History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / HaruhiSuzumiya

** Even [[JerkAss Fujiwara]], who appears to have no sympathetic qualities whatsoever, has some noble motives, (namely, trying to ScrewDestiny to allow humanity free will), though the fact that he is not a pleasant person who is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans fine with murder to acheive his goals]] is denied by no one... [[DracoInLeatherPants I hope.]] His faction definitely comes off more sympathetic if the previous AlternateCharacterInterpretation for Mikuru's organization is used, even if he himself does not. After all, isn't free will an admirable thing?

** There is a case to be made for treating Kyon as a full accomplice for most of Haruhi's crimes. He's demonstrated time and again that he's the one person who can moderate her actions. Yet frequently he doesn't bother. Not because he's afraid it would destroy the world or thinks it would fail, but because it would personally inconvenience him. That's right, Kyon would rather stand by and watch as Haruhi commits theft, kidnapping, and felony than do anything about him, because it might annoy him! He is doubly guilty of this when it comes to Haruhi's treatment of Mikuru.

** And of course, Kuyoh Suou may be an AxeCrazy psychopath who makes [[KnifeNut Ryoko]] look sane, or she could [[BlueAndOrangeMorality honestly not know that what she's doing is wrong.]] Come to think of it, the "good" aliens ([[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch save Yuki]]) could have the same problem, considering the events of the tenth novel.

** In one of the later light novels we get to see what's effectively another Haruhi, who's actually a rather sweet girl simply because ''there's already a Haruhi around''. Basically, this girl agrees in every significant way with Haruhi's philosophy and takes the discovery of Haruhi and the SOS Brigade to be setting background absolute proving that she really is the protagonist of a story lovingly crafted to validate her own existence and satisfy all her desires. It's shocking how much more social, easygoing, affectionate and happy she is compared to Haruhi: the former isn't feeling the pressure to dominate every aspect of her relationships and environment because she can trust there's somebody already doing all the work for her benefit. Of course, whether this really represents an insight into the real Haruhi (with the implication her antisocial, manic and reality-denying habits exist as an alternative to melancholy) is debatable.

** And then there's Sasaki. She's either an insufferable SmugSnake who doesn't have the willpower to make her associates go away, or a kid who gives in to peer pressure to retain the closest things to friends she has. This assumes she's an InnocentBystander; perhaps the reason she lets the Anti-SOS Brigade hang around her is because [[AffablyEvil she agrees with them and is really a mastermind who will stop at nothing to regain her powers.]] At this point, it's hard to tell. Sasaki expresses no interest in being the god of the universe, and tries to actively undermine Fujiwara. It hardly even makes sense to declare her part of the Anti-SOS Brigade, since she's essentially at cross-purposes with every other member of the group.

* Ryoko Asakura is open to some alternative character interpretation herself. [[spoiler: Especially in "Disappearance". Is she a devoted friend to Yuki, who just wants to protect her from futuristic space-gun-wielding Kyon, a yandere knife-nut who wants Kyon out of the way, or just a glitch in Nagato's programming that got personified when she recreated the world. Who can say?]]

** His devotion to Haruhi can be interpreted differently as well. Imagine this: you are a seemingly [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary middle school student]] and suddenly here comes a [[RealityWarper teenage girl]] who gives you esper powers. Awesome Right? Wrong. You can only use said esper powers when said girl's mood gets unstable. No problem, as long as I can still use my powers however I want when she is moody right? Wrong. You must use those powers to stop mosnters InvisibleToNormals. If she grows too unstable those monsters will cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. So whenever you do not have esper powers you have to keep the teenage girl happy and when you do have powers you can only use them to stop the invisible monsters from destroying the world. So you and others like you will devote your entire lives to keeping the girl happy effectively losing any chance of an [[IJustWantToBeNormal ordinary life]]. So you practically make your [[StalkerWithACrush self fall in love]] with this girl because if she's happy the world doesn't end. ButWaitTheresMore! After 3 years of devotation to the girl she starts to fall for someone else. What do you do? [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Smile]].

