List of Ouran High School Host Club characters

Ouran High School Host Club is a manga and anime series written by Bisco Hatori. The plot centers around a group of students attending Ouran High School which is a prestigious academy, and generally attended by students from wealthy aristocratic families. Much of the series takes place within a Ouran High School host club that is a student operated club where beautiful, charismatic male students entertain female students. The series does not portray characters in stereotypical fantasies that is often found in other Japanese manga.

The club was created and presided by Tamaki Suoh, the son of the school's chairman. Such hand-picked most of the club's members for different qualities which he thought would create a rounded aesthetic and personality base for the club's purpose. The exception is Haruhi Fujioka who is a new student that stumbled across the club room while finding a quiet study area. After accidentally breaking a very expensive vase, she is indebted to the club, and was forced to join and work as a host in order to pay off this debt.

Each club member plays a specific role: Mori being the strong silent type; Honey the boy lolita type; Kyoya the cool type; Hikaru and Kaoru the little devil type; Tamaki the princely type; and Haruhi as the natural type. In addition to the club members, the club also consists of many customers and associates, as well as various family members, schoolmates, rivals and other characters that come and go. The Ouran High School Host Club characters have been praised as comedic creations that play off bishōnen stereotypes that are also well-rounded.

The romanization in the English-language editions of the manga published by VIZ Media and Chuang Yi, and the anime from Funimation differ from the English romanization used on Nippon Television's Japanese-language website.

Haruhi Fujioka
Haruhi Fujioka (藤岡 ハルヒ) (born 4 February) aged 15, then turns 16 in chapter 70, is the main character of the series.

Haruhi is an intelligent first-year student that comes from a poor family (having a cross-dressing father and a deceased mother) who attends an exclusive private school Ouran High School. Haruhi is a recipient of a special scholarship and is required to achieve academic excellence and ranked first in class. She stumbles across the Club while finding a quiet study place, and accidentally breaks a &#165;8,000,000 vase that was to be featured in a school auction. She clears her debt to the club by disguising herself as a boy and working as a host for the Club. She finds this task easy because she does not feel gender dominating her personality. She soon realizes her acting as host and talking with girls is natural and she begins to enjoy it. However, she dislikes taking time away from studying and finds the antics of other hosts extremely irritating but also increasingly endearing. In chapter 8 it is told that Haruhi has Astraphobia (a fear of lightning and thunder), but is not afraid of anything else.

In chapter 57, Haruhi realizes she is in love with Tamaki. She blushes whenever Tamaki is present. This discovery makes her panic and avoid seeing Tamaki. After Haruhi accepts the fact she is in love with Tamaki, she decides to learn more about herself before telling him. After this, she returns to her old self, but still blushes occasionally if Tamaki gets too close. Haruhi is unsure how to cope with her feelings towards Tamaki, and when confronted by Hikaru in chapter 62, she was unable to give Hikaru an answer.

After hearing from Tamaki that he's quitting the club due to his study workload, and that she is allowed to quit as well, Haruhi confronts Tamaki with the reason but is coldly answered. He treats her harshly when she tries to find out more, even after school to see his grandmother at Suoh Company. Haruhi is greatly hurt by his anger and cold behavior, and after learning the reason of Tamaki's behavior she stays away from him. As her being no longer a host of the Club, she wears the same attire as seen in chapter 1. In chapter 78, she is once again questioned about her feelings for Tamaki by Hikaru, and this time she admits she is in love with him. Hikaru tells her to confess her feelings to Tamaki.

At the end of chapter 80, after having made sure Tamaki saw his mother before going to France, Haruhi finally confesses her love. Both panic and Haruhi attempted to run away before saying she does not know if she really loves him. Tamaki kisses her and asks if she knows her feelings better now. After returning to the Club activities, Haruhi has turned calm and seemingly indifferent to Tamaki being her boyfriend now, which confuses the twins. However, she explains that she's really happy and tells Tamaki that she wants to spend more time with him.

During their awkward and romantic date, the two experienced an uncomfortable encounter with the Zuka Club. Thanks to the Ouran High School Host Club in disguise as the peeping group, they give Tamaki and Haruhi a chance to get away while they distract Zuka Club. The Host Club then finds themselves being questioned by the Zuka Club as to how long they think they can hide Haruhi's gender which worries them. Haruhi lets Tamaki take her somewhere, until they reach a cemetery where her mother is buried. Haruhi listens while Tamaki pours out his feelings about her to her mother, and is shocked to hear him reveal his awareness of her option of studying abroad. During this moment, none of them are aware that Haruhi's father is hiding nearby and heard the entire conversation. The chapter ends with Haruhi telling Tamaki that she has decided to go to America.

(Japanese anime and later drama CDs), Aya Hisakawa (early drama CDs), Caitlin Glass (English)

Tamaki Suoh
Tamaki Suoh (須王 環) (born 8 April, Buddha's birthday), aged 17 at beginning of the series, is a second-year student at Ouran High School and the founder and president of the Host Club.

While he is flamboyant and narcissistic (Suō means "rightfully becoming king" or "to become a king"), he is dedicated to his duties as a host. He is the "Prince type" to entertain and ply customers with an upper class etiquette and shameless flattery. He is partial to classic piano music and plays exceedingly well. He has a teddy bear called Kuma-chan ("Beary" in English; kuma being Japanese for bear). He refers to his Club as his "family": Kyoya being the Mommy; Haruhi being the daughter; Hikaru and Kaoru as the brothers; Morinozuka and Haninozuka the cousins.

As Tamaki is the main comic relief character of the series, he is outspoken and naïve for his age, especially since he only views himself as an obsessive father figure to Haruhi; however, in reality he is in love with her. Mori (as well as Honey) points out his naiveté when it comes to how he truly feels about Haruhi, and the rest of the club sees this too. His naiveté applies to his overall dense approach to his own feelings even though he is perceptive about other people's, which is mentioned by the twins but several other members of the Club as well. He often gets jealous of other boys who get close to her and admires her when she shows her natural abilities. Haruhi eventually realizes that she is in love with Tamaki, while Tamaki begins to realize the depth of his true feelings further into the series.

