History Characters / HigurashiWhenTheyCryProtagonists

* CannotSpitItOut: Even [[spoiler:pretending to be Shion to show her feminine side to Keiichi]] doesn't really help.

* TalkingToThemself: Near the end of Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, she has become so deranged that she has conversations with herself while pretending to have arguments with her dead twin sister.

* WouldHurtAChild: She physically assaulted Satoko for being such a big crybaby and burdening her already stressed out older brother. In Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, [[spoiler:she tortures and kills Satoko out of spite. She did the same to Rika in the former, but she killed herself to avoid the same fate in the latter.]]

* CantHoldHerLiquor: A fact that Rika likes to take advantage of.

* TwoSiblingsInOne: Yoigoshi-hen features a world where [[spoiler:Mion died, but her spirit lingers in Shion's body and can briefly possess her.]]

* LadyOfWar: Becomes this in spades in the alteverse sequel manga, Yoigoshi-hen. [[spoiler:This technically applies to her twin sister Shion as well, whose body she is possessing.]]

* ParryingBullets: [[spoiler:In Yoigoshi-hen, she's capable of ''cutting bullets in midair'' with a katana.]]

* DesecratingTheDead: In Meakashi-hen, after she figures out that Oryou is dead, [[spoiler:frustrated that she didn't get to interrogate and (perhaps) torture her first, she lashes out at Oryou's corpse with a barbed whip over and over again]].

* ManipulativeBastard: Frequently, particularly in ''Meakashi''.

** At the end of Meakashi-hen, [[spoiler:Shion discovers the Three Great Families had nothing to do with the strange murder and disappearances in the Cotton-Drifting Festival, meaning she brutally killed innocent people. She still tries to escape from the law, but in the end she can't handle the guilt over her crimes and kills herself.]]

* SiblingMurder: In Wataganashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, [[spoiler:she kills her twin sister by throwing her into a pit to have the police think Mion is dead while she can get away by reassuming the Shion identity.]]

* StepfordSmiler: Unstable type. Behind that polite and sweet smile, there's a batshit crazy {{Yandere}}.

* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:In Meakashi-hen, she takes center stage by going absolutely insane in the pursuit of revenge.]]

* WoundedGazelleGambit: She has frighteningly good acting skills and can summon DistressedDamsel tears at will. She meets Satoshi thanks to that.

* MoodSwinger: In Tatarigoroshi-hen, the effects of enduring her uncle's abuse causes her to appearently act normal at school to abruptly have a panic attack and then just as abruptly go back to pretend she's okay when the teacher arrives.

* StressVomit: In Tatarigoroshi-hen, the stress of trying to act like everything is alright when her uncle is abusing her at home makes her vomit during lunch break.

* NotGrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler:One of her dismays with being trapped in a GroundhogDayLoop is the fact that she hasn't aged past ten for hundreds of years now. In Matsuribayashi-hen, as part of her SurvivalMantra, she boasts that once the loop ends among most things, she's gonna grow taller and develop breasts.]]

* TaremeEyes: When in her "cute" facade, otherwise they're [[TsurimeEyes not]].

* TsurimeEyes: In her "mature" form.

* {{Miko}}: She wears a miko outfit in her spirit form.

* TakeCareOfTheKids: In Miotsukushi-hen, [[spoiler:as she's about to disappear, Hanyu asks Keiichi that he and his friends look after Rika who she calls her beloved child.]]
* TakingTheBullet: In Miotsukushi-hen, [[spoiler:Hanyu is shot by the Banken in order to save Takano]].

* AllLovingHero: Starting with Tsumihoroboshi, Keiichi essentially become the symbol of ThePowerOfFriendship and hope as he keeps trying to fight for an ending that doesn't end in tragedy for him and his friends.
* AmnesiacDissonance: "[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone What have I done?]] [[spoiler:I killed Rena and Mion!]]"
* TheAtoner: In ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'' ("Atonement Chapter"), Keiichi atones for [[spoiler:brutally beating Rena and Mion to death with a bat when he was under the influence of the Hinamizawa Syndrome]] in ''Onikakushi-hen''. Once he remembers what he did and figures out Rena is in the same state he was [[spoiler:in the previous world]], Keiichi sets out to snap her back to sanity [[spoiler:and stop her from blowing up the school]].
* BadLiar: Whenever he does anything that will get him in loads of trouble, he will act very guilty and his lies are horrendous, especialy in ''Watanagashi-Hen'' and ''Tatarigoroshi-hen''.
** However, in all other cases, he is an absolute ''god'' at getting people to believe crap that he makes up.

