History Characters / HigurashiWhenTheyCryProtagonists

* BadLiar: Whenever he does anything that will get him in loads of trouble, he will act very guilty and his lies are horrendous, especially in ''Watanagashi-hen'' and ''Tatarigoroshi-hen''. [[ZigzaggingTrope However,]] in all other cases, he is an absolute ''god'' at getting people to believe crap that he makes up.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: She falls head-over-heels for Satoshi after he merely pats her head.

* CainAndAbel: In the arcs where Shion snaps, her twin sister Mion ends up among her many victims. [[spoiler:Shion also torments Mion by forcing her to watch as she tortures and kills her friends.]]

The first arc, Onikakushi-hen (Spirited Away by the Demon chapter), is focused on him.

* VitriolicBestBuds: He and Satoko - except in Tatarigoroshi-hen, where Keiichi tries to act more like Satoshi - constantly snipe at each other, and it's very clear that their friendship is built on this dynamic.

* PsychologicalHorror: The horror from his arc ''Onikakushi-hen'' comes more from paranoia and fear rather than blood and gore.

* AmnesiacDissonance: During the events of ''Onikakushi-hen'', [[spoiler:Keiichi's paranoia about the town being out to get him makes him develop the Hinamizawa Syndrome and in his hallucinations, he thinks Rena and Mion are going to kill him, driving him to kill them in a fit of madness.]] He doesn't realize what really happened until he recovers his memories in ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'' and [[spoiler:he can now remember with clarity that Rena and Mion weren't trying to hurt him in that previous timeline and he had actually killed them over nothing when they were truly worried about him.]]

* TheAtoner: In ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'' ("Atonement Chapter"), Keiichi atones for [[spoiler:brutally beating Rena and Mion to death with a baseball 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]].

* UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler:Almost his entire narration in later parts of ''Onikakushi-hen'' is clouded with hallucinations caused by the Hinamizawa Syndrome that make him think Mion and Rena are out to kill him when the one who was going crazy and murderous was him.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: While he's not ugly by any means in the visual novels and the first anime, Keiichi's design in ''Higurashi Gou's'' art style gives him rounder and softer features, making him look cuter and more {{Bishounen}} than how he's normally drawn in other ''Higurashi'' media.

* TheConstant: In the first half of Gou, [[spoiler:he always survives through the time loops no matter how badly injured he is. Whether he's stabbed a dozen times, imprisoned in an underground panic room, or getting hit in the head with a baseball bat, Keiichi always pulls through and wakes up at the hospital for whichever one of his friends survived the story arc to tell him who died.]]

* TheHero: In ''Tsumihoroboshi'' and ''Minagoroshi'', Keiichi takes up the role of the main force of good who is determined to prevent the tragedies from the previous timelines repeat themselves. His efforts to inspire others to fight against the tragedy and unite his allies result in him [[spoiler:restoring Rena's sanity when she was at L5 of the Hinamizawa Syndrome and saving Satoko from Teppei without killing him by convincing everyone in Hinamizawa to get help from child services.]]

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Keiichi is a great friend to be around but at worse, he can be emotionally dense especially 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 seems to be masculine, he doesn't realize until Rena lectures him that Mion wanted that doll in the first place 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 tragic events similar to them from occuring.

* KillingInSelfDefense:
** Subverted in Onikakushi-hen. [[spoiler:Keiichi ''thinks'' that Mion is going to inject him with the same drug that made Tomitake claw his own claw out. This makes him go apeshit and beat Mion and Rena to death with a baseball bat. In Tsumihoroboshi-hen, it's revealed Keiichi was only hallucinating the syringe because of the Hinamizawa Syndrome and Mion and Rena never tried to hurt him.]]
** Also, in Higurashi Gou's Onidamashi arc [[spoiler:he gets attacked by a crazed Rena and has to bash in her head with an alarm clock in self-defense. He doesn't find out Rena died from her injuries until he speaks to Ooishi and later Mion and he mourns heavily for her.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: In Onidamashi-hen, [[spoiler: after being convinced by Rika to trust his friend Rena in what seems like a repeat of the events in Onikakushi-hen, it turns out he had every right to be suspicious as Rena had a case of Hinamizawa Syndrome and attempts to murder him.]]

