This is a list of characters from the sound novel, manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

, light novel

Light novel

A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...

, film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, and anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. There are six main characters who appear in almost every scenario. The main protagonist is Keiichi Maebara, a young boy who has recently moved to Hinamizawa with his family, and begun to adapt to life in the countryside. Keiichi has a natural charisma which allows him to make friends easily. One of his good friends is a girl his age named Rena Ryugu. She, like him, is new in Hinamizawa, having only lived there for a year before the story begins. Before she met Keiichi, Rena became friends with a girl one year older named Mion Sonozaki, who is looked at as the leader of the group and is the president of their club. Mion has a twin sister, Shion, who lives in the nearby town of Okinomiya. Although their personalities are quite different, she and Mion have switched places in the past; the change is nearly indistinguishable. Another one of Keiichi's friends is Satoko Houjou, a clever girl who is quite skilled at setting traps when playing games with her friends. She usually has an energetic and mischievous personality, but this hides a past full of trauma. Satoko also had an older brother named Satoshi. Satoko's friend, Rika Furude, is revered by the villagers as the heir of the local shrine and plays the role of a miko

Miko

is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...

, or shrine maiden, in the annual Watanagashi Festival. Despite her young age, she sometimes expresses a type of wisdom which would normally be beyond her years, and is quite fond of sake.

Of the remaining cast, there are those such as Kuraudo Ooishi, a veteran police officer who is dead set on solving the mystery of the yearly murders that occur in Hinamizawa before his retirement. A freelance photographer, named Jiro Tomitake, comes to Hinamizawa occasionally; he seems to be friends with Miyo Takano, a female nurse at the local village clinic who has a keen interest in Hinamizawa's past and culture. She works with Kyosuke Irie, the head doctor of the clinic who has a maid fetish

French maid

French maid refers to a strongly modified style of servant’s dress that evolved from typical maids’ black and white afternoon uniforms of the nineteenth century . The designs of the French maid dress can range widely from a conservative look to revealing...

.

There are additional characters not seen in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni proper, who appear in the side-story manga adaptations. In Onisarashi-hen, the main character is a young girl with a bright personality named Natsumi Kimiyoshi, who has just moved away from Okinomiya. In Yoigoshi-hen, the main character is a young man named Akira Otobe, who was found wandering in the forest around the deserted Hinamizawa many years later.

Main

, Gōki Maeda (live action)

Keiichi is the main protagonist in the first three "question" arcs. The son of a famous artist, his family recently moved to Hinamizawa after an unfortunate event involving him in their hometown in which he accidentally shot a young girl in the eye with a toy gun while she was walking home from school. His charisma and remarkable talent for rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

, which earns him the nickname "Magician of Words," allow him to easily make new friends and become popular in the village, not to mention win some of the club activities. Early in the story, in the Onikakushi-hen arc, he is affected by paranoia and driven to commit murder; however, the inner strength and unshaken belief in his friends he acquires in the other arcs are one of the keys to solving the mystery. Eventually, he is even able to recall some of the events of the past repetitions. When he is in need of a weapon, he wields Satoshi's old baseball bat. It is later revealed in the story that before arriving at Hinamizawa, he grew weary of school and was the perpetrator of a series of crimes involving shooting children with a BB gun

BB gun

BB guns are a type of air gun designed to shoot projectiles named BBs after the birdshot pellet of approximately the same size. These projectiles are usually spherical but can also be pointed; those are usually used for bird hunting. Modern day BB guns usually have a smoothbore barrel, with a bore...

.

, Airi Matsuyama (live action)

Rena is a girl in the same grade level as Keiichi, and the main female protagonist of the question arcs. She is very kind and takes care of Keiichi whenever possible, but is also naïve and is usually subject to light teasing by Keiichi. She is distinguished by her obsession with things she perceives as adorable, calling them , which are usually moekko characters or items she finds while scouring the local dump

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

. Whenever she sees something that grabs her attention, she proclaims and proceeds to try and do so, becoming virtually unstoppable during these intervals. She also utters the phrase when excited or flustered, and has a habit of repeating phrases at the ends of her sentences, most famously .

