The romanizations used in the English-language editions of the manga by VIZ Media and Chuang Yi differ from the English romanizations used on Nippon Television's Japanese-language website.
The straightforward and prickly-minded heroine of the story, Haruhi is an intelligent but poor first-year in Ouran Academy and could only enter through a special scholarship. Her height is 5'0", and her blood type is O. One day, she accidentally breaks an enormously expensive vase of Ouran's famed host club and must work as a host with them until her debt is paid. Although her independent and simple personality clashes with the much more outgoing hosts', she cares for each of them deeply and enjoys being a host (although she must disguise herself as a boy to do this). Haruhi lives with her okama father in a two-story apartment and her mother, a lawyer, passed away of an illness when she was young, so Haruhi is skilled in household chores. Tamaki and the twins are curious about how Haruhi lives so they are always nosing around. In chapters 55 through 57, Haruhi begins to discover that she is getting closer to Tamaki Suou, and similarly to Tamaki in chapter 40, takes ill due to her confusion of her feelings.
A quite narcissistic but caring second-year, Tamaki is the founder of the host club and is very dedicated to his duty as a host. He is the Prince type to woo customers. His height is 6'0", and his blood type is A. The main comic relief character of the series, Tamaki can be viewed as naive and outspoken for his age, especially since he only views himself as an obsessive father figure to Haruhi, when in reality he's in love with her. Tamaki is half-Japanese and half-French, and lives with his father, the wealthy superintendent of Ouran Academy. They both live separately from his French mother because of a deal between his Mother and his bitterly cold paternal grandmother. Despite his grandmother being the reason he can't see his mother, he is very gentle to her, and is constantly trying to get her to accept him as a part of the Suou family. Sadly, his grandmother does not like Tamaki and is always cold towards him.
The cunning and extremely sly vice president of the host club, Kyoya is close friends with Tamaki, despite their completely different demeanors. His height is 5'11", and his blood type is AB. He is secretive and remarkably brilliant, being able to calculate any benefits that would come out of the host club's misadventures. Despite having quite antagonistic traits, the host club wouldn't be as half as successful without Kyoya's uptight resourcefulness. Although he doesn't put an act for the women, he is considered the 'cool type'. He lives with his father, an affluent zaibatsu owner (who 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.
Mischievous, devious, and otherwise childish, Hikaru and Kaoru are identical twins who often toy with fellow classmate and Host Club member, Haruhi. However, as they got to know her better, they start to care for her deeply, especially since they discovered that Haruhi can tell them apart even when they mess up their hair (the easiest way to tell them apart is the way they part their hair), something that no one has ever done before. Their heights are 5'9", and their blood type is B. When they were very young, a maid they were close to betrayed them, and when they asked her if she could play the 'Which one is Hikaru?' game, she denied, telling them instead that someday someone would be able to tell them apart. 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, so 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. They are the little devil type to attract customers. They live with their mother (Yuzuha Hitachiin), a fashion designer, and their considerably meeker father, a computer software designer.
A short, cute, but exceptionally strong 17 year old senior, Mitsukuni, or often referred to as "Honey", is a very childish and cake-loving boy who is much older than his elementary school appearance would indicate. His height is 4'9", and his blood type is AB. He can be confused with Fruits Basket's Momiji Sohma (coincidentally, they both have the same seiyus in the anime). Honey is often around his cousin, Takashi, or "Mori", whom he is very close to. Honey lives with his father, the owner of a famous dojo and his little brother, whom he is often at odds with. He is very fond of eating sweets and his room is full of stuffed animals. 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 his true self. Then, together with Mori, he joined the host club, attracting customers with his loli-shota cuteness.
Curiosity: His nickname, Honey came from his name Mitsukuni (光圀), because the abbreviation to Mitsu (蜜) means Honey.
The silent and instinctive senior, Takashi is quite intimidating in appearance, but not when around his cousin, the absolutely playful Honey (who he calls by his first name, Mitsukuni). His height is 6'4", and his blood type is O. Mori (his affectionate nickname) is mostly mute and mysterious, and humorously doesn't talk so much, but he is very protective of Honey. Although he is considered the 'wild' type, he normally doesn't try to woo girls, instead he is always assisting Honey. The girls like the fact that he cares for Honey and this makes him popular, also the fact that he is silent attracts girls. In the manga, he has a more outgoing little brother (Satoshi Morinozuka). Mori's hobbies include kendo, which he is a master of, and also the national champion.
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. 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 powered by a high powered motor, 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, Moe Moe Ōran Nikki), a school magazine containing all things related to moe at Ouran High School.
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.
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.
A hooded figure holding a cat puppet named Belzenev, Umehito Nekozawa (almost always referred to by only his last) hates bright light to the point that he calls anyone who drags him into the light as 'murderers'. 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 "Belzenev" doll. Nekozawa has one as a puppet, but it is also available as a wooden 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.
Nekozawa is actually very handsome under his hood, although he wears a black wig over his naturally blond hair and bright blue eyes. He has a younger sister named Kirimi who is afraid of the dark and cats. As a result, the two siblings were not able to be around one another until Tamaki and the Host Club got involved and prompted Nekozawa to adapt to light and display his more heroic and princely side. In the end, it is Nekozawa's love for and desire to protect his little sister that endears him to her, despite his photophobia; he braves daylight to save Kirimi. Although he collapses right afterwards from exposure to sunshine, Kirimi loves him all the more for his willingness to brave that which he loathes so much to protect her. On a funnier note, at the end of volume 8, it is shown that Kirimi has turned into a nearly identical darkness fanatic as Nekozawa. Both sport dark cloaks and have their features covered. 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 Nekozawa's private beach and mansion, not Kyoya's, though Nekozawa does not attend dinner because Haruhi switched the lights on and caused him to go into shock. The Host Club (Mori, Hunny, the twins, and Haruhi) also see Nekozawa 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.