* TearsOfRemorse:
** 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.
** Also in Higurashi Gou, at the end of Onidamashi-hen, Keiichi cries deeply in mourning and remorse [[spoiler:in his hospital bed while retelling Ooishi how he killed Rena in self-defense while she, overcome with Hinamizawa Syndrome, was stabbing him recklessly.]]

* CatchPhrase:
** [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe "HAU~! OMOCHIKAERII!"]]
** She's the most infamous source of [[ThatLiarLies "USO DA!"]]

* ElmuhFuddSyndwome: This is how the English translation of the manga decided to translate her [[CatchPhrase signature]] "kaaii" (A slurred way to say "kawaii," the Japanese word for "cute"). In the translation, it became "adowable", while in the sound novel translations it's rendered as "sho kyute".

** Played surprisingly in Higurashi Gou [[spoiler:when she succumbs to the disease and stabs Keiichi under the impression that if she kills him and gets spirited away, Oyashiro-sama will let her father live peacefully in Hinamizawa.]]

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Girly Girl to Mion's Tomboy.

* AccidentalMurder: In ''Wataakashi-hen'', [[spoiler: she accidentally kills Shion and Oryo in her Hinamizawa Syndrome-striken madness and is horrified when she realizes what she did. This doesn't happen in the manga version where Shion is the murderer instead.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: While Mion is generally characterized as the OnlySaneWoman [[spoiler:and the only of the main characters who never attempts to murder anyone]], the 2020 anime series flipped this on its head with the ''Wataakashi-hen'' arc [[spoiler:where Mion commits the murders in a misguided effort to protect Keiichi, albeit while under the influence of the syndrome Satoko injected on her. However, the arc's manga version turns Shion into the murderer.]]
* ApologeticAttacker: She apologizes to Kimiyoshi and Rika before [[spoiler:she tortures him to death and strangles her to death]] respectively in the Sotsu anime's ''Wataakashi-hen''.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: In the 2020 anime's ''Watadamashi/Wataakashi-hen'' arc, [[spoiler:Mion locks Keiichi in a cell and intends to deal with what she thinks is a conspiracy of the Three Great Families of Hinamizawa in order to protect Keiichi. When Keiichi begs her to let him help her, Mion tells him she was happy when he treated her like a girl by giving her a doll so she's going to protect him to the end or die trying. In the manga, however, the one who locks Keiichi in the cell is Shion doing what she can to protect Keiichi in the dead Mion's place.]]

* CannotSpitItOut: She never has the guts to admit to Keiichi that she has a crush on him. Even pretending to be Shion to show her feminine side to Keiichi doesn't really help. [[spoiler:She finally manages to confess her love to him in Watadamashi before being found shot in the Sonozaki's mansion's hallway. ]]

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the ''Wataakashi-hen'''s manga version, [[spoiler:Shion goes insane and accidentally kills Mion, in contrast of the anime version where it was the other way around.]]

* ForcedIntoEvil:
** She's forced by her family to take part in many morally corrupt deeds, but she's not happy about it.
** In the 2020 anime's ''Watadamashi/Wataakashi-hen'', [[spoiler:Satoko artificially injecting her with Hinamizawa Syndrome makes her commit horrifying deeds she normally wouldn't commit when sane and unaffected. However, in the manga version, Shion is the arc's killer.]]

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Mion is the only of the main characters who can't be influenced by paranoia [[spoiler:induced by the Hinamizawa Syndrome]] and never attempts to murder anyone because of it. There's only one known arc where this is subverted (the 2020 anime's ''Watadamashi/Wataakashi-hen''), but it only happens because of [[spoiler:Satoko's H-173 injection making her go insane. And even the arc's manga version absolved Mion of blame by making Shion into the murderer.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:She's tearfully horrified that she murdered Shion after briefly regaining her senses from the effects of the Hinamizawa Syndrome Satoko secretly induced in her in ''Sotsu'''s ''Wataakashi-hen''.]]

* SiblingMurder: In the 2020 anime's ''Watadamashi/Wataakashi-hen'', [[spoiler:Mion kills her twin sister Shion. The manga version reverses it with Shion killing Mion by accident instead.]]