Rena's real name is , a name she used normally before she moved from Hinamizawa to Ibaraki

Ibaraki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...

 with her parents one year prior to the events of the story. There she discovered her mother having an affair, causing Reina to smash all the windows in her new school and assault three male students with a metal bat under the influence of the Hinamizawa syndrome. Believing herself to be cursed by Oyashiro for leaving Hinamizawa, Reina returned to the village with her father shortly after the incident and changed her name to "Rena" out of shame of her parents' subsequent divorce. So as not to alarm Keiichi, Rena claims to be a relative newcomer to Hinamizawa herself. Because of the incident, Rena is sensitive about the topic of Oyashiro, believing strongly in the existence of the deity and the curse, and becoming angry and unstable whenever anyone questions it. Her weapon of choice is a large billhook

Billhook

The billhook is a traditional cutting tool known and used throughout the world, and very common in the wine-growing countries of Europe, used widely in agriculture and forestry The billhook (also bill hook – although this more usually refers to either a metal or plastic hook used to hold bills,...

 borrowed from her tool shed (the dump in the anime).

, Rin Asuka

Rin Asuka

is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture represented by Stardust Promotion. Her debut role was in the film Tenshi ga Kureta Mono, and was later cast in the film adaptations of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni as Mion Sonozaki. She also played Akira Karasaki for several episodes of K-tai Investigator 7...

 (live action)

Mion is the oldest kid in Keiichi's class. As the elder, she is the class president and everyone looks up to her as the leader. Her social skills are on par with Keiichi, whom she highly respects as a friend and rival (though it is later shown that she has a crush on him). She acts like a tomboy, and calls herself oji-san (meaning old man), but has a hidden girlish side. She is next in line to be the head of the Sonozaki household, one of the Three Families which holds tremendous influence in Hinamizawa. She is often seen with a holstered airsoft gun, even though she is never seen using it, and was removed in the PS2 adaption of the game; she is, however, very adept in the use of martial arts. She is notable as the only character that has never been driven to the extreme paranoia that causes the others to kill in the question arcs and the first two answer arcs. Her real name is actually Shion, as she was born second to the family, but due to sister swapping even at a young age, she was mistakenly taken as Mion and branded with the oni tattoo, ultimately causing her to stay as Mion. Mion also serves as leader of the after-school club consisting entirely of the main characters. She organizes a variety of strategy-based games for the members to play with penalties for any losers. Penalties usually involve wearing embarrassing or frilly outfits on the way home. Each game she organizes involves bending the general rules or using questionable and crude methods to win such as playing cards with a marked deck or using feminine wiles to discourage opposition.

,

Shion is Mion's identical twin sister, who currently resides in Okinomiya. In spite of their externally different personalities, she and Mion often switch places, and it can be difficult to distinguish between them. It is noted by Rena that, although externally the twins are very different, on the inside, they are really the same. Their first switch took place when they were little. Right before tattooing the symbol of an oni, which is reserved for the older sister, she was mistakenly identified as Shion, the younger sister, which means that she was actually born as Mion Sonozaki, the older sister. Since then, she switched her identity of Mion with Shion, the younger sister. This initial switch is only mentioned in the sound novel and manga, but not the anime. She was sent by the Sonozaki family to a private boarding school, but escaped and returned to live near her hometown, where she lives with Kasai. In spite of all this, she and Mion maintain a close relationship. In most of the arcs, she is at a different school from the other main characters, and therefore appears less frequently. She was in love with Satoshi, and blames the Three Families of Hinamizawa for his disappearance in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen (the latter told from her point of view); this, along with a different demonic sadistic personality she manifested in her grief, drove her to mass murder, which led her previously latent paranoid schizophrenia to eventually develop into a full-on psychosis

Psychosis

Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...

. One of the last words that they exchanged before he disappeared was a promise to take care of Satoko. In Watanagashi-hen and, more explicitly, Meakashi-hen, her resentment toward Satoko for her role in his disappearance causes her to forget this promise and murder her, only to remember too late; however, in subsequent arcs, she has taken the promise to heart to the point were she is willing to give up her life for Satoko. In Meakashi-hen, she is shown to be delusional to a point beyond the other characters (with the arguable exception of Rena), as she repeatedly deludes, among other things, that she sees Satoshi after his disappearance. She works as a waitress at the Angel-Mort restaurant and is the manager's assistant for the Hinamizawa Fighters little league team. She is often seen carrying a taser, and also wears a yellow ribbon in her hair. She is also shown to be good with guns, along with Kasai, in Matsuribayashi-hen.