Tamaki is half Japanese and half French, and is in his father's custody. His father is the wealthy chairman of Ouran Academy. They live separately from his French mother because of a deal with his mother and his bitterly cold paternal grandmother. Tamaki lives at Suoh mansion number two while his father lives at the main mansion with Tamaki's grandmother. Despite his grandmother forbidding Tamaki from seeing his mother, he treats her gently and persuades her to accept him as a part of the Suoh family. As of the latest chapters, he befriended and become close with Megumi Kanoya who is a new student suffering from family troubles. Tamaki realizes that he cannot help Megumi because her family matters are worse than his own family matters. He has rejected her twice but his feelings toward her appear to be extending once again into a protective family-type of assurance.

His family name is romanized by VIZ Media as Suoh and by Chuang Yi, Funimation, and Nippon Television's Japanese-language website as Suou. His full name is revealed to be René Tamaki Richard de Grandtaine in chapter 55.

At the end of chapter 64, he finally realizes that he loves Haruhi. Not as a "father", but as a man. He reveals this in chapter 67 after his Club members say they are not his "family", yet their bonds won't break even if he were to pursue his true feelings towards Haruhi. At chapter 68, he finally understands this and eventually reverts back to his old self after his "trauma" state which the Host Club helped him grow out from. However, he still cannot find the courage to confess since he's afraid she possibly doesn't return his feelings.

In chapter 72, Tamaki and Haruhi shared an accidental kiss. As a result, both of them become more conscious of their feelings for each other.

In recent chapters Tamaki was taken into the main residence, in which he tried to get on good terms with his grandmother. She demanded Tamaki to break all ties with Haruhi because of the trouble he caused her and the school by hiding her gender. Tamaki quits the club and told Haruhi she may quit as well. However, it's been recently revealed that his father, in cooperation with Kyouya's father and their companies, developed a medicine that can cure Tamaki's mother, and allow them to order the retirement of the president, Tamaki's grandmother. While everybody, including Tamaki's father are satisfied with the president pretty much having been pushed out of her reign, Tamaki cannot forgive his father for what he has done. He is heartbroken for his grandmother and hardly eats or goes to school. In response to his depression, all of his friends and colleagues began to worry. At the end of chapter 78, Yuzuru meets with Anne Sophie, Tamaki's mother, at the airport and greeted her to Japan. In chapter 79 he refuses to meet with his mother and she decides to leave. The discovery of common interests strengthened the bond with his grandmother.

In chapter 80, after some persuading from Haruhi, Tamaki utilizes the help of everyone he has helped at Ouran to get to the airport in time to meet his mother for the first time in three years. He is nervous on the way to the airport, and asks Haruhi to "stay with him until the very end". They held hands during the entire trip to the airport. Tamaki and his mother share a brief but heartfelt reunion.

(anime and later drama CDs), Hikaru Midorikawa (early drama CDs), Vic Mignogna (English)

Kyoya Ootori
Kyoya Ootori (鳳 鏡夜) (born 22 November, Good Wife Day), aged 17 at the beginning of the series, is a second-year cunning, sly student at Ouran High School and vice-president of the Host Club.

Kyoya is best friends with Tamaki, despite their completely different demeanors. Kyoya is described as "just as reckless as Tamaki". Kyoya is secretive and intelligent as demonstrated by his ability to calculate the benefits that would result from the Host Club's misadventures. Kyoya is a very realistic and pragmatic person who takes everything for granted. He is a competent and accurate accountant. Despite his antagonistic traits, the Host Club would not have been successful without Kyoya's uptight resourcefulness. Although he is rarely seen entertaining guests of the Host Club, he is considered the "cool type".

Kyoya lives with his father who is an affluent zaibatsu owner that specializes in hospital management. Two brothers that he has to surpass to become his father's successor, and an older sister who deeply cares about him. Although he is cold and uncaring; however, he demonstrated his care for others in some instances. For example, when the Club went to the beach, he pretended to be "the bad guy" just so that he could show Haruhi how worried she made everyone. Another example was when he helped an old woman who was about to pay a large amount of money for a fake item. In book number 6, his worry helped Tamaki get better graces with his grandmother and arranged to meet his mother.

In episode 17, Kyoya was also shown to have a severe disdain and annoyance from being woken up abruptly in his sleep. This is attributed to him having a low blood-pressure.

According to an author, if Hatori Bisco allotted 40 pages for the first chapter of the manga instead of 50, she would have cut Kyoya from the cast, but is glad this did not happen as she stated, "Since the rest of the members are the way they are, he is invaluable for maintaining order and offering explanations." Bisco named him after his characteristic of wearing glasses by taking the last syllable of gankyō, meaning a pair of glasses. His name is romanized by Viz Media as Kyoya Ootori, by Chuang Yi as Kyouya Ootori, by FUNimation as Kyoya Otori, and by Nippon Television's Japanese-language website as Kyoya Ootori.

(anime), Junichi Suwabe (drama CDs), J. Michael Tatum (English)

Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin
Hikaru Hitachiin (常陸院 光) and Kaoru Hitachiin (常陸院 馨) (born 9 June, chosen by mangaka to show that they are alike yet different), aged 16 at the beginning of the series are depicted as mischievous, devious, and otherwise childish young men who often toy with people, including their fellow classmate and Host Club member, Haruhi. As Hikaru and Kaoru better understand Haruhi, they start to care deeply for her, especially after when Haruhi can tell them apart.