* {{Yandere}}: In ''Watadamashi-hen'' and ''Wataakashi-hen'', it's Mion's wish to protect Keiichi from her family what causes her to give into the paranoia and insanity [[spoiler:induced by Satoko's H-173 injection. Mion ends up killing Shion, Kimiyoshi, Rika and Satoko in the name of the guy she likes.]] In the manga version, however, [[spoiler:it's {{subverted|trope}} as it's revealed Shion is the one who committed the murders after Mion's accidental death caused her to go insane and go to the extremes to protect Keiichi because that's what she thinks Mion would have wanted.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the ''Wataakashi-hen'''s manga version, [[spoiler:due to Mion dying during an argument with her, Shion becomes the villain of the arc and murders Rika and Satoko.]]

* BrokenSmile: In ''Wataakashi-hen'''s manga version, Shion [[spoiler:confesses to Keiichi that she "loves" him]] while smiling, but her creepy-looking eyes make the scene disturbing.

* DeathByIrony: In 2020 anime's ''Watadamashi/Wataakashi'', [[spoiler:we get a reverse of the situation in ''Watanagashi/Meakashi'' with Mion being the one with the Hinamizawa Syndrome instead of Shion. Mion ends up murdering Shion and dumping her corpse in the well just like Shion did to Mion in the original series.]]

* DemotedToExtra: While all of the older members of the main cast have this partially happen to them, Shion especially is hit with this ''hard'' in ''Gou'' and ''Sotsu'', to the point of barely being a factor into the majority of the series. The manga version of ''Wataakashi-hen'' fixes this to some extent [[spoiler:by making Shion the culprit of the arc.]]

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In ''Wataakashi-hen'''s anime version, [[spoiler:Shion is killed by Mion who went L5 because of Satoko's injection]]. In the manga version, however, [[spoiler:Shion kills Satoko in self-defense and when she realizes what she has done, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she despairs at having broken Satoshi's promise again]] and claws her own throat out.]]

* LossOfIdentity: In ''Wataakashi-hen'''s manga version, [[spoiler:Shion kills Mion by accident, goes L5 and the resulting insanity causes her to not be able to tell which of the twins she is anymore, even confessing to Keiichi because she thinks she "is" the Mion who loved him.]]

* MySisterIsOffLimits: In the manga version of Tataridamashi-hen, Shion chases after Keiichi with a taser in hand when she sees him being too close to her "little sister" Satoko.

* ApologisesALot: "I'm sorry" is sort of her CatchPhrase.

%%* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The reason why her powers are failing lately.

** In the beginning of Higurashi Gou Onidamashi-hen episode 2, Hanyuu is still a spirit with Rika having commented that she didn't see Hanyuu next to her when she woke up and Hanyuu explains that she’s become a lingering spirit and is beginning to fade away.

* GodsHandsAreTied: Although she's technically a goddess, the only thing she ever does to "help" Rika's situation is moving her soul to a new fragment every time Rika is killed instead, you know, at least telling Rika who keeps killing her. On top of that, her powers have reached their limit after 100 years of fragment jumping with Rika. In fact, Hanyu even goes so far as to describe herself as "a powerless god". This is further enforced in ''Gou'' once Eua is introduced, as while she's willing to help Satoko out in killing Rika. Hanyu herself is unable to really do much of anything for Rika outside of sending her to new loops Satoko is in. It's also not made clear if Hanyu is even aware of Eua's existence; though Eua definitely knows about, and mocks Hanyu for not being able to do anything.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Rika would have probably become an EmptyShell long ago if it wasn't for Hanyu. She has been Rika's sole companion who remembers the other timelines and knows just how much Rika has suffered from being killed so many times. In ''Gou'', Hanyu has already passed on and the copy she left behind can't go into the new fragments with Rika and fades away after Tataridamashi-hen. Without Hanyu to support her in the new hellish loops, Rika seriously considers killing herself with a piece of the Onigari-no-Ryuoo sword so she does die for good.

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* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Only in the anime and then in the VN's UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} release, both of which give her purplish-blue hair and eyes. In all other media, her hair is blue and her eyes are purple.

* {{Bokukko}}: Uses "boku" as a first-person pronoun, probably a habit acquired from Hanyu. The [=TIPS=] mention that she got into fights with her mother because she didn't approve of it. [[spoiler:Her true personality uses an ordinary "watashi" with the speech patterns of a mature woman.]]