* Haruhi herself is perhaps one of the most controversial characters in recent memory. Beware of InternetBackdraft. There are valid points for every camp, yet there's ''no'' common opinion even within the respective camps, which includes:

** One prevalent interpretation is that the seemingly [[{{dojikko}} clumsy and helpless]] aspects of her personality are merely an act to endear to Kyon, who her superiors know is a major influence on Haruhi. This is even suggested by Itsuki, though--as with most of his theories--he never makes it clear if he was seriously suggesting this or not. The fact that her older self seems to have an unexplained agenda and is apparently somewhat devious (even Kyon, as much as he is clearly attracted to the younger Mikuru, is suspicious about said older self) lends some credence to this.

* Hey, let's go nuts. Are the Anti-SOS Brigade really as evil as they're made out to be?

* Ryoko Asakura is open to some alternative character interpretation herself. [[spoiler: Especially in "Disappearance". Is she a devoted friend to Yuki, who just wants to protect her from futuristic space-gun-wielding Kyon, a yandere knife-nut who wants Kyon out of the way, or just a glitch in Nagato's programming that got personified when she recreated the world. Who can say?]]
** If Asakura no longer exists in the original world, it's possible she thought she was protecting her own ideal world and interests.

** Considering that Kyon and Haruhi [[spoiler: have suspiciously similar interests, and that he has an unexplained connection to just about everything in the series, this troper wonders if Kyon is in fact the true bored dreaming creator of the universe being placated by his own creations so that he does not become bored or suspicious in his own role in their creation, instead of Haruhi, who could be an embodiment of his lost interest in the world.]] This would give a plausible explanation to many of the coincidences. Maybe it should really be called The Melancholy Of Kyon. He is the one who started off as melancholy until he met Haruhi.

''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' practically ''invites'' you to do this. Haruhi and Kyon are extremely discussible characters.

* Ryoko Asakura is open to some alternative character interpretation herself. [[spoiler: Especially in "Disappearance". Is she a devoted friend to Yuki, who just wants to protect her from futuristic space-gun-wielding Kyon, a yandere knife-nut who wants Kyon out of the way, or just a glitch in Nagato's programming that got personified when she recreated the world. Who can say?]]

* Kyon has a bunch, too. One interpretation (at least for the anime) is that he simply feels that Haruhi is annoying and has no feelings for her (not even friendship) whatsoever, but can't actually ''say'' this because it could destroy the world. This can be supported by his attitude towards Mikuru, among other things, but the best evidence is if you take the anime's conclusion into consideration: [[spoiler:despite being an intelligent guy, he ignores everyone's hints that he should kiss Haruhi for an absurd length of time, the only thing that drives him to it is the possibility of spending eternity alone with someone who annoys him as much as she does. After that, his attitude towards her does not change at all, as if he was pretending to like her as a way of keeping the world from being destroyed, and would rather forget the whole unpleasant thing.]]

** The fact that there was '''never''' a scene between Haruhi and Kyon that even remotely revealed them to be in love with each other doesn't help. The only thing we ever know are Kyon's thoughts, [[UnreliableNarrator who might just be talking nonsense]], but there was never a AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther scene between them. Adding the fact that Haruhi has gone OutOfFocus in the later novels, would that really make them the the designated couple?
*** Are you kidding? There's plenty of moments (such as the scene where Haruhi and Kyon are outside after Haruhi helped out a band) and you have to keep in mind that Kyon's explanations for his actions may not be completely truthful (such as when he holds Haruhi's hand and claims it's because he would have a better chance of surviving if he did).

