Okay, so, I planned for these to be more spread out than this, but then his character song came on and I'm overcome with feelings.

First off, I just want to say that his name has so many spellings, so Kyouya Ootori, Kyouya Ohtori, Kyoya Ootori, Kyoya Ohtori... regardless of how you want to spell his name, it should come as no surprise that he would make this list.

Before even starting this analysis, I feel like looking up the song lyrics translated into English would benefit anyone willing to read this, so here's that.

Kyoya's character grew on me. It was around the time when Tamaki first called Kyoya "Mommy" that I started to love his character or maybe it was around the time we were introduced to Renge for the first time and I saw the friendship between Tamaki/Kyoya for the first time. I loved that they were best friends, because I enjoyed the apparent differences between them.

Kyoya is calculative, never wasting energy unnecessarily and focusing on his goals. He is the Shadow King of the host club, after all - without his shrewd and, albeit, greed, the club would have long fallen apart, especially with Tamaki's need for theatrics and Honey's bottomless stomach for sweets. Kyoya knows what the customers want, whether it's sketchy photos of the host club members or doujinshi of the club courtesy of Renge.

Because Kyoya runs the club relatively behind the scenes, he is often overlooked, especially considering he isn't a full-out host like the rest of the guys (plus Haruhi). Sure, he interacts with the customers, but it's usually for brief snippets, unlike the rest who have a steady rate of customers. When Kyoya does interact, he puts on this 'cool' persona and shows off his intelligence, appealing to the side of the ladies who appreciate that in a guy.

Kyoya is underhanded, using his family name and power to his advantage when it suits him, such as when the newspaper club tried to besmirch Tamaki or when intimidating Bossa Nova into keeping Haruhi's secret, lest the Ohtori Special Forces have to get involved. Kyoya doesn't care about anything other than what benefits him... except he does.

His character is utterly fascinating, because as much as he pretends to be nothing like 'that idiot' Tamaki, he is. He just doesn't show it as obviously as Tamaki does. Kyoya is genuinely a nice guy underneath his cool persona he has. Kyoya saved a woman from buying knock off ceramics, despite playing it off as him knowing she was an upperclass woman due to her ring, which as Haruhi pointed out, couldn't have been seen from where they were standing. Kyoya plays devil's advocate by basically jumping Haruhi to help prove Tamaki's point in a way she could understand - I could talk forever on how much I ship Kyoya/Haruhi, but this is not the time nor place for it. He has these moments of complete selflessness and pretends he does things for what he gets out of it when it's painfully obvious that he's just a nice guy who feels the need to hide that fact for one reason or another.

Despite acting like he has it all together, Kyoya deep down is insecure, especially prior to the club's founding. Kyoya has spent his entire life being compared to his two older brothers, who have already laid claim to their achievements in studies and social standing. His own father basically admits that Kyoya has to go above and beyond what his brothers have already accomplished in order to be taken seriously as a candidate to take over the Ohtori company. He strove for perfection and stayed within his picture frame, because he thought he couldn't be himself, lest he lose everything he had worked so hard for.

And then enters Tamaki, who takes his entire world and flips it upside down and sends him into overdrive. Through his father's suggestion to befriend the Suoh heir, Kyoya tries his hardest to appease the dramatic blonde until it literally drives him crazy and up the wall. Kyoya yells at Tamaki, taking out all of his pent up rage and frustration, because he feels like Tamaki doesn't have the smallest inkling of what he has to go through just to float in his father's eyes. Then Tamaki tells Kyoya that he shouldn't give up just because he feels that he has no chance of success and that Kyoya can surpass his brothers if he truly believes he can, to stop putting so much pressure on himself and enjoy the time he has, & it's like Kyoya's eyes have been open and he's revived with hope and strength.

Kyoya does everything with the hope that his father will look at him seriously and is visibly hurt when his father slaps him during the Ouran Fair, because Papa Ohtori feels like Kyoya is making a mockery of the Ohtori name by being associated with such a superfluous club. And despite the slap to the face, Kyoya not only buys out the Ohtori company, which had been going bankrupt, but then gave it right back to his father, as if to say, 'fuck you, this isn't even worth my time or energy.'

GOD. I love Kyoya so much and I think it all boils down to the fact that I feel like I can relate - maybe not so much now, but when I was younger, I felt like I was always being compared with my brother and that I wouldn't match up to the standards I felt like my parents were pushing on me. It's difficult being the youngest one, especially when the oldest accomplished so many feats. Kyoya gives me hope that there's a chance that I can make my own way in the world, regardless of the expectations and cage I seemingly placed on myself, and maybe, just maybe, I'll break out of that cage and create something beautiful and amazing like Kyoya's beautiful rose.