When Hikaru and Kaoru were young, they were fond of their maid. The maid betrayed their family by trying to rob them. During her robbing, the twins offered her a deal. She needed to correctly guess which is Hikaru in exchange for the safe combination and promised that she would not take the safe combination until she correctly guessed. The maid broke her promise and told them that no one would ever be able to tell them apart. They also learned "important survival skills" from the maid because they learned how to fake their emotions. The maid then proceeded to flee the mansion and never returned.

Tamaki Suoh repeatedly followed twins and randomly guessed who was Hikaru and who was Kaoru to get them to join the Host Club Showing his intuition and false reasons each time. Kaoru is more mature than Hikaru as he understands and handles situations better than the narrow-minded Hikaru. Finally they crumbled, and decided to just try out the Host Club, and thus they took a step towards a wider world, and developed a deep bond with Tamaki (who, eventually, does learn how to truly tell them apart). For this reason, they were originally cynical to the world before joining the Host Club, believing that anyone who is not the other twin cannot possibly compare to their bond. Additionally, because their parents were often away, they developed a deep dependence on each other through loneliness, but seem to open up to others recently, thus their relationship with Haruhi is a large part of their life.

The Hitachiin twins show many instances of "brotherly love" which gets girls to fall for them left and right. In the anime, at least, it is difficult to say whether or not this is genuine although unlikely since they, along with the rest of the Host Club, are adept at adapting their personalities to suit the tastes of the clients, and their "forbidden brotherly love" act is their main draw. As well as this, both twins are shown to have a romantic interest in Haruhi. However, the twins are prone to acting out loving brothers even when customers are not around. Despite the claims, it is hard to tell whether they are really homosexual or not.

The twins are both considered the mischievous, tricky, "little devil" types to attract customers. However, they do have their differences. Kaoru is nicer, more mature, and considerate to the thoughts of others, while Hikaru is more childish and immature, although Hikaru is the older twin. Kaoru also chooses not to pursue his feelings for Haruhi, so that Hikaru can realize his own feelings first. The personality differences are only shown when they are separated, and there is a slight difference in the way they speak. There are several ways as to how to tell the twins apart, the most used being that Hikaru's hair parting is on the right and Kaoru's hair parting is on the left. Also Hikaru's hair color is more of an ash black color. He dyed his hair after the fight between him and Kaoru. They live with their mother, Yuzuha, a fashion designer, and their considerably meeker father, a computer software designer. Both have a crush on Haruhi, but in the end Kaoru realizes that his brother is more important to him, so he gives up on Haruhi. As Tamaki has recently realized his feelings for Haruhi, Hikaru is determined "not to lose" in winning over her heart. However, as time goes by, it seems Hikaru is becoming more and more conscious of how his suspicion about Haruhi's feelings might be true. Especially in chapter 71, when he goes to get her only to find her alone in the Music Room with Tamaki, patting his head while he's sleeping. From here on he seems to have realized the fact that his chances are slim to none. In chapter 78 he finally gets it confirmed as he once again asks her out about her feelings, in which she this time admits that she's in love with Tamaki. Hikaru tells for her to confess, and after having figured during chapter 81 that she most likely have, he gets on the verge to cry for a moment before the other Host Club members gathers around to comfort him. Though later on in the chapter, it is hard to tell whether or not the twins, including Hikaru, even had a crush on Haruhi in the first place because at one point, the twins noticed that Haruhi and Tamaki were not at all acting as to how a new couple should which gives the twins a bad feeling, so they confront Haruhi about it. She calmly replies to them how she is okay with that and Tamaki's schedule makes him pretty busy anyway, leaving them both in utter shock. Ending the scene with Hikaru and Kaoru huddled together wondering if their efforts for their scheme of coupling Tamaki and Haruhi together so they could tease and fluster them had failed. Which does end up becoming the motivation the twins needed into eagerly trying to help Tamaki plan out the perfect first date for Haruhi and him.

Hikaru voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese anime and later drama CDs), Soichiro Hoshi (early drama CDs), Todd Haberkorn (English) Kaoru voiced by: Yoshinori Fujita (Japanese anime and later drama CDs), Kenichi Suzumura (early drama CDs), Greg Ayres (English)

Mitsukuni Haninozuka "Honey"
Mitsukuni Haninozuka (埴之塚 光邦) (born 29 February, the mangaka's joke saying he only ages every 4 years due to his birthday only coming once every 4 years), aged 17 at the beginning of the series.

Honey is depicted as a very childish and cake-loving boy who is much older than his elementary school appearance would indicate. In the anime, there is a scene which shows the true strength and power Honey possesses and it is said that he has been told by Japan's Defense Minister not to show his full power for fear of other countries thinking Japan held a weapon of mass destruction, causing the other countries to fire missiles at Japan (see episode 18 in the anime). Honey is often around his cousin, Mori (see below), who is very close to him. Honey lives with his father, the owner of a famous dojo and his little brother, Yasuchika, with whom he is often at odds.

Honey is very fond of eating sweets, and his room is full of stuffed animals. He always carries around a plush bunny named Usa-chan (Bun-Bun in the manga) (Usa-chan is short for usagi, meaning "rabbit"). He used to hide his true self (with much difficulty) by being a "real man" for some time, but after Tamaki convinced him that liking cute things wasn't bad, he soon realized that there was absolutely no need for him to hide. Then, together with Mori, he joined the host club, attracting customers with his shotacon cuteness. His nickname, Honey, could have come from his personal name Mitsukuni (光邦) (the abbreviation, "Mitsu", can mean "honey" (蜜)) or as an abbreviation of his family name Haninozuka. He is referred to almost exclusively by this nickname, with Mori being the only one who calls him by his first name.

In chapter 72, he graduates from Ouran, but says that he will return to the Host Club every so often, as will Mori. They often return for visits and for a picnic planned by Haruhi. He and Mori will fetch Tamaki for the reunion plan. Reiko had a crush on him.