** This troper has wondered this from the very first lines of the anime: considering that Kyon and Haruhi [[spoiler: have suspiciously similair interests, and that he has an unexplained connection to just about everything in the series, this troper wonders if Kyon is in fact the true bored dreaming creator of the universe being placated by his own creations so that he does not become bored or suspicious in his own role in their creation, instead of Haruhi, who could be an embodiment of his lost interest in the world.]] This would give a plausible explaination to many of the coincidences. Maybe it should really be called The Melancholy Of Kyon. He is the one who started off as melancholy until he met Haruhi.
** Then there's the question of why, exactly, he even bothers to stick with the SOS Brigade, since he doesn't seem to ''want'' to hang around and no one's really forcing him to stay. Is he just around to drink Mikuru's tea and ogle her various costumes, as [[UnreliableNarrator he seems to want us to believe]]? Does he actually ''[[TrueCompanions like]]'' the other Brigade members and just [[SugarAndIcePersonality doesn't want to admit it]]? Does he worry about what would happen to Haruhi's mental state ? and, as a result, the universe - if he left? Is he, in a Haruhi-esque manner that supports one of the above theories, simply bored? Is it Haruhi's willpower that keeps giving him reasons to come to the Literature Club room every day? Is it simply habit at this point? Maybe he's actually hoping to become involved in more of the supernatural occurrences Haruhi causes, in spite of his insistence that he gave up on having anything other than an ordinary life after entering high school? Does he - in spite of his insistence that this isn't the case - actually have a thing for Haruhi and just isn't willing to [[UnreliableNarrator let the audience know]]? Or has he simply come to the conclusion that Haruhi would force him to come back if he tried to leave, as she has proven on more than one occasion that she is fully capable of dragging him to the club room if she finds it necessary (and probably more than that)?
** Because [[CharacterDevelopment he realizes]] [[spoiler: [[TrueCompanions he really likes both the people in the SOS Brigade]] [[CharacterDevelopment and the wackiness that Haruhi brings.]] ]]
*** To add to this, I would like to verbalize the main stream opinion. That is that Kyon is just a men Tsundere who actually likes everyone in the SOS. First lets begin with Nagato whom Kyon sees as his "knight in a shinning armour" or DeusExMachina; Now he could stop and thing, but he goes further taking issue with her emotional and phsychological state (a recurring theme in the series). Then theres Mikuru for whom he has a crush. Now Haruhi. Since he is a unreliable narrator, his statements come out as if he absolutely despised her, but his actions shows us otherwise. Unlike most anime and light novels (where the girl approaches the boy), it was he who approached Suzumiya, he stuck with her and the SOS even before he knew the truth of its members, and he acted like a complete lunatic in order to get out of the alternate reality in which Haruhi didnt go to his highschool, thus causing them to never had met in such reality. He also admitted in the first episode to had always wanted to meet time travelers, espers, and aliens. He even went as far as confessing the truth to Suzumiya (she didnt take him seriously). Koizumi might be the one character he truly dislikes, but once again, he is always invested in playing different games with him, this actually appears to be his mayor past time while at the club room, so this could easily fall in the category of friend enemie, or amiable rivality.
** And at the beginning it probably was partly because of the general instinct of every GenreSavvy character "It will be bad if I miss this story".

** There's also the theory that Kyon is actively in love with Haruhi, knows that she loves him, and he's willfully denying it because it bothers him on some (or multiple) levels. This frequently plays off of the "male Tsundere" theory above, and then further fragments as to which reasons Kyon may have for this: simple denial, fear of being subjected to Haruhi's whims, general immaturity regarding romance, frustration that someone closer to his type (like Yuki or Mikuru) isn't the focus of his emotions, fear that Haruhi would reject his feelings even if she feels the same way... due to the UnreliableNarrator situation, all of these and more are quite plausible.
*** It's worth noting than most people overlook the situation he's in when commenting on his feelings for her. Assuming the above theory is true and he does love her, perhaps he feels morally wrong acting on his feelings while lying to her about her powers. Not to mention, being her boyfriend would probably mean a lot of pressure on him. On the other end of the spectrum, if Haruhi truly does have godlike power, she could be aware of Kyon's feelings but afraid he would only act on them to prevent the end of the world. Perhaps she's even subconsciously preventing him from acting on his feelings due to this.
** Um, he also might just realize that realistically-borderline-insane Haruhi needs someone who can play her down safely without causing the end of the world ''more'' than she needs a loving boyfriend right at this moment.
* Mikuru has her share of this as well. One prevalent interpretation is that the seemingly [[{{dojikko}} clumsy and helpless]] aspects of her personality are merely an act to endear to Kyon, who her superiors know is a major influence on Haruhi. This is even suggested by Itsuki, though--as with most of his theories--he never makes it clear if he was seriously suggesting this or not. The fact that her older self seems to have an unexplained agenda and is apparently somewhat devious (even Kyon, as much as he is clearly attracted to the younger Mikuru, is suspicious about said older self) lends some credence to this.

