History Main / HikikoMori

* ''FanfFic/TotalDramaLegacy'''s Katherine is a rare non-Japanese example. [[DarkAndTroubledPast When she was 3 years old, Katherine saw her father get harassed in public and get beat up by a gang of thugs, and this caused her to think the outside world was cruel and unforgiving.]] Ever since, she has been terrified of leaving her house- she had a panic attack on the first day of kindergarten (forcing her parents to [[HomeschooledKids homeschool her]]), and before coming to Pahkitew Island, she hadn't left her home in ''years''.

* ''FanFic/TotalDramaLegacy'''s Katherine is a rare non-Japanese example. [[DarkAndTroubledPast When she was 3 years old, Katherine saw her father get harassed in public and get beat up by a gang of thugs, and this caused her to think the outside world was cruel and unforgiving.]] Ever since, she has been terrified of leaving her house- she had a panic attack on the first day of kindergarten (forcing her parents to [[HomeschooledKids homeschool her]]), and before coming to Pahkitew Island, she hadn't left her home in ''years''.

* Artie in ''Literature/InCryptid'' is a comic book geek who hasn't left his basement in years. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as he's an [[SuccubiAndIncubi incubus]] who [[PowerIncontinence can't control]] his [[LivingAphrodisiac pheromones]]: in short, [[AccidentalPornomancer girls (and gay/bi men) fall in love with him everywhere he goes]] and he has ''no idea'' how to handle it.
* Kazuma in ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}'' is a room-dwelling geek who spent all his time playing videogames prior to dying and being sent to another world. Something Aqua refuses to let him forget and regularly mocked him for. This is the result of him seeing a girl he had made a ChildhoodMarriagePromise to with another guy, which caused him to fall into a depression.

* Shintarou of Jin (Shizen no Teki-P)'s Kagerou project is a hikikomori but is slowly being helped from his situation by the Mekakushi Dan.

** It's worth noting that her popularity has kept having her return as a playable character in ''Immaterial and Missing Power'' and ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' and as a partner in ''Subterranean Animism'', not to mention being in a great many {{doujinshi}}, so it should be said that her Hikikomori status was rather suddenly ended by the events of ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil''.

No man is an island, but a ''hikikomori'' is a peninsula. A ''hikikomori'' is a [[SubTrope specific, extreme form]] of TheShutIn who hasn't left his bedroom for a ridiculously long time (like, at least six months).

More recently, ''hikikomori'' people now connect with one another online, publish journals and newspapers, and even meet in person to share research and perspectives. [[https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2058687/ Vosot Ikeida]], who's been a ''hikikomori'' for over thirty years, believes the condition originates commonly in emotional and mental child abuse. He has started several meeting groups and websites that he hopes will encourage communication and connection not just between ''hikikomori'' and the outside world, but between parents and their ''hikikomori'' children. Kenji Yamase believes with some mental health experts that [[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/06/01/lifestyle/prison-inside-japans-hikikomori-lack-relationships-not-physical-spaces/ hikikomori origins are complex]] but it often seems to begin with something happening to interrupt one's life routine -- say you have to quit your job to care for an elderly parent -- and then difficulty resuming your old life.

* ''WebAnimation/AttackOnMika'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duCTW7jBYoQ Komoru]] is a textbook example of one. He is a lazy slacker who mooches off his mother Ayaka, demanding her to give him allowance everyday. He goes as far as ''stealing from her'' to spend it on a game raffle.
* In the "Okkusenman" video, during a scene where the protagonist wonders about his childhood friends, one of them is shown as having become one.

* Used for a gag in an episode of ''WebAnimation/PuffinForest'' when Ben is talking about how [[PoliceAreUseless city guards are useless]]. A guy calls the guards for help with a magic problem and the guard responds that magic isn't real. The guy asks how the guard could possibly [[FlatEarthAtheist not believe in magic when they live in a fantasy setting where magic is everywhere]] and the guard answers he has never been outside, '''[[NotHyperbole ever]]'''.