, Erena Ono

Erena Ono

, is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48. She was in Team K and her talent agency was Ohtapro. She was also part of subgroups "Honegumi from AKB48", and "ICE from AKB48"...

 (live action)

Satoko is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school. She has a distinctive style of speech, ending all of her sentences with ~wa, and is known for her boastful laugh. In spite of her young age, she seems to have an impressive arm strength and is quite clever in setting up traps, and likes to practice on Keiichi. Although her personality is quite energetic and mischievous during the events of the games, Satoko's past was full of trauma; her parents died in an accident, she was abused by her foster parents (her aunt and uncle), and her beloved brother Satoshi disappeared. However, in Matsuribayashi-hen, Irie suggested she killed her parents, as she had a bad relationship with them and felt threatened, and so to her it was an act of self-defense. She was suffering from the Hinamizawa Syndrome at that time, and though Takano wanted to dissect her alive for study, Irie fought to save her life. She is one of the few characters to ever recover from Level 5 of the Syndrome, but has to take shots on a regular basis. Though she greatly misses Satoshi, and feels that by being strong he will return, she comes to regard Keiichi as her new , and once even regards Shion as . She dislikes kabocha

Kabocha

Kabocha is a Japanese variety of winter squash. The word kabocha has come to mean a general type of winter squash to many English-speaking growers and buyers. In some cultures it is revered as an aphrodisiac....

, and confuses cauliflower

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed...

 with broccoli

Broccoli

Broccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....

.

, Aika (live action)

Rika is the main character in Minagoroshi-hen. She is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school, and is in the same grade level as Satoko. Naturally, she is great friends with her, as they live together in the same house. She is revered by the villagers as the heir of the local shrine, and plays the role of a miko

Miko

is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...

 in the annual Watanagashi Festival. She has been the head of the Furude house since her parents died, but rarely attends town meetings due to her young age. While she does speak in normal context, she likes to say nonsense words such as and and often ends her sentences with , which inflame Rena's passion for cute things. She also likes to describe events using sound effects, such as "The cat was going 'nya nya' and 'scritch scritch'" or saying "Clap! Clap! Clap!" when clapping her hands. In reality, she is being reborn in a 'new world' at some random time before or during June 1983, and in most of the worlds she is the only one to remember the previous lives. She believes she has lived over 100 years by the time of Tsumihoroboshi-hen, but continues to act like a child in order not to alarm her friends. Prior to Matsuribayashi-hen, she is the only one able to see Hanyū, who has been an "imaginary friend" to her all her life. Despite her young appearance, she seems to be quite fond of wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

, as well as kimchi

Kimchi

Kimchi , also spelled gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, is a traditional fermented Korean dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings. There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, green onions or cucumber. It is the most common...

, which she uses to silence Hanyū when Rika is in a bad mood; this works because both Hanyū and Rika's senses are linked together, though this seems to be redundant by Matsuribayashi-hen, possibly because of Hanyū's coming into the world. The wine she drinks is hinted to be Bernkastel

Bernkastel-Kues

Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known winegrowing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

 vintage.

Hanyū is the mysterious "transfer student" in Matsuribayashi-hen. She has a pair of dark colored horns on her head, one of which is chipped slightly. In the original sound novels, they are mentioned by Keiichi, who mistook them for toys, but after noticing that Hanyū was sensitive about them, he apologizes and the club members assure her there is nothing wrong with them. However in the anime, no one seems to notice or mention them, with the exception of Takano, who calls her a "monster". She has appeared to Rika all her life, but only in Matsuribayashi-hen and Miotsukushi-hen did she gain the power to interact with others, posing as a distant relative of Rika's and given the name "Hanyū Furude." Like many of the characters, she can be frightening when angered, and with her spirit-like nature, her appearance can change with her mood until she takes a physical form. She is the one responsible for the eternally repeating June 1983, which she created in order to save Rika from being murdered. She is also responsible for the "footstep you hear after you stop walking," "feeling of being watched as you sleep," and hearing "I'm sorry" when no one is around or says it, which causes the characters to have severe paranoia. She follows around the characters, repeatedly apologizing for not being able to change their fate. She is very meek and often makes the noise "Au au, au au…" when she is nervous or uncomfortable, or sometimes while trying to make a point. She tends to end her sentences with . She dislikes alcohol and kimchi

Kimchi

Kimchi , also spelled gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, is a traditional fermented Korean dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings. There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, green onions or cucumber. It is the most common...