He is also a very strong fighter, often sending people flying with one kick. He was originally intended to have an extreme dual personality. However, the "crouching in the corner, depressed" stance was reassigned from him to Tamaki.

In some recent chapters, he is also shown to possibly have feelings for Reiko Kanazuki (Dark Magic club member and recent president of the club since Nekozawa graduated), but so far it's only been hinted.

Voiced by: Ayaka Saitō (anime and later drama CDs), Ikue Ōtani (early drama CDs), Luci Christian (English)

Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka
Takashi Morinozuka (銛之塚 崇) (born 5 May, Children's/Boys' Day/Tano Festival. The mangaka felt Children's Day a bit of a mismatch, but she later found Boys' Day to be quite fitting), aged 18 at the beginning of the series, usually called Mori (モリ), is a third-year at Ouran High School.

Mori is depicted as tall, quiet and somewhat intimidating, but he is very protective to Honey (who he calls by his first name, Mitsukuni). It was seen in the anime and manga (anime: episode 12, manga: chapter 14) where Honey had a toothache. Mori blamed himself for not reminding Honey to brush his teeth. He then restricted Honey from eating candy until he had a filling for his cavity. Honey ended up judo-throwing Mori to the floor in a fit of anger, but they made up soon afterward. The Morinozuka family had protected and served the Haninozuka family for many generations. As the two families were joined by marriage two generations back, the families became related to each other, thus breaking the master-servant tradition. Nevertheless, Mori still faithfully protects Honey and is always by his side, attending to his wishes and watching out for him; his protective personality extends to his classmates and the host club members, resulting in his gaining a certain level of respect. He is also somewhat protective of Haruhi, as shown in episode 7. It is shown that he thinks of haruhi in a very kind, brotherly way. Although as a host, he is considered the "wild" type (changed to the "strong, silent" type in the dub, most likely to make it less confusing since it's not explained why he'd be considered the wild type), he normally doesn't try to woo girls. The girls like how he cares for Honey, and shyer customers are attracted to his tall physique and taciturn personality. In the manga, he has a more outgoing little brother, Satoshi Morinozuka, who does not appear in the anime. Mori's hobbies include kendo, of which he is the national champion. In the manga, it is revealed that he becomes uncharacteristically talkative and flirtatious when he is tired. Also in the later chapters, he raises a chick he names Piyo and also takes in a stray tanuki.

In chapter 72, he graduates from Ouran, but says that he will return to the Host Club every so often, as will Honey. The two often return, and they will fetch Tamaki for the reunion plan.

Doesn't speak enough in entire anime series to fill up 15 mins. Stated by Mori's English voice actor.

Voiced by: Daisuke Kirii (Japanese anime and later drama CDs), Kenjirō Tsuda (early drama CDs), Travis Willingham (English)

Renge Houshakuji
Renge Houshakuji (宝積寺 れんげ) is the Host Club's (self-proclaimed) manager who tends to be very loud and outspoken. She had lived in France for a short time before she came to attend Ouran. Renge first came across the Host Club by maintaining the belief she was Kyoya's fiancée despite never having met him in person. This is due to her love of visual novel-type video games to a point that she sometimes confuses them with real life. Her fascination with Kyoya originated from her obsession with one such dating game (Kyoya greatly resembled the lead character). Still, her experience with dating sims causes her to be more aware of character development and a thickening plot; she and Kirimi Nekozawa (see "Umehito Nekozawa" below) both seem to be aware of the tropes and conventions displayed in the Host Club anime and manga more so than anyone else, though Renge is better at picking out more "mature" things than the shojo-obsessed Kirimi. Tamaki initially allowed Renge to become the host club's manager in hopes that she would be a female friend to Haruhi and inspire her to act and dress more feminine. He was harshly disappointed when Renge wound up developing a crush on Haruhi, believing she was a boy. In the anime, she almost always enters using a rising platform which apparently opens from an unseen hatch in the floor, and powered by a "high powered motor" ("powerful motor" in Funimation's English version), even when the host club is off campus, and with a high pitched giggle- "oh hohohohohoho". At first she often complains how they are "not good enough" in various ways, but as she grows more satisfied with the hosts, she begins bringing in more customers with her fangirlish ways. She also changes favourites every once in a while. Amusingly enough, Renge has proven an asset to the Host Club as a manager on several occasions. She can accurately predict what will win the greatest approval of customers due to her wide range of knowledge on various subjects, most of them connected to the concept of "moe." Kyoya has complimented her on several occasions already. Renge also has activities which allow her talents to flourish that do not directly concern the Host Club; in the anime, she is shown hosting a sentai show for school children and she apparently is involved in producing the Moe Moe Ouran Journal (萌え萌え桜蘭日記), a school magazine containing all things related to moe at Ouran High School. Her catch phrase (I could eat three bowls of rice) is a reference to the anime "Green Green".

In the manga, Renge largely disappears from view after her initial appearance in chapter 3 (although she makes cameo appearances in subsequent chapters). Hatori mentioned that Renge was going to be more of a recurring character, but it never happened. Her comment probably led to Renge's numerous appearances in the anime. Some of her parts were originally performed by Tamaki in the manga, e.g. the coaching of Shiro and Nekozawa. Interestingly, in volume 9, her appearances were significantly increased. She appears in the latest chapters to help the club.

A trait that Renge displays in both the anime and the manga is that, when she becomes extremely angry, she assumes a Medusa-like aspect, with her hair transforming into snakes. At such times, she can drive most of the other characters before her in blind panic.