* BigBrotherInstinct: An incredibly dark twist on it. In Tatarigoroshi-hen, Keiichi tries to act as Satoko's older brother in place of the missing Satoshi. When Satoko's uncle returns to abuse her terribly, Keiichi ends up killing Teppei to protect Satoko. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for him as things take a horrific turn for him unpredictably.]]

* BookDumb: Played with. In the first episode, he's seen helping Rena and Mion to understand their work, and in ''Tatarigoroshi-hen'', it's shown that part of the reason he was teased so much in his hometown was because he was doing too well in school. He just has a different learning style.
* BrokenAce: In his backstory, Keiichi was the top student at his school, but he was also very lonely and didn't find any enjoyment in anything he did. Eventually, the stress and frustration over his parants and teachers demanding more of his studies and his classmates bullying him caused Keiichi to relieve himself in destructive hobbies. [[spoiler:He bought a BB gun and started shooting at little girls as if it was a mere game. He didn't realize the risk of his actions until he shot a girl in the eye.]]
* BullyMagnet: In the Tatarigoroshi-hen arc, it's revealed in a flashback that he was bullied at his previous school for being too smart. He even had a dead rat placed on his desk.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His family moved to a little town in the middle of nowhere for a reason...

* {{Fanservice}}: The first episode of ''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei''. That's all.

* TheHeart: [[spoiler:When he's not a VillainProtagonist.]] Rika and Hanyu comment in the manga that he is the 'piece' that brings change to Hinamizawa. Because Hinamizawa is a village so traditionalist and unchanging that its people have begun to stagnate, it is very important that he comes and stirs up their preconceptions - in particular, changing the ostracising attitude that many have towards the Houjou family. In Matsuribayashi-hen [[spoiler:Rika and Hanyu are shown to takes measures to ensure Keiichi moves to Hinamizawa, and Oryou set up estate for outsiders like him that she normally despises because she knew her village needed some "fresh air".]]

** In Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Keiichi breaks down after [[spoiler:he remembers Onikakushi-hen. In that timeline, he thought Mion and Rena went crazy and betrayed him by trying to kill him. When he can see it from a sane perspective, he realizes the one who went crazy, betrayed his friends, and killed the innocent Rena and Mion was him.]]
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Keiichi spends most of Onikakushi-hen being harassed by Rena and Mion because Ooishi has told him all the secrets related to the mysterious deaths and disappearances that are blamed on Oyashiro-sama's curse and Keiichi suspects the entire village is trying to kill any outsider like him. [[spoiler:Subverted as it's later revealed that Rena's and Mion's crazy behavior in that arc was all the product of Keiichi's hallucinations induced by the Hinamizawa Syndrome.]]
* TheHero: Takes up the role in ''Tsumihoroboshi'' and ''Minagoroshi.'' In two of the prior three arcs [[spoiler:he's actually a VillainProtagonist.]]

** In Wataganashi-hen, he doesn't give Mion the doll not really because he doesn't think of her as a girl, but because Mion is someone he likes to joke around with and he didn't want their friendship to change if he treated her as a girl.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Keiichi is a great friend to be around but in 'Watanagashi' and 'Meakashi'-hen, when he wins a doll at the toy store and gives it to Rena instead of Mion because he assumes the latter doesn't seem to be fond of girly things, he doesn't realize until Rena notifies him that Mion did wanted that doll and was devastated when he doesn't give it to her. His action inadvertently cause [[ForWantOfANail tragic circumstances for everyone at the end]] as he indirectly made [[spoiler:Shion]] succumb to the [[spoiler:Hinamizawa Syndrome]] and cause her to commit murders without remorse. Fortunately in 'Minagoroshi' hen; thanks to Rika's advice, he gives the doll to Mion insisting she's still a girl to him therefore preventing similar events like this from happening.

* InterruptedSuicide: In the ending of Tatarigoroshi-hen, [[spoiler:it's mentioned that Keiichi tried to commit suicide after surviving the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, but was stopped. He did die from a fever caused by the Hinamizawa Syndrome months later.]]

* JerkassBall: Horrifically goes through this in ''Onikakushi''-hen under the [[spoiler:Hinamizawa Syndrome]] when he learns about a murder case and Oyashiro's curse, he becomes downright paranoid and antagonistic towards his friends, mostly Rena and Mion who are in reality trying to help him instead of killing which he wrongly assumes as the hallucination from the syndrome worsen his perspective and ends with him [[spoiler:bludgeoning them to death with Satoshi's baseball bat at his house.]] By the time he suddenly remembers it in ''Tsumihoroboshi''-hen, he immediately breaks down in tears remorseful about it.