* Artie in ''Literature/InCryptid'' is a comic book geek who hasn't left his basement in years. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as he's an [[HornyDevils incubus]] who [[PowerIncontinence can't control]] his [[LivingAphrodisiac pheromones]]: in short, [[AccidentalPornomancer girls (and gay/bi men) fall in love with him everywhere he goes]] and he has ''no idea'' how to handle it.

* ''Literature/{{Another}}'' has hikikomori characters in its different continuities:
** In the novel and manga, there's one named Kazumi [[spoiler: Akazawa]] who is the brother of [[spoiler: Izumi Akazawa]] and is said to [[spoiler: have hung himself in his bedroom before the story began.]]
** In the anime, Yumi Ogura's older brother Atsushi is only seen in his room, playing games at his computer. [[spoiler: And this causes his death, since an excavator rams into the Ogura house and crushes him to death.]]

* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', when the computer club president goes missing, Haruhi uses this term to refer to him, asking Kyon where a hikikomori might be hiding (hinting that Kyon himself is one). Usage of this term is probably to further show how rude and blunt Haruhi's character can be since she uses the term so blatantly.

* ''LightNovel/HighschoolDXD'':
** Gasper Vladib is one after his introduction in season 2 as [[spoiler: Rias Gremory's other Bishop. Interestingly, this has NOT stopped him from carrying out his duty as a Devil, making and fulfilling contracts over the Internet.]] He is getting better, though, as he is now emotionally capable of going outside (provided he is not alone), and having conversations with people he is close to. But he will still hide in a box if he gets even a little startled.
** [[spoiler: [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Riser]] [[SmugSnake Phenix]]]] [[VillainousBreakdown briefly becomes one]] after being defeated by Issei. It becomes so bad that he will even refuse to even see his own family because he had a bad dream (probably about Issei) the night before and totally FREAKS OUT when Issei shows up at his bedroom door, most likely due to [[spoiler: the TraumaCongaLine of losing to Issei, who was a weak, newly reincarnated devil, having his fiancé stolen by him, and having this all happen in front of a crowd of high-ranking and very aristocratic devils.]]

* Kazuma in ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}'' is a room-dwelling geek who spent all his time playing videogames prior to dying and being sent to another world. Something Aqua refuses to let him forget and regularly mocked him for. This is the result of him seeing a girl he had made a ChildhoodMarriagePromise to with another guy, which caused him to fall into a depression.
* Yuna from ''LightNovel/KumaKumaKumaBear'' was a 15-year-old TeenGenius who lived alone in a fancy high-rise apartment, paid for with her skill in the stock market, the deed signed by her grandfather (who's only heard through Yuna's side of a phone call), and her food delivered to her. Her parents are absent, mooching off of Yuna for what she assumes to be a hedonistic lifestyle abroad. She spends most of her time playing a VRMMO as a solo adventurer--until she racks up so much total time playing that a mysterious force decides to send her into another world to make friends and interact with others. Unlike most examples of this trope, she shows no signs of social anxiety or otherwise being uneasy around new people and is, in fact, extremely outgoing and friendly.

* ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'':
** Rudeus was this in his previous life. After being made a social pariah at school he spent nearly twenty years locked up in his parents' house. The plot kicks off when they die and his siblings, unwilling to support him, disown and beat him. In his second life, Rudeus didn't leave his parents' house for six years due to the trauma from his previous life. He is grateful when Roxy takes him outside against his will as it allows him to put the fear behind him, which was more than anyone in his past life had done for him.
*** Backstory revealed later on delves deeper into how it was a self-sustaining cycle of jealousy, self-hatred, and fear. He wanted to be able to go out and make his way in life but the fear kept him from doing so. This made him jealous of his family who had no issues and so he lashed out and shunned them while they had no real idea how to help him. Eventually they stopped and he fell into otaku hobbies in hopes of distracting himself but never finding anything meaningful for his life.
** Nanahoshi shows all the signs of this but is infinitely more successful and driven than Rudeus was. [[spoiler:She hates this new world, and wants to ignore it in favor of getting back to Japan]].