Umehito Nekozawa
Umehito Nekozawa (猫澤 梅人) is depicted as a hooded figure holding a cat puppet named Belzeneff (also spelled Beelzenef). Umehito has a disease that causes him to collapse (and, according to him, die) in any kind of direct light; he tends to refer to anyone who drags him into lights as 'murderers'. As the Black Magic Club’s president, he tries to get people to join his club, though is not too successful. However, anyone who joins gets a free "Belzeneff" doll. Umehito has one as a puppet, but it is also available as a wooden voodoo doll. Nekozawa claims that if you write the name of the person you hate on the back of the doll, the person will be showered with misfortunes. Tamaki, especially, is superstitious about Nekozawa's curses due to having experienced them first-hand, or so he believes.

Umehito is actually very handsome under his hood, although he wears a black - dark green in the anime - wig over his naturally blond hair (according to his maid, even his hair can't be exposed to the light) and bright blue eyes. He has a child sister named Kirimi who is afraid of the dark and is under the impression that he is a "monster" due to his dark clothing. As a result, the two siblings were not able to be around one another until Tamaki and the Host Club got involved and prompted Umehito to adjust to light and display his more heroic and princely side. In the end, it is Umehito's love for and desire to protect his little sister that endears him to her, despite his disease; he braves daylight to save Kirimi. Granted, he collapses right afterwards from exposure to sunshine, but Kirimi finds a place in her heart for his willingness to brave that which he loathes so much to protect her. At the end of volume 8 of the manga, it is shown that Kirimi has turned into a nearly identical darkness fanatic. Both sport dark cloaks and have their features covered, but Kirimi carries a giant plush kitty instead of a Beelzenef puppet. Despite the Host Club's efforts to help him brave the sun, he is still just as obsessed with his occult passions. In the Halloween episode, he appears before Tamaki (from a coffin no less) and offers his services in helping scare the student body.

In Volume 3 of the manga, the Host Club actually stay at Umehito's private beach and mansion, not Kyoya's, though Umehito does not attend dinner because Haruhi switched the lights on and caused him to go into shock. The Host Club (Mori, Honey, the twins, and Haruhi) also see Umehito without his cloak and wig for the first time as he comes out to see what's wrong when Haruhi is being taken to the bathroom. It is unclear if he has realized that Haruhi is a girl, but seeing as she spent the whole vacation in a dress instead of her typical boyish clothes it's very possible he knows her secret and just doesn't care about it.

The Nekozawa family traces their heritage to the Tokarev Dynasty in Russia, suggesting that Nekozawa family may work with gun manufacturing companies (a firearm even appears in the manga).

Ritsu Kasanoda
Ritsu Kasanoda (笠野田 律) is the successor to the third generation master of the Kasanoda-gumi, the most powerful yakuza group in Kantō, Japan. He was raised at a young age to be the next leader so in effect most people see him as a very intimidating person and he has few friends because of it. Indeed, he's most well known for his long red hair and scary-looking face. Since Kasanoda's features have been intimidating since birth, his father claimed he had the right face to become the most frightening yakuza boss in history and actually trained him to appear tough and unapproachable. Kasanoda therefore initially doesn't talk much, though he can be angered easily. Despite his outward appearance and upbringing, he actually tends to be a kind person who enjoys helping others. His classmates have nicknamed him as the feared "human blizzard". Haruhi calls him "Casanova", and Tamaki & the Hitachin twins call him "Bossa Nova".

Kasanoda initially seeks to apprentice under Morinozuka, hoping to become as respected and admired as he. He suffers some humiliations at the hands of the Host Club members, all out of a desire to learn how to make friends and be able to have fun with people. Later experiences concerning a member of his household named Tetsuya show him that there are already people at his home who know his good side - they just didn't mention it because they knew he is not only kind-hearted, but also shy and easily embarrassed.

Due to Kasanoda not knocking before entering, he has become the first person at Ouran High outside the host club to discover that Haruhi is a girl (discounting Nekozawa's potential knowledge). He had a confused crush on her prior to learning she was a girl and consequently falls in love with Haruhi and attends the Host Club as a customer. However, when he tries to admit his feelings to Haruhi, he is rejected with no ill intent (even though Haruhi is usually quite adept when reading the emotions of others, she is also quite clueless when others show a romantic interest in her), who considers him an understanding friend (this due to Kasanoda saying he had come to see her so Haruhi could talk to someone who knew her secret, so she could be at ease). Since Kasanoda has been told by Kyoya that Haruhi must appear to be male for 'special reasons', he resolves to not cause her any trouble by publicly stating they'll be friends forever, so she won't have to worry about being thought odd by associating romantically with him. Kasanoda, of course, does not realize that the 'special reasons' consist entirely of Haruhi's debt to the club.

Ever since that incident in the host club though, his desire to have friends is fulfilled when everyone in the host club (hosts and customers) agree to become his friends. He joined the Gardening Society of the school, and on multiple occasions has gifted Haruhi with food he has grown. In episode 25 of the anime he is seen surrounded by female students, apparently embarrassed but certainly not angry. Interesting to note, several members of his household are covertly observing Kasanoda's school life from behind the bushes at the time. He appears in numerous chapters, finding a treasure map, gifting Haruhi with vegetables, and joining the gardening club. He also appears to help the host club. In chapter 80 of the manga, Kyoya utilized both the police and Kasanoda's clan to secure a route to the airport so that Tamaki could arrive on time to meet his mother.

, and Colleen Clinkenbeard (Young Kasonoda)

Kanako Kasugazaki
Kanako Kasugazaki (春日崎 奏子) is the subject of help for the Host Club in episode 2 of the anime. Initially, Kanako was well-known for host hopping (changing hosts very often) the usual practice being for a girl to designate a permanent host. She only did this to spite her fiancé, Tohru Suzushima, into paying attention to her, but it wasn't successful until Tamaki got wind of their situation and decided to help out. She made a cameo appearance in episode 13 as the dodo from Alice in Wonderland and is seen waiting for her lost love to come back. In the anime, she's the first person Haruhi ever kisses (though by accident) during a ball organized by the Host Club (and where they executed Tamaki's plan to bring the couple together). She appears in the latest chapters stating that Tohru is working hard in England and wishing to help Tamaki.