* KnightTemplarBigBrother: In Tatarigoroshi, once he sees no other way to save Satoko from her uncle's abuse, Keiichi takes ''extreme'' measures to put it to an end by killing Teppei as he thinks he must protect Satoko while her older brother Satoshi is missing.

* LoveEpiphany: The first part of his narration is a very dark example towards Rena, who he has just murdered in a crazed fury. It should be noted, though, that he may mean platonic love rather than romantic love. Also crosses over with EtTuBrute and WasItAllALie.
* MistakenForMurderer: In the ending of Tatarigoroshi-hen, [[spoiler:Satoko sees Keiichi standing in front of Rika's mutilated corpse with a weapon in his hand. In that arc, Keiichi ''did'' murder Teppei, but Rika's murderer was Takano. Still, Satoko was unstable because of the Hinamizawa Syndrome and didn't trust the claims of innocence of a guy who admits to not trusting his own perception of reality anymore.]]

** In Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Keiichi is able to remember [[spoiler:the events of Onikakushi-hen in one of the previous timelines]]. Keiichi breaks down in tears, horrified that he [[spoiler:killed Rena and Mion when the Hinamizawa Syndrome made him hallucinate that they were trying to harm him when they were really worried about him as the good friends they are.]]
* MyGreatestFailure:
** In his backstory, [[spoiler:he shot a little girl in the eye when he was shooting at children with his BB gun to relieve the stress of his studies]]. After he and his parents moved to Hinamizawa, Keiichi just wanted to start anew and leave behind the terrible thing he did by being a better person.
** In Tsumihoroboshi-hen, [[spoiler:he realizes his previous self from another timeline killed Rena and Mion when he was driven insane by the Hinamizawa Syndrome. This motivates him to save Rena from the Hinamizawa Syndrome once he understands she's in the same crazied state he was in the other timeline.]]

* ScrewDestiny: Starting from Tsumihoroboshi, [[spoiler:as opposed to Rika who gave in to "fate" after watching things go to hell in the loops so many times, Keiichi resolves he's going to fight against fate and stop the tragedies from the previous timelines to repeat ever again.]]

* SoleSurvivor: In Tatarigoroshi-hen, he is the only person living in Hinamizawa who survives the Great Hinamizawa Gas Disaster because he was unconscious by the riverside during the time of the tragedy. He does die eventually, though. Just not from that.

* SympatheticMurderer: In ''Tatarigoroshi'', [[spoiler:he murders Satoko's uncle to free her from his abuse. Unfortunately, him admitting to doing so at a Satoko who is unstable because of the Hinamizawa Syndrome and finding Rika's mutilated corpse shortly after, ending in Keiichi being pushed off a bridge by a crazed Satoko.]]

** In Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Keiichi starts crying out of guilt and horror when he remembers [[spoiler:he killed Rena and Mion during his madness induced by the Hinamizawa Syndrome]] in Onikakushi-hen.

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: In Onikakushi-hen, [[spoiler:Rena and Mion did hide several dark secrets from Keiichi, but the parts where the girls act insane and appear to be trying to make him "transfer schools" like Satoshi are actually Keiichi hallucinating because of the Hinamizawa Syndrome making him go insane from paranoia]]. The two most notable examples are [[spoiler:when Rena and Mion make ohagi for him, Keiichi thinks he finds a needle inside the food because red liquid is coming out of his mouth, but the truth is there ''wasn't'' any needle (Mion had simply filled the ohagi with hot sauce as a prank and the needle was Keiichi's hallucination)]] and also [[spoiler:the "syringe" Keiichi thought Mion was going to inject him with was really a marker as the girls just wanted to doodle on his face]].

* UnscrupulousHero: A pretty dark take on this in Tatarigoroshi-hen.
* VillainProtagonist: In [[spoiler:''Onikakushi'', Keiichi is the POV character and he ''thinks'' that the village is trying to kill him for being an outsider, driving him to kill Mion and Rena in what he thinks is self-defense. Neither Keiichi himself, or the reader, are aware of that ''Keiichi'' was the only culprit in that arc until Tsumihoroboshi where Keiichi can remember that he was only hallucinating that Mion and Rena tried to kill him.]]

