Series: Vampire Knight
Race: Pureblood Vampire, one of the Ancestors of the race
Age: 10,000+
(The following will trying to convey to what purpose and who Kaname is without giving away too many spoilers. )
Personality:
A young charismatic figure of authority, dark-haired with warm, red-brown eyes, Kaname is a calm, elegant individual of the shadows, first revealed as a highly regarded leader of the peace movement between vampires and hunters. For ages, Kaname has walked in the darkness of vampire society, content to wait for the right time to act upon his goals. He hides his preferences well, unless what he cannot lose is threatened. In those circumstances, he can be blunt, threatening, and use all the power and fear a Pureblood holds in his society. His anger is a slow fire that may brim for decades to centuries before he acts upon it. When the time is right, his vengeance is brutal and swift, as shown when he massacred the vampire Senate. Unlike the majority of the Purebloods living, he is not often a selfish creature, and since the beginning, he has been a protector of humans and life, for good or ill. His love is eternal.
Kaname may appear distant to most of those who follow him, but it is not a constant. Those few whose friendship and trust are most true are held, and always will be, in his highest regard; although, he will not show such often. His moments of emotion have become more noticeable and less fleeting after Yuuki re-entered his life. To her, he will become kind and gentle, a state he rarely displays before others; however, for her, he will also bring about the most cruelest of acts, in order to protect her as long as he can.
Kaname is a complex, caring man, a skilled chess player with a fondness for poetry and the arts.
History:
Kaname first appears in Hino Matsuri's manga as the protagonist's saviour. He kills the the Level E vampire trying to drink Yuuki's blood, calling him "a disgrace to all vampires." He then asks Headmaster Cross to adopt Yuuki, a favor Cross is only too willing to do because it is he who has requested such. In the opening chapters of the story, Kaname is revealed to be the president of the night class, the class of young vampires at Cross Academy, and it is he who deals out their punishments. In fact the night class which is a beginning step towards coexistence only exists because Kaname joined it.
Kaname displays powerful emotions when Kiryuu-kun, or Zero, makes the transformation into a Level E and Yuuki's blood attracts Aidou Hanabusa. Those who follow Kaname, especially Hanabusa, are tested when Kaname kills another Pureblood who threatens Yuuki, Hiou Shizuka. For Yuuki, he is willing to do anything, even manipulate Zero's transformation and hatred of vampires to his advantage. However, Kaname doesn't force those who follow to do so, as many of his kind have done before. The nobles follow him because they are truly loyal to him, most especially Takuma, Hanabusa, Akatsuki, and Ruka. Kaname uses his power to dispose of the evil in his society when able. With the powers imbued in Purebloods, he threatens those of the vampire Senate twice, that was written, before destroying them at the end of the first arc.
In the end of the first arc, Kaname reveals more of his true nature. Although when her memories are returned to her and Yuuki calls him her elder brother, Kaname tells Zero, as he stands there shocked, "If I had been born her real brother, I would have been much happier." This is further explained later on in the second arc when Yuuki learns the truth by drinking his blood. Her uncle, Rido Kuran, reawakened the real Kaname from his slumber, and in doing so, Kaname took the body of Yuuki's true sibling, thus beginning Kaname's second life. He is truly one of the ancestors of the vampire race, soon the only one still alive. He witnessed the first time Purebloods used their powers to enslave mankind and he forged Yuuki's and Zero's Hunter weapons, Artemis and the Bloody Rose, for the Hunters from their furnace in the first age.
In the second arc, Kaname returns to his original goal, to eliminate the race of Purebloods and free both vampires and humanity from the yoke of their absolute power, willingly making an enemy of nearly everyone around him. This means leaving Yuuki, and therefore, his happiness behind.
Main connections:
Yuuki Kuran: sister, beloved
(Headmaster) Kaien Cross: acquaintance and sharer of hopes for a better world, raised Yuuki after parents were killed, the reluctant leader of the Hunters later on
Rido Kuran (deceased): uncle, master who awakened him from his slumber of the ages
Haruka and Juuri Kuran (deceased): Kaname's parents in his second life, often spoken of in affectionate terms
Senri Shiki: cousin, related by blood, Rido's son, wishes to repay his debts and not be likened to him
Takuma Ichijou: Vice President of the Night Class, confident, and one of Kaname's true friends, lived together in Ichio's house after Haruka and Juuri were killed, loyal even if it puts him in danger
Seiren: ninja-like servant of the Kurans, always in the shadows of her master
Ruka Souen: follower who has long loved him in spite of Kaname's attempts to break that devotion, never blames Kaname for not returning her love
Akatsuki Kain: follower, has long loved Ruka in silence, Hanabusa's cousin
Hanabusa Aidou: follower, first pretended to hate Kaname but admitted to liking him after witnessing the two-timing affections of the vampire Senate, almost obsessively protective
Shizuka Hiou: first pureblood killed by Kaname, a sad acceptance/comradiery between them at the end
Zero Kiryuu: changed into a vampire against his will, the knight in Kaname's first stage of his plans and the one who kills Rido Kuran, also carries deep affection for Yuuki, a powerful Hunter, both in his own right and due to the vampiric abilities bequeathed him
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Any additional 'cannon' characters will be in this profile because the anonymity amuses me. If anyone is curious who is behind the mask, feel free to ask.