Shiro Takaoji
Shiro Takaoji (鷹凰子嗣郎) is the subject of help for the Host Club in episode 6 of the anime. He is in love with a girl in his grade who is moving away, and asks to be taught how to make women happy; in his music class, he is supposed to play a duet with the girl he likes, but prefers to just hear her play. Tamaki teaches him the song so they can play together, and the young lovebirds end up corresponding through mail. In the manga, he's later "loaned" to Kasanoda in the attempt to make him "cuter". He made a cameo appearance in episode 13 as a mouse. In the anime, at the end of episode 6, Shiro's pose is a nod to his seiyū's more famous role as the titular character in Naruto. He appears in the latest chapters, complaining that Tamaki never took him to an amusement park yet.

Ayame Jōnōchi
Ayame Jōnōchi (城之内綾女) is a classmate of Kyoya and Tamaki, and the class vice-chairman of 2-A. Ayame became Haruhi's tutor when Haruhi failed to be top of her cohort. Despite hating Tamaki for his eccentricities, and the fact that he's always second in class (Ayame was consistently third after Tamaki came to Ouran), she had a crush on the Host Club President. Initially, she permed her hair straight, but after Tamaki's advice, she reverted to her natural hairstyle (wavy) and became a regular at the Host Club. She's also known for her ability to speak for a long time in a single breath; as such, her nickname among the Host Club members is "Morse Code Lady". In the anime, her appearance is limited to a cameo in episode 24, when Tamaki introduced himself to her (and Kyoya).

Reiko Kanazuki
Reiko Kanazuki (伽名月 麗子), a student of Class 1-D, has a crush on Honey, but she does not see it as "stealing her heart", she thinks of it as "he stole my soul" and for that purpose, she wants to curse him. However, due to her shyness (and obsession with curses), the Host Club initially had the wrong impression that she was out to do Honey harm. After some words from Honey, Reiko decided to try to overcome her shyness, and also became a regular at the Host Club. She's the second member of the Black Magic Club to be named.

Benio Amakusa (天草紅緒)
The President of the Zuka Club. Benio is nicknamed "Benibara-sama" at St. Lobelia's and is the most popular of the Zuka Club's ruling council. Benio is also known as "The Lady of the Red Rose", and was the anime's first openly homosexual character to be introduced. She is also one of very few people to have recognised Haruhi's gender immediately upon meeting her. A "Benibara-sama's guardian club" has been founded at St. Lobelia's just to make sure she doesn't get mobbed when walking down the aisles. There is also a (very large) fanclub devoted to her. Benio doesn't exactly help matters; she flirts with girls with the same ease as Tamaki, with whom she shares other personality traits, such as over-confidence and a melodramatic nature, though neither side would admit this. On one occasion, Benio claimed that she was following in the footsteps of her mother, who was supposedly also president of the Zuka Club in her day. This may have been nothing more than a lie meant to suck Haruhi into helping the Zuka Club with a play. This turned out to be a ploy in which Benio could steal what she believes is Haruhi's first kiss in front of Tamaki, as revenge for having defied the Zuka Club's beliefs. In the manga it was a ruse to show the foolishness of men. Although female, she refers to herself with the pronoun "boku," usually used only by males (see Gender differences in spoken Japanese).

Chizuru Maihara (舞原千鶴)
The Vice President of the Zuka Club, also known as "The Lady of the Lily". Chizuru is outwardly the most placid member of the ruling council, but this counts for nothing; she never objects to any of the Club's plans, but rather assists and makes things worse. Chizuru believes that all men are a lower form of life and found the Host Club's bewildered reaction to her immunity to their charms rather amusing.

Hinako Tsuwabuki (石蕗雛子)
One of the leading members of the Zuka Club, known as "The Lady of the Daisy". Hinako is the youngest member of the club's leading council, being in her first year of high school, and is arguably the most energetic of the three girls. However, as acknowledged by Chizuru, Hinako seems to be very intelligent. They also tend to bother Haruhi, for they think that she shouldn't wear a boy's uniform and kept on insisting Haruhi to join their club.

Ryoji "Ranka" Fujioka
Ryoji Fujioka (藤岡 涼二), Haruhi's father, works at an okama (cross dressing) bar under the name Ranka (蘭花). He says that he was originally bisexual, but became a transvestite after his wife's death because he could never love another woman. In the american dub it never says what his sexuality is, but he said that Haruhi's mother didn't care that he was a cross dresser, and she is the only one that mattered. In contrast to Haruhi's practicality and lack of interest in material things, he is rather bad with money, and buys girly clothing for Haruhi in the hopes of getting her to dress more cutely. He even repacks her suitcase for an overnight trip in episode 8 of the anime, replacing the clothes she had packed with a dress.

Haruhi's stubborn self-reliance causes her father to worry about her a lot; he would like to be more involved in her life and do more things for her, but she rarely lets him. However, the two of them do have a clearly loving relationship. While her father would like to be able to take care of Haruhi, it seems that often Haruhi ends up taking care of him instead, as shown in a flashback in which a very young Haruhi refuses to allow him to go to parents' day at her school because she wants him to stay home and rest instead.

There is a marked similarity between Haruhi's father and Tamaki, upon which several other members of the Host Club have commented. Partly because of this, and partly as a result of Tamaki's evident romantic affection for Haruhi, Ryoji has stated that he considers Tamaki an enemy, and seems to take some amusement in picking on him.

In a recent omake chapter of the manga, it is shown that Ryoji was very protective of his wife before they started dating and he found her to be a very "cool" person. He is described by some of the characters in the anime and manga to be prettier than Haruhi, even when she's wearing a dress.