* {{Bokukko}}: Uses "boku" as a first-person pronoun, despite not being tomboyish at all. According to her, that's because in her time (she is 1000 years old after all) boys and girls didn't speak differently. However, she often switches to "watashi" in her more serious persona, like Rika.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She fell so hard for Satoshi because he was the first boy of her age who showed her even a bit of kindness after she was starved of affection by her family.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Only slightly, but probably as a result of an AdaptationDistillation, Keiichi does not antagonize Mion regarding Satoko's bad home situation in the anime adaptation of Tatarigoroshi-hen. His inner monologue about wanting to kill Takano while she drives him home is also cut from the anime adaptation of the said arc.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Eye variation. Both the original and the [=MangaGamer=] art for the visual novel generally give him indigo eyes, though the [=PS3=] port makes them a purplish-brownish-gray. The first anime, manga, and the Mahjong game are the only continuities in the series that display him with outright purple eyes.

* BoobsOfSteel: She's very busty and ''very'' competent in close combat. She hands [[spoiler:Okonogi]]'s ass to him beautifully in ''Matsuribayashi''.

* ManipulativeBastard: In ''Meakashi'', she proves herself at being a master at deceiving and playing people like puppets, especially Keiichi who is the main victim of her lies.

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

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Unlike the brash and pants-wearing Mion, Shion is very girly and wears skirts. As noted under RedOniBlueOni, it's PlayedWith as this is mainly a front. Mion is actually quite girly, while Shion is, [[BreakTheCutie well]], [[{{Yandere}} unstable]] and [[AxCrazy murderous]].

* {{Yandere}}: During the arcs where she snaps, she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against those she blames for Satoshi's disappearance.

* AntiquatedLinguistics: In the few situations where she acts like a proper god, like her conversation with Takano at the end of Matsuribayashi, where she addresses her as "child of man" and calls her gun "iron fire". This was how she initially spoke in the past, but her husband taught her {{Keigo}} to make her sound more feminine.

* BishieSparkle: Used in liberal amounts.
* {{Bishonen}}: He's noticeably pretty and even [[BishieSparkle sparkles]] on various occasions.

* BuxomBeautyStandard: Averted in the manga[[note]]Onikakushi, Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 16[[/note]]. He tells Mion her boobs are too big and that he prefers Rena's more average size. Then again, he may have said that merely to tease the both of them. Strangely, it's the other way around in the VN: after criticizing Mion for skipping breakfast and praising Rena for eating hers, he encourages Rena to grow curvier, not flat like Mion. Probably a subversion of the trope, since, as Mion is visibly ''not'' flat, Keiichi is definitely teasing.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: What he does to [[AssholeVictim Teppei]] in the 3rd novel and the [=PS2=] "Exorcism Chapter".

** Don't mock her belief in Oyashiro-sama.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Her killing of [[spoiler:Rina and Teppei in the 6th novel and Teppei again in the [=PS2=] "Exorcism Chapter".]]

* : 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.

* {{Keigo}}: She has more polite speech patterns than her sister who kinda talks like a boy.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Among all the people she kills, no one feels like condemning her for the deaths she brings to [[spoiler:Oryou]] in the 2nd/5th novels and [[spoiler:Teppei]] in the [=PS2=] exclusive "Exorcism Chapter".

* {{Keigo}}: An exaggerated version where she adds "desu" or "nano desu" to the ends of all her sentences even when it makes no grammatical sense. [[DeliberatelyCuteChild Rika]] bases her public persona on this.

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* {{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.

* BitchSlap: She slaps Keiichi to push him to apologize to Mion in ''Watanagashi''. It kind of feels like a mother scolding her kid.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Her high-pitched, cutesy voice turns lower when she's angry or crazy.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Whenever she drops the innocent child act, she also drops her high-pitched voice and sounds deeper while showing her more cynical true self.

* ContraltoOfDanger: She drops the cutesy tone when she gets serious and her pupils turn red. ''Kotohogushi-hen'' reveals that she used to be far more aggressive demon whose default voice was this deep.

* SeriesMascot: Rena has become the most symbolic icon of 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]].

!!"[[TheLeader Club Leader]]" Mion Sonozaki ([[spoiler:birth name: Shion Sonozaki]])

!!Shion Sonozaki ([[spoiler:birth name: Mion Sonozaki]])