* DefiantToTheEnd: In Minagoroshi-hen, [[spoiler:Rena tells Takano that she will never become Oyashiro-sama right before Takano shoots her dead.]]

* HyperAwareness: Seen best in ''Watanagashi-hen''. Most of the time [[ObfuscatingStupidity she hides it very well.]]

* EarnYouHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Being trapped in a time loop of insanity and murder for 100 years, rthe final arc has them being able to beat Takano, overcome fame, and gain their freedom to live the rest of their lives happily.]]

* SeriesMascot: Rena has become practically synonymous with the entire ''Higurashi'' franchise. She's featured in promotional art and covers more than any other main character. [=Ryukishi07=] comments on this in Tsumihoroboshi, believing that she best represents the story's [[SurpriseCreepy ups and downs]].

* SupportingProtagonist: [[spoiler:The story is really about Rika changing timelines with Hanyuu's power as she loses hope of finding a world where she isn't murdered. However, he ''is'' the character that inspires her to fight fate and find a happy ending the most.]]

* VillainProtagonist: Only in [[spoiler:''Onikakushi''. Not that he, or the reader, are aware of that.]]

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: In ''Tsumihoroboshi'', she may not be all there but there are a few things that she actually gets ''right''. [[spoiler:Notably the Okonogi gardeners being a fake society hiding secret agents, the fact the Hinamizawa Syndrome is being researched at the Irie Clinic, or the fact that there is ''some kind'' of relationship between said research and the mysterious deaths.]] Of course she is completely off the mark about all the rest, but that's still ironic.

* ExtremelyProtectiveChild: As shown in''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'', she is willing to go to [[MurderIsTheBestSolution extreme lengths]] to protect her father from being extorted by his scammer girlfriend.

* {{Foil}}: To Keiichi and the twins. She is more calm and quieter compared to the loud Keiichi or Mion. But when it comes to bad situations, she is the most insane and scariest. Shion is jealous that Rena is way more intimidating and perceptive than her.

* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:Motivated her to return to Hinamizawa.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Compare her behavior at the end of episode 4 of ''Rei'' with her behavior in episode 5.
** For that matter, see the end of Watanagashi-hen. She figures out the identity of the killer [[spoiler:(mostly)]] just based on a flyer and the state of Rika and Satoko's dinner.

* {{Keigo}}: She speaks in an extremely formal way, using the first-person pronoun "watakushi", forms like "de gozaimasu" and the honorific -san with even her close friends, as well as the request formula "-kudasaimase". According to Rika, Satoko does this because she forced herself to be hyper-polite so as not to be a target of gossip when the Hōjō were ostracized, but it didn't really help. [[spoiler:Ironically, she's the one who can't stand St. Lucia's formalities compared to her {{Bokukko}} best friend in ''Gou''.]]

* TraumaCongaLine: More than anyone else, Satoko's history has been a list of things going wrong in her life. First, her parents die due to a tragic accident. Then, she and her brother are forced to move in with her abusive aunt and uncle. Then, [[spoiler:her aunt is killed by her brother,]] her brother disappears a few days later, and her uncle abandons her (although this last one was actually a good thing for Satoko). [[spoiler:And then it was revealed in episode 17 of ''Gou'' that ''Satoko is the other looper alongside Rika''.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: When the idea of there being a second looper was thrown into the fray in Gou, it soon becomes apparent that [[spoiler: Satoko]] is the second looper who had somehow cast [[spoiler: Rika]] back into the perpetual loop.

* BeneathTheMask: [[spoiler:Despite being over a century old, Rika is forced to keep up the act of being an innocent, prepubescent girl. Sometimes she either tires of the act and gives up on it, or lets it slip when she thinks no one is paying attention, and the result is that the seemingly sweet-natured Rika is revealed as bitter, world-weary, and decidedly more harsh and snarky than her act would suggest. This actually winds up creating some strife with her mother, who is one of the only people to notice that every once in a while her daughter doesn't act like a "normal" child her age.]]

* BludgeonedToDeath: In ''Gou'', [[spoiler:she's killed by Ooishi in Tataridamashi-hen where he crushes her skull with a bat.]]
* BlushSticker: As a little child.

* BrokenTears: In ''Gou'', she cries in grief and desperation when [[spoiler:Hanyu's lingering spirit vanishes and leaves her to try and overcome the new time loops on her own]].

* TheChessmaster: Very intelligent and precise when fighting.

* DeadpanSnarker: [[spoiler:When her true personality comes out toward Hanyuu, she's often teasing her and threatening to consume spicy food when she gets too whiny.]]