Kotoko Fujioka


Kotoko Fujioka (藤岡 琴子) was Haruhi's mother, who died while her daughter was still very young (Haruhi remarked in the first episode that it has been ten years since her mother died, which puts her at about five years old at that time). It is known that she was an attorney at law and that Haruhi takes after her in some ways and that she remains Haruhi's great example. If the way Haruhi recalls her both in waking memory and in a dream is accurate, she was dedicated and a loving mother who wished the very best for her family. One would assume she was also somewhat open-minded in order to live with and love her husband, "Ranka", who has stated that Kotoko was both beautiful and intelligent. He also reveals that she was apparently a closet fan of the St. Lobelia's Zuka Club of her day. In recent chapters, it is also shown that she was quite popular at her law school. In a recent omake, it was shown that Kotoko found Ryoji to be strange and annoying, but all the same liked him from the very first moment they met.

Yuzuru Suoh
Yuzuru Suoh (須王 譲) is the patriarch of the Suoh family. He is also the father of Tamaki. He is 48 and his hobbies are golf, theater and teasing his son. Yuzuru shares some of his son's characteristics. Despite knowing of his mother's loathing of Tamaki, he could do little to help the situation. To date, his only act of rebellion against his mother's wishes seems to be that he did not simply break off his relationship with Tamaki's mother, but instead divorced the woman his mother had chosen for him. In the anime he does seem to be a bit cold to Tamaki, though this might be to show that he does not favor his son as a student, as a scene in the anime shows photographs of Tamaki at different stages of life on his desk in his office. It also seems Tamaki gained his charms from his father. Interestingly, Tamaki is very serious in Yuzuru's presence. The manga is a little different, showing Yuzuru as eager to tease his son at every opportunity, sending him red herrings in the middle of an investigation and telling tall tales.

It has been revealed (in volume 9) that Yuzuru knows where his wife is; it wouldn't have been hard for him to arrange for a reunion. What the father had in mind was the idea of having Tamaki surpassing him in terms of capabilities, so that Tamaki may inherit the Suoh empire, and force his grandmother to accept his mother. Unwittingly, his kiss on Tamaki's forehead gave the teen the same idea, and he kissed Haruhi's forehead as a "paternal" gesture. In the last episode of the anime while the host club are enjoying the last night of the festival, Kyoya's father, Yoshio Ootori, was in his office at Ouran (the Ootori head states what his third son did to avoid the Tonnerres in accumulating their business), Yuzuru told Yoshio that they might as well be friendly to each other like their own sons, but after hearing from Yoshio that he is planning to have his son, Kyoya, marry Haruhi someday, he commented that they will never be friendly after all, hinting that he is planning the same thing for Tamaki and Haruhi.

Anne-Sophie Grantaine
Anne-Sophie Grantaine (アンネ=ゾフィー・グランテイン Anne Zofi Gurantein) is Tamaki's mother. Anne-Sophie was born in France and met Yuzuru Suoh, Tamaki's father, in Paris while he was on a business trip. The two fell in love, and she became his mistress. When Tamaki was born she was forbidden by Yuzuru's mother to return to Japan with Yuzuru. She raised Tamaki in France until he was fourteen, about three years before the start of the series. This was due to her family's business failure and debt. Anne-Sophie was also very sickly, falling ill on regular occasions. At the time, Yuzuru's mother was worried that the Suoh family would be without an heir and offered Anne-Sophie money for her health in exchange for allowing Tamaki to live in Japan, never seeing his mother again. Anne-Sophie tearfully accepted, going into hiding after Tamaki's departure. No one is said to know where she is, though Yuzuru may have some idea. However, during the 2nd year school trip to France, Kyoya finds her and discovers that she is living quite healthily, thinking of her son every day. In chapter 77, they find out that Anne-Sophie has a disease of Systemic lupus erythematosus.

Shizue Suoh
Tamaki's grandmother and the Suoh patriarch. Introduced in the serie as a villain character, she was the one responsible for bringing Tamaki to Japan and forbidding him of ever seeing his mother again. She is also shown to have a strong dislike for him for being the child of her son's mistress and thus refers to him as a "filthy child." Strict and old fashioned, she puts the Suoh business before anything else. She's also shown throughout the serie to have plans for Tamaki and the Host Club. In recent chapters, thanks to the Suoh's lawyer Kousaka, Shizue finally allows Tamaki to enter the main residence, though she still hasn't acknowledged him. Once he's there, she fills him in with how he's messed up Fujioka Haruhi's life by making her hide her gender and thus deceiving the whole school. He is also not allowed to participate in Host Club activities anymore. Tamaki obeys, but not without a reason. Since she now lives in the same residence as he, Shizue finds herself slowly captured by his extravagant, yet kind and charming self. Especially after Tamaki's dad, Yuzuru Suoh, ordered her retirement as a result of his and Kyouya's dad, Yoshio Ootori's companies figuring out a medicine for Tamaki's mother, Anne Sophie, which causes her to seclude herself inside her room. Through her depression, Tamaki is the one who helps her spirit back by playing the piano for her, also leading them both to discover they share a lot in common, such as having the same interests in movies and tv series. After having witnessed how far the Host Club went to make Tamaki see his mother before she leaves, Shizue lets him go as long as he'll come back to play the piano for her once again. After this, she also allowed him to return to the Host Club.

Yoshio Ootori
Yoshio Ootori (鳳敬雄), Kyoya's father, is the patriarch of the Ootori family. Yoshio is portrayed as a cold, calculating father. Kyoya tries hard to please him in order to become heir of the family, despite the fact that his father is apparently a cold and uncompromising man, who shows no understanding for his children and has planned out the lives of his sons as his own successors already. In the manga, he acknowledges Kyoya as a possible successor despite being the third son. In the anime, he states he had already decided Kyoya would inherit Ootori Medical from him (in the manga he states it is a possibility), only to have his third son buy it and return it to his control without ever revealing his identity. He wants Kyoya to marry Haruhi in the anime.

