Haruhi Suzumiya Characters 2nd: Kyon

Created by Nagaru Tanigawa
Voiced by Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese)
Crispin Freeman (English)
Profile
Nicknames Kyon (by his sister)
Aliases John Smith (by him)
Gender Male
Species Human
Occupation North High student (second year) / SOS Brigade co-founder and fourth seat / series narrator

Kyon (キョン?) is a fictional character, protagonist and narrator of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series and the anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in the original version of the anime, and Crispin Freeman in the English dubbed edition. The name Kyon is also actually a nickname given to him by his aunt. His sister is responsible for spreading its use to his schoolmates, much to the embarrassment of Kyon, who misses being called Onii-chan (お兄ちゃん? Lit. "older brother") by his sister. Not much is known about Kyon's real name. However, in the ninth volume of the light novel (The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya), his real name is hinted in a conversation between him and Sasaki; a girl who had known Kyon since middle school, saying it was a very majestic name that didn't seem to fit him.

Kyon is one of Haruhi's companions, and the second founding member of the SOS Brigade. Upon his entry into high school, he resigns himself to a lifestyle where his adolescent fantasies such as aliens, time travelers, and espers have no place. After one small conversation with him, Haruhi unexpectedly opened up to him and dragged him into her new club. His reputation and fate have since become entangled with Haruhi's.

Overview

Although Haruhi Suzumiya is the title character, the story is told from Kyon's point of view. He narrates with sarcastic commentary on the various absurdities of Haruhi, club activities and events related to Haruhi. Kyon may also direct his thoughts at Haruhi, which Haruhi might respond to, thus making it unclear whether he is speaking aloud or merely thinking to himself. This could also be interpreted as an ability for Haruhi to occasionally achieve nearly telepathic empathy with Kyon. Kyon's narration follows the format of a Greek Chorus, speaking directly to the audience through internal dialogue. Though a self-described barely-above-average student, Kyon—particularly in the light novels—very often peppers his narration and dialogue with references to ancient mythology, advanced scientific concepts (the laws of thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, etc.), alternately well-known and/or obscure pop culture (he identifies a Marilyn Manson song Haruhi hums in the second light novel), and various esoteric subjects, often comparing the Brigade's situation to a typical role playing game.

He is also the only "normal" human in a club otherwise assembled to include a membership of an alien, esper and a time traveler. This is a cause of curiosity and concern amongst many parties, since Haruhi is "not interested in ordinary humans". Yuki refers to Kyon as an "irregular factor near Haruhi" responsible for an abrupt change in the data around Haruhi. Itsuki goes as far as to investigate Kyon's identity, only to affirm that Kyon is indeed an ordinary human. Asakura herself is quite puzzled by Haruhi's interest in Kyon and asks how it was that he has gotten Haruhi to open up.

He can be very observant and quite intelligent, despite his dismal grades. It is Kyon who solves the murder mystery during the events of the Lonely Island in the light novel, not Haruhi. He had known the truth since the beginning, as he does not believe that Haruhi will wish for someone to die and comes to the truth after he notices several facts.

In an article that interviewed Nagaru Tanigawa, the author admitted that Kyon was originally supposed to be an esper, but while writing The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyon was instead portrayed as an ordinary student.

Relation to other Brigade members

Ever since Kyon interacted with Haruhi when nobody in her class would, Kyon becomes Haruhi's main partner for discussion and advice. This includes discussion on the creation of the SOS Brigade to revealing personal thoughts and asking for advice on how to run the brigade. According to Itsuki Koizumi, Haruhi "chose" Kyon, though the meaning of this has not been clarified to the reader, but the general idea is that Kyon is the only one that Haruhi would want to have with her if a new dimension was made. During SOS Brigade meetings, he feels certain that Haruhi should learn that not everything can go her way. With that skepticism, Kyon develops a bond of trust with Haruhi, evidently noted by Itsuki. When thinking of what Haruhi meant to him in comparison to the other three members of the SOS Brigade, Kyon described her as being "more than just a classmate". Throughout the series he develops a sort of love/hate relationship with Haruhi wherein he cannot stand the things she does, but will remain by her side, even though he really does not want to. This is also evident whenever Mikuru is just merely physically close to Kyon, prompting generally violent reactions (one of which was the aforementioned new dimension). When Kyon was placed in a coma for three days, during which the events of The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya takes place, despite the supernatural Brigade members each taking turns looking after him, it was Haruhi who remained with him in all those three days.