The Nekozawa family traces their lineage to the Tokarev Dynasty in Russia, suggesting that Nekozawa family may work with gun manufacturing (a firearm even appears in the manga).
In the anime, Nekozawa also refers to himself as "watashi" rather than "boku" or "ore".
Ritsu Kasanoda 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.
There are several rumours associated with him too. For instance, if your eyes meet his, you'll suffer three months of nightmares. Also, if his shoulders bump into someone, he or she will be sent to the hospital. Finally, if someone tries to talk back to him, he or she goes straight to the graveyard. His classmates know him as the feared "human blizzard".
Kasanoda initially seeks to apprentice under Morinozuka, hoping to become as respected and admired as he, despite Morinozuka possessing - to paraphrase Kasanoda's own words - "a face as intimidating as that of the guard dogs of Hell". He suffers some humiliations at the hands of the Host Club members, who steadfastly refer to him as "Casanova-kun" or "Bossa Nova-kun", 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 befor entering, he has become the first person at Ouran High outside the host club to discover that Haruhi is a girl. 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 usually 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. In volume 9, he gave Haruhi a tomato plant as a gift. Also, an update on his situation indicates that he's joined the Gardening Society of the school.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.
Haruhi's father works at an okama (cross dressing) bar. He says that he was originally bisexual, but turned to cross-dressing after his wife's death because he could never love another woman. 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. File:Kotoko Fujioka epi 10.pngKotoko FujiokaPartly 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.
Kotoko Fujioka (藤岡 琴子, Fujioka Kotoko), (Seiyū - Mika Doi)
Kotoko Fujioka 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 6 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, but 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.
The main "villain" of the first chapter, Ayanokouji's jealousy of Tamaki's friendship with Haruhi led her to throw Haruhi's belongings into a pool. However, she has water poured on her as a punishment (from the twins), and was banned from the Host Club forever. In the anime, she's parodied in episode 13 when she takes on the role of a lowly cook in Haruhi's dream.
At the end of volume 1, Hatori noted that she's in class 3-A, the same class as Honey and Mori.
The subject of help for the Host Club in episode 2 of the anime. Initially, Kanako was well-known for changing her hosts every now and then. (The usual practise is for a girl to designate a permanent host.) She did this to spite her fiancé into paying attention to her. However, it wasn't successful until Tamaki got wind of their situation and decided to help out. She made a cameo appearance in episode 13.
In the anime, she's the first person Haruhi ever kissed, during a ball organized by the Host Club (and where they executed Tamaki's plan to bring the couple together). In the manga, Haruhi kissed a different girl.
The subject of help for the Host Club in episode 6 of the anime. 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 seiyu's more famous role as the titular character in Naruto.
Ayame Jounouchi (城之内綾女, Jōnouchi Ayame)
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 (伽名月 麗子, Kanatsuki Reiko)
A student of Class 1-D, Reiko had a crush on Honey. 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 and overcome her shyness. She also became a regular at the Host Club.
She's the second member of the Black Magic Club to be named.
Ootori family
The name is romanized by VIZ Media and Chuang Yi English manga as Ohtori
The name is romanized by Nippon Television's Japanese-language website as Ootori
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).
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, 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.
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. (As a scholarship student, Haruhi has to be the top student in order to keep the scholarship.) Also, in volume 6, it's revealed that his father is a famous politician.
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.
Patriarch of the Suou family, 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 Tamaki 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 Suou 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.
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". 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 fanclub devoted to her. Benio doesn't exactly help matters; she flirts with girls with the same ease as Tamaki . 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 sucker Haruhi into helping the Zuka Club out with a play. While not possessing any feminine curves, and Benio's liberal use of the male word 'boku' for 'I', her gender is almost certainly female.
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.
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 and arguably the most energetic of the three. They also tend to bother Haruhi, for they think that she shouldn't wear boy uniform and kept on insisting Haruhi to join their club.
Misuzu is Ranka's colleague at the okama bar. He runs a pension in Karuizawa, Nagano. His real name is Isao (功). He was formerly a banker.
Mei Yasumura (安村 メイ, Yasumura Mei)
Misuzu's ganguro dressed 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. 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 is secretly working a part-time job in an attempt to reunite Mei and her father, and enlisted Haruhi's (reluctant) help on the matter but later had suspected that Tamaki might be in love with Haruhi (and vice versa). She's also the only non-Host Club member to appear on any volume cover in the manga series.
An anime-only character. Éclair is the beautiful, shrewd heir apparent 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 concocts a scheme to make him her 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 non-interference from the Ootori group by arranging for the Grand Tonnerre Group to buy up Ootori Medical so as to control Kyouya's father.
While she does not immediately recognize Haruhi as a girl, as soon as she does, she tries to drive a wedge between her and Tamaki, with some degree of success. In the end, Tamaki still leaves her side in order to save Haruhi's life, but leaves her with a good impression by genuinely smiling at her and thanking her before jumping out of the car that was driving them to the airport. She then ask her driver to head towards the airport even without Tamaki, telling her driver how wonderful and pure hearted Tamaki is because he actually gave her a genuine smile even after all she did.
Éclair seems to have a speaking name; "éclair" can be translated as lightning from French and "tonnerre", as thunder. Hence, she would be lightning and thunder, the one thing Haruhi is afraid of. Éclair's willingness and ability to almost tear asunder the Host Club, which Haruhi has come to appreciate and enjoy, would seem to support this.