* Sophia in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' is a medieval version. After having enough [[AlbinosAreFreaks scorn over her appearance among the high society]], she isolated herself to avoid the hurtful words of other nobles, as well as [[DontLookAtMe not wanting others to look at her]], although befriending Catarina put an end to this. This is also why she becomes a romance novel fan as she started reading those out of {{escapism}}.

* Main character Shinichi from ''Anime/OutbreakCompany'' was a shut-in until just before the series started, when his parents finally gave him an ultimatum to get a job or be cut off. This becomes a plot point in the middle of the series when he uses his experience of being a shut-in to reach out to Petralka when she gets stressed out and locks herself in her room for an entire day.
* ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'': [[InsufferableGenius Ryuunosuke]] almost never leaves his room because of his dislike of people, though he does go to school to have enough attendance to pass the year.

* The self-proclaimed otaku in ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' was one, and spent all his time on ImageBoards discussing trivia and obscure facts. When the ZombieApocalypse starts, he spends his time dedicating himself to researching how to defend yourself from zombies, zombie information, and what Japan would do to protect himself, going so far as to hack into doctors studying the infection for e-fame. He gets so obsessed that it's a long time before he realizes the entire city has been infected. This finally forces him out of his apartment.

* This seems to be the allegorical premise of ''Film/{{Kairo}}'' (later remade into ''Film/{{Pulse}}''), wherein people who find a haunted website withdraw from society and eventually disappear altogether.

* The ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'''s characters pretty much out-hikky everyone else. This trope is built into the premise of the show ([[ItMakesSenseInContext where "NHK" stands for the Japanese equivalent of "Japanese Hikikomori Association" instead of "Japan Broadcasting Corporation"]]), whose lead suffers from the condition, to the point that almost every major character in the show represents a specific symptom of the Hikikomori-condition! Much like the other characters, this is used for both hilarious BlackHumor and [[TheWoobie audience sympathy]]. It also does a good job of showing why people become Hikikomoris. One character had severe untreated social anxiety, another was relentlessly bullied in school, and a third has a DarkAndTroubledPast.

-->-- ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E15AgentForHARM Mystery Science Theater 3000: Agent for H.A.R.M.]]''

* Kayako Nagato from the third season of ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' ends up with a bad fear of going to school due to all the bullying she had received from her classmates due to her slow and clumsy nature, her OnlyFriend unwittingly brushing her concerns off and the heavy pressure from both her teachers and her parents, causing her to stop going to school out of the belief she was causing trouble by being there. Her anxiety over it is so bad, she always ended up panicking whenever she is confronted about it by others and whenever she does try to go back, resulting in her vomiting. Even after meeting Doremi, Kayako can only stay in the nurse’s office at first, as she still feels like all of the other students hate her and due to the past pressure from her old teacher and her parents. It’s only when everyone listens to Kayako’s story and reasons that they finally take the right steps by apologizing to Kayako and giving her the support and reassurance she desperately needed, allowing her to return to class.

* Kayako Nagato from the third season of ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' ends up with a bad fear of going to school due to all the bullying she had received from her classmates due to her slow and clumsy nature, her OnlyFriend unwittingly brushing her concerns off and the heavy pressure from both her teachers and her parents, causing her to stop going to school out of the belief she was causing trouble by being there. Her anxiety over it is so bad, she always ended up panicking whenever she is confronted about it by others and whenever she does try to go back, resulting in her vomiting. Even after meeting Doremi, Kayako can only stay in the nurse’s office at first, as she still feels like all of the other students hate her and due to the past pressure from her old teacher and her parents. It’s only when everyone listens to Kayako’s story and reasons that they finally take the right steps to giving the poor the assurance and support she desperately needed, allowing her to return to class.

While ''Hikkomori'' was initially considered to be specific to Japan, the phenomenon started to the observed in the West around the time of the 2007-08 financial crisis, which forced many precarious young people to move back in with their parents. It's also been observed in the U.S., as the country also has a competitive university entrance competition and business culture that many younger people found themselve disillusioned with in the wake of the crisis.