*** But she's never conclusively proven that she knows who her boss is. Hence, the possibility of her real personality hidden remains.
* Finally there's Itsuki Koizumi, a self-admitted ConsummateLiar who regularly says he is kidding after espousing various complicated theories. That puts everything he says into question, from whether or not he thinks Haruhi is God, to his loyalty to the SOS Brigade, to whether or not he is a StepfordSmiler (he hinted that he is, but who knows). Then there is the organization he works for, which seems to have it's hands in almost every aspect of their lives. That just brings up the question of how much they are manipulating all of the events surrounding the SOS Brigade, and whether their motivations are as benvolent as Koizumi says they are, and even Koizumi's loyalty to them. The only thing fandom seems to agree on is that Koizumi really likes flirting with Kyon, despite Koizumi's insistence that it is only FauxYay.

** And then there's Sasaki. She's either an insufferable SmugSnake who doesn't have the willpower to make her associates go away, or a kid who gives in to peer pressure to retain the closest things to friends she has. This assumes she's an InnocentBystander; perhaps the reason she lets the Anti-SOS Brigade hang around her is because [[AffablyEvil she agrees with them and is really a mastermind who will stop at nothing to regain her powers.]] At this point, it's hard to tell.
*** Sasaki expresses no interest in being the god of the universe, and tries to actively undermine Fujiwara. It hardly even makes sense to declare her part of the Anti-SOS Brigade, since she's essentially at cross-purposes with every other member of the group.

*** To add to this, I would like to verbalize the main stream opinion. That is that Kyon is just a men Tsundere who actually likes everyone in the SOS. First lets begin with Nagato whom Kyon sees as his "knight in a shinning armour" or DeusExMachina; Now he could stop and thing, but he goes further taking issue with her emotional and phsychological state (a recurring theme in the series). Then theres Mikuru for whom he has a crush. Now Haruhi. Since he is a unreliable narrator, his statements come out as if he absolutely despised her, but his actions shows us otherwise. Unlike most anime and light novels (where the girl approaches the boy), it was he who approached Suzumiya, he stuck with her and the SOS even before he knew the truth of its members, and he acted like a complete lunatic in order to get out of the alternate reality in which Haruhi didnt go to his highschool, thus causing them to never had met in such reality. He also admitted in the first episode to had always wanted to meet time travelers, speers, and aliens. He even went as far as confessing the truth to Suzumiya (she didnt take him seriously). Koizumi might be the one character he truly dislikes, but once again, he is always invested in playing different games with him, this actually appears to be his mayor past time while at the club room, so this could easily fall in the category of friend enemie, or amiable rivality.

*** To add to this, I would like to verbalize the main stream opinion. That is that Kyon is just a men Tsundere who actually likes everyone in the SOS. First lets begin with Nagato whom Kyon sees "knight in a shinning armour" or DeusExMachina; Now he could stop and thing, but he goes further taking issue with her emotional and phsychological state (a recurring theme in the series). Then theres Mikuru for whom he has a crush. Now Haruhi. Since he is a unreliable narrator, his statements come out as if he absolutely despised her, but his actions shows us otherwise. Unlike most anime and light novels (where the girl approaches the boy), it was he who approached Suzumiya, he stuck with her and the SOS even before he knew the truth of its members, and he acted like a complete lunatic in order to get out of the alternate reality in which Haruhi didnt go to his highschool, thus causing them to never had met in such reality. He also admitted in the first episode to had always wanted to meet time travelers, speers, and aliens. He even went as far as confessing the truth to Suzumiya (she didnt take him seriously).

** And then there is the occasional fanfic (generally of the [[CrackFic comedic variety]]) which just Flanderizes the whole group into {{Card Carrying Villain}}s who are actively planning to [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the world]] or [[OmnicidalManiac the universe itself]].

