is to break the status quo and incite some reaction from the titular character. Her method happens to be trying to murder the narrator, and major love interest, Kyon. {{spoiler|When she returns in the tenth novel as a Boxed Crook, she still wants to kill Kyon because she still believes that her actions were justified. Still, she protects him, because she wants to be the one to kill him.}}

* [[The Worf Effect]]: Has only nailed Yuki (who was using her own body as a distraction) and Kyon when she took him completely by surprise.

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]]

=== Tsuruya ===

[[File:tsuruya.jpg|frame]]

 

No one really knows what's up with '''Tsuruya-san''', Mikuru's classmate, ersatz SOS Brigade member and something of a [[Sixth Ranger]]. She's got the ([[Rapunzel Hair|ankle length]]) [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|green hair]] one would expect from a Humanoid Interface, but seems to be totally normal, if just as much of a [[Genki Girl]] as Haruhi. She's also notable for her [[Cute Little Fangs|Cute Little]] [[Fashionable Asymmetry|Fang]], [[Big Fancy House]], [[The Hyena|tendency to point and laugh (very loudly)]], and for inspiring the [[Fan Web Comic]] and [[Memetic Mutation]] Sensation, Churuya. She also seems unusually aware of the SOS Brigade's oddities for a [[Muggle]], but seems content to enjoy the show rather than disrupt the Brigade's attempts to keep Haruhi under control. Sort of an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]].

* [[Big Fancy House]]

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Her tendency to laugh at almost anything.

* [[Verbal Tic]]: "Nyoro<ref>Japanese for [[Saying Sound Effects Out Loud|tilde (~)]]</ref>" though she only says it very rarely (once in the anime). The anime also adds "megas"; though it's used only once in the actual anime it appears in her character songs.

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|You Gotta Have Green Hair]]

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Yuri Shiratori]] (JP), [[Hynden Walch]] (EN)}}

 

* [[Adaptation-Induced Plothole]]: More regarding characterization. The character songs for the anime's first season were released prior to the tenth-novel preview; building off the fact that she's an interface, the songs portrayed her as someone reaching for humanity and wanting to participate in the fun everyone else has but being unable to. The tenth-novel preview, however, revealed that {{spoiler|she doesn't give a damn about anything that interferes with what the Entity wants, not even Yuki's personal safety}}.

* [[All Powerful Bystander]]: {{spoiler|Of the first and last variety at the same time: she hasn't been ordered to help out Nagato when she gets sick in the tenth novel, and she doesn't care enough about her to do so either. Thus, she just continues to watch.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]}}

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|You Gotta Have Green Hair]]

{{quote|Taniguchi voiced by: [[Minoru Shiraishi]] (JP), [[Sam Riegel]] (EN)

Kunikida voiced by: [[Megumi Matsumoto]] (JP), [[Brianne Siddall]] (EN) }}

 

'''Taniguchi''' and '''Kunikida''' are [[Those Two Guys]] and Kyon's main non-SOS Brigade friends. Both totally normal to all appearances, Taniguchi is a [[Big Eater]] and something of a teenage [[Casanova Wannabe]] who is implied to have dated Haruhi for exactly five minutes back in junior high. Kunikida is Kyon's junior high friend, and receives no [[Character Development]] or [[Backstory]] detail whatsoever - except that he gets better grades than Taniguchi or Kyon {{spoiler|and, as is revealed in the eleventh novel, may have a crush on Tsuruya}}. They both act as an anchor of normalcy for Kyon, and occasional extra bodies in the SOS Brigade for things like baseball games or magazine publishing.

* [[Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?]]: Taniguchi briefly tasted Haruhi's shortest relationship, listed one alien as a top pick then dated another one for a few months. Fortunately for his sanity, he's [[Locked Out of the Loop]] and just a [[Romantic False Lead]].

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Taniguchi for Kyon x Haruhi and Kunikida for Kyon x Sasaki. (In the novels at least.)

* [[Ship Tease]]: {{spoiler|Kunikida goes to North High so he can be with Tsuruya more often.}}

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Sayaka Aoki]] (JP), [[Kari Wahlgren]] (EN)}}

 

* [[Cheerful Child]]

* [[Genki Girl]]

* [[Hair Decorations]]

* [[No Name Given]]

{{quote|Voiced by: [[Dave Wittenberg]] (EN)}}

 

* [[Butt Monkey]]

* [[The Chew Toy]]

* [[Laser-Guided Karma]]: After trying to cheat their way to victory in their game against the SOS Brigade, Yuki manages to one-up them by hijacking the code to their game and prevent them from cheating.

* [[No Name Given]]: The anime at least, plays with this by making Kimidori say his name, only to get cut off by the meowing of a cat.

[[File:HarSuzStuCoPrez.jpg|frame]]

 

Another character with [[No Name Given]], he is the school's [[Student Council President]] introduced in ''The Anger of Haruhi Suzumiya'' by Koizumi to give Haruhi an antagonist and to keep her from getting bored. He acts like a [[Bespectacled Bastard Boyfriend]] in his role as the president, but he is secretly laughing at how ridiculous his job is. Later on, it seems that Haruhi's influence is making him take his job more seriously.

Tropes associated with the Student Council President:

 

* [[Student Council President]]: Invoked by Koizumi to keep Haruhi entertained.

 

 

 

Contrary to the popular pre-''Astonishment'' theories, Yasumi has not yet been revealed to be one of the supernatural beings that Haruhi has been pursuing. However, as her presence is the most obvious difference between the Alpha and Beta plots (aside from the mysterious phone call to Kyon {{spoiler|which was probably made by her in the first place}}), [[Haruhi Suzumiya/WMG|speculation has abounded as to her true nature]]. {{spoiler|But ''really'', she was born of Haruhi's subconscious to save Yuki and Kyon from the troubles they suffer in the Beta plot, causing the [[Alternate Universe|Alpha plotline]] to occur in the process.}}

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]

* {{spoiler|[[Deus Ex Machina]]: Literally, she was created by Haruhi's subconcious precisely in order to handily solve the plot.}}

* [[Significant Anagram]]: When her name is read in the proper reading (Yasumizu Watahashi), it can be rearranged to say {{spoiler|''watashi wa(ha) Suzumiya'' -- I am Suzumiya}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Sixth Ranger]]: [[Averted Trope|Albeit briefly.]] }}

{{quote|Voiced by: Steve Kramer (EN, season 1) [[Michael McConnohie]] (season 2)}}

 

 

[[File:asos.jpg|frame|Clockwise from the top-left:Fujiwara, Kyoko Tachibana, Sasaki, and Kuyo Suo.]]

The "'''Anti-SOS Brigade'''" are [[The Psycho Rangers]]. While not nearly as cohesive as Kyon's [[True Companions]], they've more or less allied for differing reasons.

 

'''Sasaki''', Kyon's old girlfriend. Or at least the female person he used to hang around with, and the reason for his pre-Haruhi reputation for "liking weird girls." Sasaki is intelligent and analytical...but chooses not to do anything to change her environment. She knows about aliens, time-travellers and espers, which are interesting, but she's not going to change her daily routine over it. She's somewhat of [[The Spock]] and wishes to keep out of the God-business all the organizations have.

* {{spoiler|[[Villainous Breakdown]]: In the 11th novel, complete with [[Motive Rant]].}}

* [[Wham! Line]]: During the climax of the 11th novel: {{spoiler|"Go kill Haruhi Suzumiya!"}}