* Satsuki in ''Fanfic/TheOutside'' is this, as she's agoraphobic and so, to her, everything to do with the world outside of her house is dangerous, imposing this sort of thing on Ryuuko. Later in the story, we find out more why she's this, as she used to be more of TheShutIn (being an IllGirl), but, due to almost dying of an [[spoiler: asthma attack]] the one time she did go outside, she was left traumatized, even more when Soichiro died.

* Kaoru Watabe from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' was this prior to ''[=KoF=] '97'' due to her being an IllGirl and being confined to a wheelchair, which left her unable to communicate with other people. She slowly gets better by seeing Athena's determination on TV and sends a letter to her to cheer her and her teammates on. When she finally meets them, she is very happy and becomes friends with them, [[spoiler: even pulling a BigDamnHeroes moment on the Psycho Soldiers Team in one of their '''99'' endings.]]

* The title character in ''LittleVoice'' almost never leaves her room in her mother's apartment, spending all her time listening to her deceased father's vinyl records and perfectly imitating the singers' performances.

** [[spoiler:Izumi]] is accused of this. Turns out she has [[NoSenseOfDirection a good reason]] [[UpToEleven though]].

No man is an island, but ''hikikomori'' are peninsulae. A ''hikikomori'' is a [[SubTrope specific, extreme form]] of TheShutIn who hasn't left his bedroom for a ridiculously long time (like, at least six months).

* [[spoiler:Nessiah]] is a borderline case in ''Roleplay/DeptHeavenApocrypha''. He wasn't originally anywhere near this bad, but let's just say [[TraumaCongaLine various things happened]]. He ''has'' been known to venture out of his room every now and again, but this is usually for necessity's sake, and someone is almost always with him.

* The ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'''s characters pretty much out-hikky everyone else. This trope is built into the premise of ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'' (where "NHK" stands for the Japanese equivalent of "Japanese Hikikomori Association" instead of "Japan Broadcasting Corporation"), whose lead suffers from the condition, to the point that almost every major character in the show represents a specific symptom of the Hikikomori-condition! Much like the other characters, this is used for both hilarious BlackHumor and [[TheWoobie audience sympathy]]. It also does a good job of showing why people become Hikikomoris. One character had severe untreated social anxiety, another was relentlessly bullied in school, and a third has a DarkAndTroubledPast.

While ''Hikkomori'' was initially considered to be specific to Japan, the phenomenon started to the observed in the West around the time of the 2007-08 financial crisis, which forced many precarious young people to move back in with their parents. It's also been observed in the U.S., as the country also has a competitive university entrace competition and business culture that many younger people found themselve disillusioned with in the wake of the crisis.

* Serizawa in the ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' fanfics ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/18953161/chapters/45001192 Nothing Breaks Like a Heart]]'' and ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841134/chapters/49544027 Customary Relations]]''.

* Rob, a side character in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', lives in the same building as the protagonists, and apparently hasn't left his apartment since the '80s.

* [[TheDragon Serizawa Katsuya]] from ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' spent 15 years of his life living in his room out of fear of hurting others with his uncontrollable psychic powers. He only manages to leave after being sought out by another (more powerful) esper named [[AGodIAm Touichirou Suzuki]] who persuades Serizawa to join him on his crusade of creating a new world order for espers like them. While he does leave his bedroom to join the tyrant king, Serizawa's self-isolation resulted in him becoming extremely anxious in social situations and is near dependent on others. [[spoiler:He starts to get better when he joins "Spirts and Such" and develops healthier friendships with the heroes.]]

* Not usually, but when her friends are absent for a while, Jodie from ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}'' becomes this [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160412055942/http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/279 here]].

* Cadis Etrama Di Raizel from ''Webcomic/{{Noblesse}}'' used to be this. He would never leave his mansion unless personally summoned by the Lord of Lukedonia.
* ''Webcomic/FourCutHero'' begins with the legendary hero who slew the demon king having retired and become an {{otaku}} hikikomori after realizing he has no useful life skills beyond blowing up demons.