* DeterminedDefeatist: [[spoiler:She has been trying for a long, long time, but she's been killed so many times that she's become a cynical fatalist. She keeps trying though, and eventually gets it right.]]
** [[spoiler:In the very beginning of Higurashi Gou Onidamashi-hen episode 2, Rika wakes back up in the realm of kakera, not knowing how she died or why Hanyuu isn't with her anymore—only knowing that she’s being sent back to June 1983, that she’s not the same little girl she was one hundred years ago, and that she’s ready and armed with the knowledge to get their happy ending back.]]
* DrivenToSuicide:
** [[spoiler:She is captured and tortured to death by Shion]] in ''Watanagashi''. In ''Meakashi'', when she ends up in the same situation again, [[spoiler:[[BetterToDieThanBeKilled she prefers to skip the torture part and kills herself with a kitchen knife]].]]
** [[spoiler:She also almost kills herself in ''Minagoroshi-hen'' when she finds out that Satoko's uncle has returned and neither Takano or Tomitake can help her. She stops once she realizes that by doing this she would just leave this world's Satoko alone.]]
** This trope seems to be the central theme of Gou's ''Nekodamashi-hen,'' wherein [[spoiler: Hanyu disappears (presumably for good) and leaves Rika with the means to find a weapon that could permanently kill herself as a parting gift. Even in her starting moments within the new world, she plays with the idea of stabbing herself with a kitchen knife at the very thought of having to continue on alone. Upon finding the last shard of the weapon, Rika is able to find the last remaining shreds of her hope and resolve to solve this mystery within five loops, or she'll end her existence as an eternal consciousness forever.]]

* TheFatalist: [[spoiler:Years of being stuck in a gruesome GroundhogDayLoop]] has led Rika to believe YouCantFightFate and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it. [[spoiler:Inspired by Keiichi, she keeps trying, though, and eventually gets it right.]]

* GlowingEyes: In the 2020 anime, her eyes glow red in a post credits scene. [[spoiler: Just like Hanyuu can do]]. This scene [[spoiler: foreshadows her demon blood (from her ancestor Hanyuu)]].

* GuileHeroine: Rika is by far the most manipulative of the main group, and tends to use her cuteness and innocent nature to distract people or lure them into a false sense of security. [[spoiler:This turns out to run even deeper than it first appears, as Rika has actually existed for over 100 years stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop, meaning every bit of her cutesy, innocent persona is a carefully cultivated act.]]
* GuttedLikeAFish: [[spoiler:Her demise in most arcs. She's usually knocked out by [[InstantSedation chloroform]], so she's spared the pain but never learns who's killing her until Minagoroshi-hen. Takano's plan requires her death, and she chooses to honor the original Wataganashi (Instestine Drifting).]]

* ImmortalImmaturity: [[spoiler:While she says she's mentally hundreds of years old, it becomes clear that it's not true. Instead, she's actually grown desperate rather than truly growing old. This can also be explained by the fact that her body has not yet reached puberty, so her brain is not fully developed, and thus she simply cannot be completely adult in mind since she is not physically capable of it. While she does not act her apparent age (somewhere around nine to eleven) it's clear that she's really still pretty childish. Considering how she's spent hundreds of years hanging out with kids and teenagers and acting like a kid to fit it, it's also likely that she doesn't know ''how'' to act like an adult.]]
* InnocentlyInsensitive: In the ''Gou'' anime, [[spoiler:Rika notices Satoko is having troubles with her grades at St. Lucia Academy and tries offering her help for studying, which is a nice gesture. The problem is that Rika asked Satoko right in front of her new friends who already look down on Satoko and someone prideful like Satoko naturally doesn't want to admit she's failing at her grades in the presence of others.]]
* JadeColoredGlasses: [[spoiler:In the first half of ''Minagoroshi''. You can't really blame her.]]

* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: [[spoiler:Due to still being physically a preteen, she cannot achieve complete mental maturity despite being mentally hundreds of years old, simply because certain changes in the brain that occur during puberty haven't occured for her yet. A line in the visual novel suggests she hasn't even gotten her first period yet.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: As part of her DeliberatelyCuteChild routine, she passes herself off as a clueless kid, but she knows a lot more of what is going on than any of her friends.

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: In ''Gou'', [[spoiler:she starts to fall into despair when she sees Hanyu's spirit fading in the sea of fragments because she never wanted to face more deadly loops without Hanyu]].
* PrecociousCrush: Strongly implied towards Akasaka.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler:Technically, Rika would be an over 100-year-old in a little girl's body.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: In ''Gou'', her eyes glow red when [[spoiler:she drops the cute act and goes into creepy mode in front of others]].