** And then there is the occasional fanfic (generally of the [[CrackFic comedic variety]]) which just Flanderizes the whole group into CardCarryingVillains who are actively planning to [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the world]] or [[OmnicidalManiac the universe itself]].

** A cruel, selfish {{Jerkass}} and HeroicSociopath that cares about nothing beside her own welfare and enjoyment. Note that most of the people that feel this have only watched the anime and were incredibly off-put by her initial {{jerkass}} behavior [[HypeBacklash and the fact that everyone seemed to love her]].

** Then there's the question of why, exactly, he even bothers to stick with the SOS Brigade, since he doesn't seem to ''want'' to hang around and no one's really forcing him to stay. Is he just around to drink Mikuru's tea and ogle her various costumes, as [[UnreliableNarrator he seems to want us to believe]]? Does he actually ''[[{{Nakama}} like]]'' the other Brigade members and just [[SugarAndIcePersonality doesn't want to admit it]]? Does he worry about what would happen to Haruhi's mental state ? and, as a result, the universe - if he left? Is he, in a Haruhi-esque manner that supports one of the above theories, simply bored? Is it Haruhi's willpower that keeps giving him reasons to come to the Literature Club room every day? Is it simply habit at this point? Maybe he's actually hoping to become involved in more of the supernatural occurrences Haruhi causes, in spite of his insistence that he gave up on having anything other than an ordinary life after entering high school? Does he - in spite of his insistence that this isn't the case - actually have a thing for Haruhi and just isn't willing to [[UnreliableNarrator let the audience know]]? Or has he simply come to the conclusion that Haruhi would force him to come back if he tried to leave, as she has proven on more than one occasion that she is fully capable of dragging him to the club room if she finds it necessary (and probably more than that)?
** Because [[CharacterDevelopment he realizes]] [[spoiler: [[{{Nakama}} he really likes both the people in the SOS Brigade]] [[CharacterDevelopment and the wackiness that Haruhi brings.]] ]]

** Then there's the question of why, exactly, he even bothers to stick with the SOS Brigade, since he doesn't seem to ''want'' to hang around and no one's really forcing him to stay. Is he just around to drink Mikuru's tea and ogle her various costumes, as [[UnreliableNarrator he seems to want us to believe]]? Does he actually ''[[{{Nakama}} like]]'' the other Brigade members and just [[{{Kuudere}} doesn't want to admit it]]? Does he worry about what would happen to Haruhi's mental state ? and, as a result, the universe - if he left? Is he, in a Haruhi-esque manner that supports one of the above theories, simply bored? Is it Haruhi's willpower that keeps giving him reasons to come to the Literature Club room every day? Is it simply habit at this point? Maybe he's actually hoping to become involved in more of the supernatural occurrences Haruhi causes, in spite of his insistence that he gave up on having anything other than an ordinary life after entering high school? Does he - in spite of his insistence that this isn't the case - actually have a thing for Haruhi and just isn't willing to [[UnreliableNarrator let the audience know]]? Or has he simply come to the conclusion that Haruhi would force him to come back if he tried to leave, as she has proven on more than one occasion that she is fully capable of dragging him to the club room if she finds it necessary (and probably more than that)?

** His devotion to Haruhi can be interpreted differently as well. Imagine this: you are a seemingly [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary middle school student]] and suddenly here comes a [[RealityWarper teenage girl]] who gives you esper powers. Awesome Right? Wrong. You can only use said esper powers when said girl's mood gets unstable. No problem, as long as I can still use my powers however I want when she is moody right? Wrong. You must use those powers to stop mosnters InvisibleToNormals. If she grows too unstable those monsters will cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. So whenever you do not have esper powers you have to keep the teenage girl happy and when you do have powers you can only use them to stop the invisible monsters from destroying the world. So you and others like you will devote your entire lives to keeping the girl happy effectively loosing any chance of an [[IJustWantToBeNormal ordinary life]]. So you practically make your [[StalkerWithACrush self fall in love]] with this girl because if she's happy the world doesn't end. ButWaitTheresMore! After 3 years of devotation to the girl she starts to fall for someone else. What do you do? [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Smile]].