Why Haruhi "chose" Kyon, however, seems to remain a mystery, but a very likely reason is because of his resemblance to John Smith, which is amusing since he and John Smith are the same person. A less likely, but still very likely, reason is he is the first person in her class who actually opened up to her when no one else would, something Ryoko Asakura noted herself.

The three brigade members of "supernatural" origin all revealed their secrets to Kyon. Reasons for revealing to Kyon in particular are unknown. All three happen to rely on Kyon for interaction with Haruhi, in a matter such that her boredom would not risk the universe. They also seem to rely on him as a sounding board for their ongoing missions to monitor Haruhi.

Yuki was the first to tell Kyon her true identity, and thereafter Kyon views her as the most reliable member in their brigade. Yuki tends to readily accept commands from Kyon instead of Haruhi, and seems to look to him for his approval when confronted with decisions she must make. Several times, she has saved him from impending death; something that Kyon feels a responsibility to pay her back for. He becomes invested in Yuki's well-being, taking out a library card for her and wondering if she ever gets lonely. Though Yuki is completely expressionless and unemotional, Kyon eventually learns how to sense changes in her moods, such as when he realized she was having fun when they were playing "The Day of Sagittarius III" against the Computer Club.

With Mikuru, a bit of flirtation between the two occur; once, he secretly saves Mikuru's maid pictures, while making Haruhi believe he deleted them. Some sentiment on Mikuru's part can be observed from her future self visiting Kyon; the first time her future self meets him, she tries to offer proof of her identity by showing him the star-shaped mole on her breast, even urging him to touch it to make sure it's not fake. In fact, future Mikuru informs Kyon that he is the one who told Mikuru about the mole when she had no idea herself, though this creates a minor temporal paradox when Kyon tells the present Mikuru about the mole; later, before she returns to her real time, in the anime she embraces him, while in the light novel he tries to kiss her but she stops him. Mikuru's action in the light novel could be due to the dangers of time travelers having relationships with members of the past, or more likely because of the dangerous effect she believes a relationship with Kyon would have on Haruhi. Kyon also stands as the one obstacle preventing Haruhi from the further harassment of Mikuru, and in turn Mikuru looks to Kyon as a sort of protector, becoming overjoyed when he pledges to guard her from Haruhi and grabbing onto his arm on reflex when frightened.

Itsuki has been Kyon's other major source of information, aside from Yuki. Along with his esper powers, he gained certain knowledge regarding Haruhi and various phenomena in relation to her. He reveals some of this information to Kyon; and he even showed him the activities of the Organization fighting large energy monsters within closed space. As the only two male members of the SOS Brigade, they tend to converse among themselves, usually about Haruhi and her inclinations, while the three girls are occupied with different things. Despite this, of the three brigade members, it is Itsuki who annoys Kyon the most, partly because of his relentlessly cheerful personality (which Kyon considers a facade) and wordy lecturing, and partly because of Itsuki's tendency to violate Kyon's personal space by putting his face too close and paying him borderline-outrageous comments. In addition, of all the Brigade members, Itsuki is most likely to agree with whatever idea Haruhi's warped mind thinks up.

John Smith

John Smith (ジョン・スミス Jon Sumisu?) is a pseudonym used by Kyon during one of his travels into the past. He told Haruhi his name is "John Smith" in order to hide his identity. Although just a passing thought to name himself that in the chapter "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", it becomes a critical factor in volume four, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya. Seemingly presented with a normal high school life, a world without Haruhi, the extent of his "normalness" and of his attachment to the Brigade and Haruhi are made evident. "John Smith" is referenced in the first novel and in the anime shortly after Haruhi and Kyon 'first' meet. Haruhi asks him if they had met before, to which he replies that they haven't (which is true, from his perspective). Kyon has said on occasion, at the end of The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya and at other intervals, that revealing he is John Smith will be his last ace in the hole should something arise regarding Haruhi. However, Kyon feels it is a last resort measure in case something like the events of the book happen again in which he has no support from anyone. To that end, he was willing to defy even the Integrated Data Entity, for he realized that while Haruhi was the one with reality-altering powers from which, supposedly, no one was safe, he was the lone exception, the only thing keeping Haruhi from throwing everything out of whack. He realized then that he had become linked with Haruhi (in the intended sense and more), that even something like the Entity wouldn't exist without his keeping Haruhi's powers stable. His revealing himself to Haruhi as John Smith would radically change everything.