* SoreLoser: In the first episode of Gou, she pretends that she has no ill feelings over Satoko using her traps to beat her in the club's first game with Keiichi. Then, she gives her a box that springs out a boxing glove and punches Satoko's face.

* SupportingProtagonist: Shares the status with Keiichi. [[spoiler:Basically, the whole story is about her and the latter half is frequently from her perspective, but despite this, it is mostly Keiichi and the rest who act to save Rika from her fate.]]

* TookALevelInIdealism: [[spoiler:After having pretty much given up on fighting fate and resigning to keep dying continuously, Rika is inspired by Keiichi to not give up and keep trying. She eventually gets it right and frees herself from the loop.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Harsh type toward Hanyuu. She's very snarky toward her and often consumes spicy food and wine just to make her suffer through their shared senses, but she learned more from her than her actual mother, feels distressed when she's not around, and is devastated [[spoiler:when she gets fatally shot in Miotsukushi-hen.]]

* WrongGenreSavvy: In the ''Gou'' anime, [[spoiler:Rika thinks she's in the Onikakushi-hen scenario and to prevent Keiichi from succumbing to the Hinamizawa Syndrome and killing his friends, she tries to reassure him that Rena's scary behavior is all in his head and he should believe Rena isn't plotting to hurt him. Alas, this isn't Onikakushi-hen, it's a new arc named Onidamashi-hen and Rena ''does'' want to kill Keiichi here since she's the one with the Hinamizawa Syndrome this time around.]]

* GreenEyedMonster: In Gou, she becomes envious of [[spoiler: Rika]] due to her capability of blending in seamlessly with the student body whereas her grades were failing forcing her to take remedial classes. She was also jealous of the group of girls largely because of the promise she made with [[spoiler: Rika]] and felt that she broke it.

* NeverMyFault: There are shades of this. She resents [[spoiler: Rika]] for seemingly forgetting their promise and envies her for thriving in the academy in comparison to her. However, [[spoiler: Rika]] ''did'' offer to help her with her classwork and invited her to tea, but it was because of her stubborn pride that Satoko rejected these offers. In short, Satoko paved the way for her own suffering because she did not want [[spoiler: Rika]] to leave her.

* {{Yandere}}: Gou sees her becoming one for [[spoiler: Rika]]. As she was disemboweling her in episode 16, while she claimed that she was doing it largely because Oyashiro-sama declared that [[spoiler: Rika]] sinned by wanting to leave the village, it becomes apparent that it was more personal. Episode 19 has her grow envious of the group of girls [[spoiler: Rika]] meets at St. Lucia Academy due to her friend seemingly forgetting their promise.

** This later counts as FridgeBrilliance, too. Annoyed with the unknown girl's constant apologies, he thinks that whoever she's apologizing to should just forgive her already, as she clearly feels guilty over what she did. ''Higurashi'' is the story of [[spoiler:how Hanyu and Rika forgive themselves for failing the GroundhogDayLoop so many times, and are thus able to move on to the future.]]

* {{Keigo}}: She speaks in an extremely formal way, using the first-person pronoun "watakushi", forms like "de gozaimasu" and the honorific -san with even her close friends, as well as the request formula "-kudasaimase". According to Rika, Satoko does this because she forced herself to be hyper-polite so as not to be a target of gossip when the Hōjō were ostracized, but it didn't really help.

* SilkHidingSteel: Despite her refined and girly persona, she is either a violent {{yandere}} or a badass tease like her sister.

* AdaptationalModesty: The anime lets her have her clothes on for the ending of Tatarigoroshi-hen.
* AesopAmnesia: The Minagoroshi arc has [[spoiler:Satoko being told by her friends that it's not good to bottle up her emotions and put up a brave act when her uncle returns to abuse her as she's only going to end up breaking at that rate. This motivates Satoko to finally stand up to her uncle and ask the child services to rescue her. Come the ''Gou'' anime, which is confirmed to be a sequel to the last arc from the original Matsuribayashi, and Satoko is making the same mistake of refusing her friend Rika's help when she's obviously having trouble due to her grades dropping after arriving at St. Lucia Academy. Instead, she puts up a bravado out of stubborn pride. This leads to her and Rika drifting apart and the stress of the remedial classes weakens Satoko's mental state once more. Yes, it is true the events of Minagoroshi didn't happen in Matsuribayashi, but every other of the club members do subconsciously remember their lessons from other fragments, such as Keiichi seeking a peaceful solution to save Satoko from her uncle and Shion loving Satoko as a little sister because of her promise to Satoshi. Therefore, Satoko is the only one regressing from the development she went through in the original story.]]

* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Episode 16 of ''Gou'' shows her brutally dismembering Rika and effectively brainwashing her into not wanting to leave Hinamizawa. While at first it seems like this is the result of Satoko succumbing to Hinamizawa Syndrome, the following episode revealed ''Satoko's been repeating these events alongside Rika'' and pulls a gun on Rika. While it's clear Satoko is indeed the other looper, it's not clear how long she's been enduring these events or what her ultimate endgame for Rika is.]]
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[spoiler:Her feelings towards Rika in ''Gou'', especially after TheReveal are...questionable, to say the least.]]

* ApatheticStudent: In the backstory of ''Gou'', [[spoiler:Satoko enrolls at St. Lucia Academy because she wanted to stay close to Rika, but she dozes off or doodles instead of paying attention at class and gets mad when the teacher sends her to remedial classes. Satoko would be happy to drop out from the school as she has the freedom to do that unlike many of the girls there and the only reason why she even tries to study is because she doesn't want to be apart from Rika.]]

* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:In ''Gou''.]]

* TheGadfly: Very mischievous, especially towards Keiichi.
* GenkiGirl: Her facade is along these lines, until she [[BreakTheCutie breaks]].
* GreenEyedMonster: In the ''Gou'' anime, [[spoiler:after she and Rika enroll at St. Lucia, Satoko soon becomes jealous at seeing Rika expanding her social circle and getting along with other girls at the school. It gets worse as Satoko quickly grows to hate the school for finding it boring and stressful, making her resent Rika for having fun at tea parties with her new friends while Satoko is at remedial classes, especially since Satoko is only there because Rika said she wanted to have fun with her at a new school.]]

* KiddieKid: PlayedForDrama in the ''Gou'' sequel anime. [[spoiler:After the events of Matsuribayashi, Satoko is the only member of the club who doesn't show signs of maturing and still wants to play with her traps while Rika is developing more grown-up interests. This becomes a problem when she and Rika enroll at St. Lucia high school, as Satoko feels suffocated in that demanding elite school and the other students find her quirks like her NoblewomansLaugh to be unfit for the high-class culture of their school.]]

* NeverMyFault: In the backstory of the ''Gou'' anime, [[spoiler:Satoko gets mad at Rika for, in her eyes, choosing her new friends at St. Lucia over her and having fun with them while Satoko is getting stressed at remedial classes. However, Rika ''did'' invite Satoko to hang out with her new group of friends and offered to help her with her studies to show she still cares for her. Satoko is the one who wants nothing to do with the girls at St. Lucia due to finding them snobbish and in a way, she doesn't want to share the time she can spend with Rika. Yet, Satoko acts like Rika is betraying her by enjoying a school life that Satoko hates even though Rika never really forced her to go with her and Satoko tagged along just to be close to Rika.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: In the ''Gou'' sequel anime, all information about Satoko's role that doesn't include the parallels to her role in Tatarigoroshi and Minagoroshi from the original is a spoiler to the reveal [[spoiler:that Satoko is the second looper besides Rika]].

* {{Yandere}}: ''Gou'' sees her gradually becoming one for [[spoiler: Rika]]. While disemboweling her, she tries to claim that it is largely because [[spoiler: Rika]] sinned by wanting to leave Hinamizawa, it becomes apparent that she takes it to a more personal level. Episode 19 foreshadowed this when she stares at the girls [[spoiler: Rika]] befriended at St. Lucia with envy.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She may always be an arrogant brat who come up with traps to prank everyone including her friends but she does really cares about them; in this case apparently in ''Tatarigoroshi''-hen when she feels concerned for Keiichi when he nearly sets his house on fire when he learns to start cooking.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Episode 16 of ''Gou'' shows her brutally dismembering Rika and effectively brainwashing her into not wanting to leave Hinamizawa. While at first it seems like this is the result of Satoko succumbing to Hinamizawa Syndrome, the following episode revealed ''Satoko's been repeating these events alongside Rika'' and pulls a gun on Rika. While it's clear Satoko is indeed the other looper, it's not clear how long she's been enduring these events or what her ultimate endgame for Rika is.]]

