Hachiman Hikigaya

Introduction

Plot

Relationships

Hachiman Hikigaya
Occupation	Student Service Club Member

Hachiman Hikigaya (比企谷 八幡, Hikigaya Hachiman) is the main protagonist. Hachiman is a student in class 2F of Sōbu High School. His most prominent feature is his set of "dead fish-eyes". Hachiman firmly believes that "youth" is simply an illusion created by hypocrites, for hypocrites are born from the ashes of past failures. He's called Hikki by Yui. 

History

Before Middle School

In elementary school, students were doing a folk dance. He danced with the air for the "Oklahoma Mixer". To illustrate, Hachiman was paired up with a girl but she didn't want to hold hands. The other girls followed suit.

A group of kids were playing tag while Hachiman stood still. The "it" aims to pass a virus named after him. Accordingly the Hikigerma virus was so powerful that barriers were ineffective. In 4th grade, his classmates forgot his name and nicknamed him "Froggy". They made jokes that were related to his nickname.

Middle School

Classes got reshuffled and everyone exchanged numbers. Hachiman eagerly searched for a girl. He found one and she reluctantly exchanged numbers. Hachiman used to text girls often. In Hachiman's words, he would get a dismissive reply 40% of the time and 30% of the time he would get no reply. The remaining 30% was from a foreigner called "MAILER-DAEMON", indicating that the girl likely gave him a fake address. At some time, Hachiman went to Chiba for Nature Studies

At a time, a girl frequently talked to him. He thought she was interested in him. One day, he decided to ask her who she liked. She replied with the first letter which was "H". Hachiman asked if it was him. The girl was surprised and disgusted. The next day Hachiman saw a drawing mocking him on the class chalkboard. Before or after the above confession, Hachiman confessed to another girl. Her response was to instead "just be friends" but they never spoke again.

The last time he talked to a girl was two years before the current time in June. He made a joke in response to an unnamed girl who was complaining about the heat. It turned out she was actually talking to another girl. What followed was an awkward situation. Whenever Hachiman recalls this memory, he hides and screams to himself under his futon.

High School

On the day of the High School-entrance ceremony, he was excited about his new student life. To the point where, Hachiman was running an hour early. While travelling he spotted and saved Yui's dog from a potential car crash. The result was a hospital stay, with a bone fracture, lasting three weeks. After that Hachiman was destined to enter school alone in his words. At some time, Komachi ran away from home once because she hated returning to an empty house. It was Hachiman who found her and he has been returning home before her ever since. In the recent past, he is usually sleeping or reading during breaks according to Yui.

Appearance

Hachiman is a teenage boy with short black hair, and slim ('dead fish') gray eyes. He is seen wearing his school uniform.

Personality

He is an apathetic, isolated, friendless boy. Hachiman firmly believes that "youth" is an illusion created by hypocrites, for hypocrites, born from the ashes of past failures. He even says "fuck you, youth".

Shizuka describes his personality as rebellious and loner prone. She also says that he has the nature of a petty criminal which Yukino instantly agrees with. Yukino describes his personality as rotten, like Shizuka said, and he has a sour attitude. She hates how Hachiman accepts and affirms weakness by loyalty to status quo. Yui says that the way he acts in class is "totally gross" or "disgusting". In fact both Yukino and Yui often used words such as "gross" and "disgusting" to describe Hachiman.

His personality stems from his harsh childhood experiences where he was ostracized for no reason made known to the audience. Despite his 'rotten' personality he does show signs of being kind underneath his exterior. As shown by the various methods he goes through for the sake of other people.

At the latest volume in Volume 8 and Volume 9 Light Novel, it is described that one of the main reasons why he is reluctant to make friends is because of Orimoto Kaori. She is the girl whom he harbored feelings for and he even confessed to her, but he had been rejected. Since then, he is trying not to get involved in anything related to girls and began to develop his ultimate pessimistic attitude. 

However, his old wound started bleeding again after he met her at a café with Haruno. 

In later chapters it is shown that Hachiman is a great leader. He thinks outside of the box, minimizing risks for everyone involved, even though he is not in the Student Council. The few people that realized Hachiman's leadership potential are Shizuka, who brought him to the Service club, and Shiromeguri Meguri. 

He may be seen as dense person but it is actually just a facade due to his unwanted past.  

Ideals

First Essay

According to Hachiman, those who enjoy "youth" fit any event or their surroundings to their belief system of "youth" for self-confirmation. For example, those who enjoy "youth" believe lies, secrets, sins and failures are simply the beginning of what makes "youth" interesting. He may imply that by following "youth", one ignores the consequences of their actions. Plus, he may imply that by enjoying "youth", one loses their moral standing.

