Hump Day Husbandos: Zero Kiryu (Vampire Knight)

Hump Day Husbandos

The time is finally here for us mere mortals to be gratefully graced with the English translation of the Nintendo DS otome adaptation of the Vampire Knight manga (Run that by me again? – Ed.), so what better time is there than now to celebrate its best boy before I ponder my overall thoughts on the game as a whole?

Who is Zero Kiryu?

Zero is both a Day Class student and School Guardian alongside his childhood friend and the game’s main character, Yuki Cross. The pair are the only students of the Day Class to know the truth about the more popular Night Class: they are all vampires.

The sole reasoning behind establishing the school seen in Vampire Knight is to unify humans and vampires, and the role of School Guardians is to maintain this fact as a secret from the other students — as well as keeping order over all the hormonal teenagers running rampant for the handsome vampires’ attention. That’s how necks get nibbled on, after all.

Where Zero comes into play is not only as the far superior love interest vying for Yuki’s affection as part of a very engaging and unpredictable love triangle, but also as a Vampire Hunter. His emotional baggage makes him one of most appealing characters within the series, his character growth is the most impressive of the cast, and his initially cold and distant personality does wonders for slowly building him up and breaking his defences down to show a character who is truly compassionate and emotionally captivating.

And that’s just a simple summing-up of what makes him my favourite character from the manga. To the details!

Why we love Zero Kiryu (spoilers)

Zero Kiryu

Loyal, protective, selfless, and kind-hearted are just a few traits you can use to describe Zero, but these might not be immediately apparent.

In true classic tsundere fashion, it’s easy to discover the overwhelming appeal of Zero once you look past the rough and tough exterior he expresses towards others to protect himself — as is so often the case, he’s concealing a tragic past. There are so many heartwarming instances where his defences crumble to showcase his true, kind nature despite his effort in masking it — mostly whenever the apple of his eye (Yuki, of course) is sharing the same space as him.

We see plenty of this with his wish to see her “smile from the bottom of her heart” quite early on in the series, and by him always putting others before his own gain and wellbeing. His kindness is notable for being a defining trait of his “before he was even born” — considering how a curse that would affect him and his twin brother did not result in either of them being devoured when their mother was pregnant with them.

The tragedy surrounding a character as unfortunate and hard-pressed as Zero reveals a depressing amount of self-hatred, which becomes an integral part of his development as seen by the reveal of his status as a vampire despite being a vampire hunter. This, as you might expect, already does enough damage to the sense of self-esteem he was already struggling with before the revelation due to the overwhelming amount of guilt and pressure placed on him as a result of his past.

But what cuts deep is how he distances himself from those who still care for him — particularly Yuki, on the grounds that he believes she should be with Kaname.

What’s most impressive about Zero when it comes to his selflessness is how he always perseveres despite all the hardships and tragedy he faces head on. For example, as a part of the series’ main love triangle, Kaname’s treatment of Zero, at least initially, is distasteful, and the reason for it being so is almost completely due to their rivalry for Yuki’s affection and his jealousy of their existing relationship.

For instance, when Zero is forced to drink from Kaname to slake his thirst for blood before he loses his mind, Kaname cruelly taunts him. On top of that, Zero bears witness to the blossoming romance between Kaname and Yuki too many times to keep count of.

What does Zero do in comparison? He goes as far as killing everyone with kindness and selflessness, choosing to encourage Kaname and Yuki to get together for the sake of Yuki’s happiness and peace of mind. All this despite the revelation that his family’s massacre was due to Kaname.

Ultiimately, he forgives his brother for betraying him and puts his loyalty over his beliefs when protecting Yuki, despite being a pureblood vampire putting himself completely at odds with his own morals.

He’s an incredibly strong young man in both mind and body, and that’s not all. He’s a child genius who never needed to study in school since he’s a natural brainiac, he learns to accept himself even when becoming the one thing he hates, and he comes to understand the importance of relying on, seeking comfort from and seeing Yuki as an equal.

He’s based on the Dog Zodiac to represent how much of a defining characteristic his loyalty is — so much so that his end is the result of him sacrificing himself for the sake of a child. What a guy.

Why you will love Zero Kiryu (non-spoilers)

Zero Kiryu

It goes without saying that Zero is a complex character. He deals with layers upon layers of inner turmoil throughout the series, and that turmoil only ever expands with all the hardships faces over the course of the story. At the same time, he attempts to contain his pain and emotions for the sake of those around him — despite how he is consistently fighting his own form of demons, as evidenced by him being plagued with frequent nightmares.

He’s completely sympathetic because he has hated himself from the very beginning due to his past and what he inadvertently becomes — he fully believes that he does not deserve love. Additionally, despite his understandable mission to seek revenge for the deaths of his family at the hands of a pureblood, his overall story acts as a cautionary tale of how vengeance is an endless cycle.

The closure comes from Zero’s own ability to overcome this specific obstacle, and instead find solace in becoming a superb parental figure to Yuki’s children. This is something that he was born to do because he excels at being a kind and well-intentioned person. He was born to be a role-model, and he finally sees his worth in doing so — it’s quite possibly the most satisfying character progression of the entire cast for this reason alone.

Zero always sidelined his feelings for Yuki to not impose on her romance with Kaname, and suffers from a fate worse than death — but it’s one that he accepts and conquers.

He learns to not only accept himself in the end, but comes to see vampires as far more than what he once generalised them as. He grows and becomes the best version of himself by the end, and it’s a personal journey audiences will want to get behind and support along the way.

Ultimately, all this means Zero easily has the very best character progression in the series, and it is highlighted perfectly when it comes full circle during his eventual confrontation with Kaname. He comes to realise his own self-worth when criticising his self-sacrificing actions; he finally vocalises and demonstrates an understanding that such actions from Yuki’s perspective would do more harm to her than anyone else — and for that reason, it becomes clear that he finally understands the importance of his own stance in this world when he is by her side.

As far as basic information goes, he also happens to be an animal lover and a good cook. What’s not to like? Furthermore, his animal motif of a dog is not the only design choice to represent him, since Matsuri Hino took inspiration in presenting her main three characters as a King, Queen and Knight, with Zero falling into the latter category. We always prefer the underdog.

On a final note, I’m closing this off by mentioning that he is voiced by the one and only Mamoru Miyano in the anime adaptation. You know, Rin Matsuoka from Free!, Death the Kid from Soul Eater, Yogi from Karneval, and Chrollo Lucilfer from Hunter X Hunter. Once a husbando, always a husbando (other than Light Yagami).

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Lilia Hellal
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