Hello, I would just like to ask what the most common writing pitfalls of Hibari Kyouya in fanfics are? I ask this because I want to write him, but I’m afraid of getting the characterization wrong and falling into the pitfalls that are common in writing him and you seem to be very knowledgeable in this area. Sorry if you’re too busy to answer and I’m inconveniencing you.
Hibari doesn’t get much screentime and his development is defined by him acting differently almost every time he shows up in ways that make sense after the previous events, so I don’t blame people for getting him wrong.
Except I do. I blame them so much.
I’ll split them into parts because the inaccuracies get so bad that it’s become a necessity:
Word Choices
– Hibari uses “herbivore” instead of “coward”. He uses it to clearly delineate between himself (cool, strong, top of the food chain) with everyone else. It’s absolutely meant as an insult.
– Likewise, Hibari does not use “carnivore” or “omnivore”. He says “herbivore” because he’s talking shit.
-I’ll bite you to death is a phrase typically used in 2 situations: when he’s punishing someone for disobedience or when he’s threatening to punish a cowardly student. Because he’s always talking shit and removes himself from most situations where talking shit is unnecessary, it’s okay if you make him say this all the time. I’m sure we only hear it every now and then because how infrequently he shows up.
-Hibari uses “little animal” when he is not talking shit, but still thinks he’s better than them. Even I’m guilty for missing out on this one; when some people Beneath him but ultimately neutral to his sensibilities show up, he considers them little animals. He calls Gokudera and Yamamoto this.
-Hibari’s nicknames are either insults or epithets. See: “King of Monkey Mountain” vs “The Baby” vs “Bucking Horse”.
-Hibari only refers to people he likes and respects by name. I’m pretty sure only Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Kusakabe get this honour (but only because Hibari has very little screen time and rarely talks when he thinks he doesn’t have to – I’m sure a few other characters have this privilege and we just don’t know it).
Cheloneuniverse 