Fuyumi Ootori
Fuyumi Ootori (鳳芙裕美) is Kyoya's older sister. In the anime, she appears during Kyoya's flashbacks about his first meeting with Tamaki. She clearly cares for her younger brother and tries to help him in life; apparently she is somewhat lacking in the areas of housework and organization, but she appears to be a kind-hearted person. It is revealed in the manga that she was married, but returned home later (for a short visit, which her father chided her for). Her husband's surname is Shido (矢道). She and Tamaki are pursuing a tour of commoners' food together.

Misuzu Sonoda
Misuzu Sonoda (園田 美鈴) is Ranka's colleague at the okama bar. He runs a pension in Karuizawa, Nagano, where Haruhi works during summer vacation. He holds a contest between the Hosts over who will be most refreshing and be able to stay at the pension; he is swayed by Kaoru and Hikaru after a "brotherly love" act that earns "100 refreshing points". His real name is Isao (功). He was formerly a banker and has a love for making frilly lolita-type clothing.

Mei Yasumura
Mei Yasumura (安村 メイ) is Misuzu's ganguro daughter, who hates her father for being a crossdresser, as it was the reason for her parents' divorce. Misuzu then managed to get the Fujiokas to keep an eye on her for a while, as she runs away from him. During her stay at the Fujioka's, Haruhi secretly prepares recipes for her with Misuzu's cooking, such as jam and demiglace sauce. Fortunately after some work by the Host Club, Mei managed to reconcile with Misuzu. She adores creating her own fashions and loves seeing her clothes on other girls. Yasumura is the surname of her stepfather (during the divorce, Mei's custody was awarded to her mother). She developed a crush on Tamaki, who secretly worked a part-time job in an attempt to reunite Mei and her father, and enlisted Haruhi's (reluctant) help on the matter. Later on she had suspected that Tamaki might be in love with Haruhi (and vice versa). She is in fact the first person to notice Haruhi's feelings towards Tamaki, but gets interrupted as she's about to ask her. Befriending Haruhi, later on she gives Haruhi love advice. She is the only non-Host Club member to appear on any volume cover in the manga series.

Éclair Tonnerre
An anime-only character. Éclair is the beautiful and shrewd heir to the France-based Grand Tonnerre Group, which in the anime now employs Tamaki's mother as a servant in Éclair's house. Having heard a great deal about Tamaki from his mother, Éclair develops a kind of crush on him and Tamaki's grandmother (who detested his mother) concocts a scheme to make him Éclair's husband. She tracks down Tamaki in Japan and convinces him to leave the Host Club, offering him a chance to see his mother if he complies with her wishes. She secures noninterference from the Ootori group by arranging for the Grand Tonnerre Group to buy Ootori Medical so as to control Kyoya's father.

She does not immediately recognize Haruhi as a girl, however she does believe that Haruhi is Tamaki's (male) lover. This leads her to try to drive a wedge between Haruhi and Tamaki, with some degree of success. In the end, Tamaki leaves Éclair in order to save Haruhi's life, but not before leaving a good impression by genuinely smiling at her and thanking her for letting him go. She then asks her driver to head toward the airport without Tamaki, telling her driver how wonderful and pure-hearted Tamaki is because he actually could smile at her after all that she had done. She reveals that Tamaki's mother is now a maid at her house, and it is (ambiguously) suggested that she may somehow now arrange for Tamaki to see his mother again. This is her final appearance in the anime.

Yasuchika Haninozuka
Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka's younger brother, whom Honey calls "Chika". He often feels overshadowed by his older brother and has grown a lasting resentment toward him for enjoying things that are cute, and dropping out as the Karate club's president. He is also very astonished by the amount of cake he eats in one night and how quickly he does so. His greatest ambition is to one day finally defeat his brother in combat, but in the end, Honey easily defeats him, choosing the things he loves most over his brother's feelings, much to Mori's surprise. Yasuchika's best friend is Satoshi Morinozuka, the younger brother of Mori. Both seem to be polar opposites to their older brothers. However, it is shown that underneath Chika's attitude, he is much like Honey, such as crying easily or collecting cute stuffed toy chicks and chick photobooks. He was currently going into 7th grade while his older brother was in High School.

Satoshi Morinozuka
Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka's younger brother. Compared to Mori, he is actually quite talkative. He takes his role as a Morinozuka seriously, going so far as to hit Yasuchika with a training stick when he's rude. In contrast to Yasuchika's disdain for Honey, Satoshi adores his brother Mori, though they seem to be polar opposites. He does not appear in the anime, and has only appeared in one chapter of the manga so far and a brief appearance in one of the later chapters.

Kazukiyo Soga (相賀 和清)
The Class President of 1-A, Kazukiyo suffers from nyctophobia and a fear of just about anything else that is scary. He has romantic feelings for Class 1-A's Vice President, Momoka, whom he has known for years, but he is initially too shy to come out and say anything. Hikaru and Kaoru comment that he is the kind of person with pure feelings who they can't tease, possibly because he is more emotionally vulnerable than Tamaki. In the manga, he unwittingly caused Haruhi some problems when he became top of his cohort. (Haruhi has to be the top student in her grade in order to keep her scholarship to Ouran.) In volume 6, it's revealed that his father is a famous politician.

Momoka Kurakano (倉加野 百華)
The Class Vice-President of 1-A. She conducts class meetings with Kazukiyo and has new-found respect for him after he put up with the Halloween ordeal. She is a frequent client of Haruhi in the Host Club.

Reception
IGN praised that the Host Club characters are well animated in the show as they are made simpler without losing the details. The characters are not only well-drawn, but also well-written in the anime. Haruhi Fujioka is "actually written smart and acts smart", as opposed to some protagonists of anime claimed to be smart without apparent evidence in the show.