If so it follows that those who claim to enjoy it are deluding themselves and others. A lie in a sense is something that misleads or deceives. It follows that according to Hachiman "youth" is a lie because those who follow it ignore the consequences of their actions. An evil is in a sense something that brings distress, calamity or sorrow. It follows that according to Hachiman "youth" is an evil. They more readily inflict pain on themselves and others, because those who follow it aren't as bound by morality and delight in failure. Those who enjoy "youth" are full of double standards as implied by their disposition for self-confirmation.

To illustrate, if failure marks the beginning of an interesting "youth", Hachiman who failed to make friends should be at the height of his "youth". However, they would make an exception for him. Thus, Hachiman thinks those who follow youth are hypocritical and evil liars and he concludes that they should die.

More at Looking Back on High School Life Report.

Second Essay

Hachiman implies that with social groups there is a choice. One can either be a "carnivore" or "herbivore". "Carnivores" form social hierarchies and those who aren't on top are burdened with failure until they die. On the other hand, "herbivores" must abandon their comrades to avoid predators which leads to guilt. He may imply that "herbivores" form groups for cynical reasons such as avoiding predators.

In either case, forming a group of herbivores only benefits the strongest individuals reliably. Thus, both groups counter-intuitively only benefit the individuals at the top of each respective group. In other words, to an average or below person there is no benefit. It follows that Hachiman would choose to be a bear, which is a solitary animal, to avoid any social groups. A solitary animal doesn't feel anxiety from solitude. Accordingly, Hachiman wouldn't have to experience the emotional disadvantages of his lonesome lifestyle.

More at Ecology of Wild Animals Report.

Abilities

Academics

He is implied to be skilled at Japanese, as he holds the third highest score in his year in Japanese. Hachiman also seems skilled at Japanese History. He quickly deduced that Yoshiteru Zaimokuza's delusions were based on the 13th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate. Furthermore, there's his detailed description of the great Bodhisattva who happens share his name. Even Yukino has admitted that he knows his history. However he's incredibly bad at science, an example of this being when he confused a hernia for herpes.

Sports

Hachiman is skilled at tennis according to Saika, however in raw skill he's no match for Yukino, Hayama and Yumiko.

Hachiman is skilled at swimming, according from drama cd, he swam 2km because he had nothing else to do in middle school when his class had pool lesson

Quotes

• "I hate nice girls. Just by exchanging greetings with them will get them on your mind. Start texting each other, and your heart will be set a flutter. If they call you, you're done for. Enjoy staring at your logs and grinning like a fool. However, I won't be fooled again. That's what your kind calls kindness. If you are nice to me, you're also nice to others. I always end up nearly forgetting that. Reality is cruel, so I'm sure lies are a form of kindness. Thus, I say kindness itself is also a lie. I always ended up with these expectations. And I always ended up with these misunderstandings. And before I knew it, I stopped hoping. A highly-trained loner is once bitten, twice shy. As a veteran on this battlefield of life, I've gotten used to losing. That's why I will always… hate nice girls."
• "We only change to avoid the current situation. The true meaning of not running away is planting your feet firmly in the ground and doing the best you can with your present. Who's running away now? Why can't you just accept who you are and who you were?"
• "Hardwork betrays none, but dreams betray many. Working hard alone doesn't assure you that you'll achieve your dreams. Actually, there are more cases where you don't. Even so, working hard at something is some consolation at least."
• "Guys are simple creatures. They get the wrong idea just from getting talked to. They'd be happy just getting handmade cookies. They don't need to taste good." 
• "The world won't change, you must change yourself in this world. Now, how will you change yourself? Answer is, you become the god of the new world."
• "We're back to how we started and can now live our own lives again. There's no reset button on life, but at least you can reset your relationships."
• "People often say, "If I change myself, I'll change the world." That's a load of crap. People's judgment of others create a stereotype, and that's the impression that lasts. Loners are forced to do things alone. If you try to stand out by working hard at something, you just become a target for attack. It's the rotten rule of the children's kingdom."
• "MOT is cool and awesome!"
• "There's probably no one who's more of a realist than the unpopular loner. I have lived my life with the Three Nevers of the Unpopular: Never to hold (hope), Never to open (your heart), Never to treasure (sweet words)."
• "Hey, stop getting so chummy with me, I might even start treating you as a friend." 
• "The rich want their private jets and beaches. So it follows that loners, who always have plenty of private time, are the victors in life. Ergo, being alone is the new status symbol."

Trivia

• Hachiman is shown to have some artistic skill.
• Hachiman has a list of people to kill.
• Hachiman dotes on his little sister to a high degree.
• Hachiman knows alot about Chiba.
• Hachiman wants to be a househusband someday.
• He used to drink tea in the volunteers club in a paper cup, but later Yui and Yukino gave him a cup of Pan-san as a gift and as a way to show him that he belongs.