* AmbiguouslyGay: [[spoiler:Her feelings towards Rika in ''Gou'', espcially after TheReveal are...questionable, to say the least.]]

* {{Yandere}}: ''Gou'' sees her gradually becoming one for [[spoiler: Rika]]. While disemboweling her, while she tries to claim that it is largely because [[spoiler: Rika]] sinned by wanting to leave Hinamizawa, it becomes apparent that she takes it to a more personal level. Episode 19 foreshadowed this when she stares at the girls [[spoiler: Rika]] befriended at St. Lucia with envy.

* {{Yandere}}: ''Gou'' sees her gradually becoming one for [[spoiler: Rika]]. While disemboweling her, while she tries to claim that it is largely because [[spoiler: Rika]] sinned by wanting to leave Hinamizawa, it becomes apparent that she takes it to a more personal level. Episode 19 foreshadowed this when she stares at the girls [[spoiler: Rika]] befriended at St. Lucia with envy.

* ParentalAbandonment: Boy, does poor Satoko get it bad. Her mother, father, aunt, and brother all died or disappeared, and her uncle skipped town.
** That last one ''really'' isn't a bad thing.

* TraumaInducedAmnesia: [[spoiler:She doesn't remember that she's a SelfMadeOrphan, though she starts to remember after Rika's ExpositionDump about Hinamizawa Syndrome late in Minagoroshi, and is directly told by Teppei in Miotsukushi.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: Her reveal as the [[spoiler: second looper]] in ''Gou'' is very shocking.

** [[spoiler:In the very beginning of Higurashi Gou Onidamashi-hen episode 2, Rika wakes back up in the realm of kakera, not knowing how she died or why Hanyuu isn’t with her anymore—only knowing that she’s being sent back to June 1983, that she’s not the same little girl she was one hundred years ago, and that she’s ready and armed with the knowledge to get their happy ending back.]]

* MoralityChain: Zigzagged with [[spoiler:Shion in the arcs where she goes crazy. Part of her wants to kill him [[RevengeByProxy just to make Mion suffer]]. Part of her also understands just why Mion fell for him as he continues to call her (believing she's Mion) his best friend even after she admits to murder, even jumping to the conclusion that her sadistic behavior must be caused by DemonicPosession because he simply refused to believe that she could naturally be so malicious. She ends up sparing him and apologizing for defiling his image of "Mion", but later SanitySlippage leads to her stabbing him anyway.]]

* CovertPervert: A subtle example. [[spoiler:The ending to ''Matsuribayashi'' notes that she has been seen cheerfully buying up men's clothes and taking them to the Irie Clinic, where a comatose Satoshi is being held. Then it mentions that she very excitedly bought a maid outfit that didn't fit her and brought it during her next trip...]]

* TraumaCongaLine: More than anyone else, Satoko's history has been a list of things going wrong in her life. First, her parents die due to a tragic accident. Then, she and her brother are forced to move in with her abusive aunt and uncle. Then, [[spoiler:her aunt is killed by her brother,]] her brother disappears a few days later, and her uncle abandons her (although this last one was actually a good thing for Satoko).

* AdaptationDyeJob: Their eyes are blue in the visual novels, but the anime often portrays them as [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow green like their hair]].

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: There's the NewTransferStudent who moved from the city because of some actions he deeply regrets, a girl weirdly obsessed with cute things and the local deity, the heir of the local {{Yakuza}}, a BrattyHalfPint expert at setting up traps, and the little {{Miko}} of the local shrine [[spoiler:who has been looping after being killed for over a hundred years]].

* TheHeart: [[spoiler:When he's not a VillainProtagonist.]] Rika and Hanyu comment in the manga that he is the 'piece' that brings change to Hinamizawa. Because Hinamizawa is a village so traditionalist and unchanging that its people have begun to stagnate, it is very important that he comes and stirs up their preconceptions - in particular, changing the ostracising attitude that many have towards the Houjou family. In Matsuribayashi-hen [[spoiler:Rika and Hanyu are shown to takes measures to ensure Keiichi moves to Hinamizawa.]]

* MoralityChain: Zigzagged with [[spoiler:Shion in the arcs where she goes crazy. Part of her wants to kill him [[RevengeByProxy just to make Mion suffer]]. Part of her also understands just why Mion fell for him, especially when he refuses to believe that she'd become a sadistic killer unless she was under DemonicPosession. She ends up sparing him and apologizing for defiling his image of "Mion" (who she's claiming to be), but later SanitySlippage leads to her stabbing him anyway.]]