, which Rika imbibes in large amounts as punishment when she finds Hanyū annoying (as Hanyū and Rika's senses are linked together until Hanyū takes physical form). She mentions that she is a "being above humans" after being sacrificed to atone for the sin of humans, while both Rika and Takano describe her as a kind of deity. Rika refers to her as "Oyashiro" when talking with others (evident from Shion's chat with Rika in Meakashi-hen) but does not personally think of her as Oyashiro; instead, she sees her as a close friend. In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, Hanyū tells Rika that she was sacrificed to atone for the sins of the people of the village, and Hanyū asked (Hanyū's own daughter and Rika's ancestor, who appears physically almost identical to Rika) to kill her and then make the village a better place. In the DS-exclusive arc, Kotohogushi-hen, it was revealed that Hanyū's real name was , and that she had a child, Ōka, with the Shinto Priest Riku Furude.

Secondary

(drama CD), Yū Kobayashi

Yu Kobayashi

is a female voice actress from Tokyo, Japan and is affiliated with HolyPeak. She also occasionally works as a key animator.-Anime:*12Riven - Yuyu Hoshino*Air Gear: Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori - Emily Adachi*Amatsuki - Benitobi...

 (anime/Japanese), Darrel Guilbeau

Darrel Guilbeau

-Career:He was recommend by friends to audition for Overman King Gainer and won the lead role of Gainer Sanga. Other notable roles include Hikari in The Melody of Oblivion and Sousuke Kawara in Samurai Champloo as well as Paranoia Agent, Stellvia, Koi Kaze, DearS, Rumiko Takahashi Anthology, Boys...

 (English)

Satoshi is the older brother of Satoko Houjou. Although he is currently missing, his past influence is the key to the actions of several characters in Higurashi. Keiichi is often compared to Satoshi by other characters, as the two have certain physical similarities, and, in some arcs, display the same odd behavior and paranoia. Like Satoko, he cannot distinguish the difference between cauliflower and broccoli. Satoshi is referred to by Satoko as nii-nii, a childish form of the Japanese word

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 . According to the TIPS in Meakashi-hen, he was last seen at a Nagoya train station boarding a Shinkansen

Shinkansen

The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...

 bound for Tokyo. This was revealed prior to the start of Matsuribayashi-hen to be a result of him trying to run away from home due to his abuse, only to change his mind a few moments later. While it is suggested that he may have witnessed his aunt's death in the games, in the anime, Satoshi is implied to have killed her or was so disturbed that he believed he did. Combined with the stress of taking care of Satoko and the murder, he succumbs to Hinamizawa Syndrome. In Matsuribayashi-hen and Miotsukushi-hen, it is revealed that Doctor Irie put him under heavy sedation in the underground parts of the clinic.

Always referred to as Oyashiro-sama, he is a deity observed in Hinamizawa and seems to be rather violent and brutal; his sacred shrine is full of ancient torture equipment. Legend says that Oyashiro brought peace between the villagers of Onigafuchi (Lit. Demon's abyss), the former name of Hinamizawa, and the demons that spouted from the Onigafuchi Marsh. The actual existence of Oyashiro is something of debate, some can see Oyashiro as the simple "perception" of a god. However, those who experience extreme paranoia (Keiichi, Shion, and Rena in perspective chapters) refer to Oyashiro as the "footsteps you hear when you stop walking" and felt like you were always "being watched". Oyashiro is revealed to be Hanyū, since some of the characters can hear (but not see) her (until Matsuribayashi-hen).

, Tetta Sugimoto (live action)

Kuraudo Ooishi is a veteran police investigator at Okinomiya who has vowed to solve the mystery of the Hinamizawa murders before his retirement, to avenge one of the victims he was friends with. Due to his uncouth tactics and the lengths that he goes to in order to solve the mystery, he is looked upon as a nuisance by the villagers, especially the Sonozaki family. He approaches one of the main characters to become his informant in several arcs, and is sometimes unwittingly responsible for triggering their paranoia. However, he plays an integral role in aiding the protagonists during the last two answer arcs, Matsuribayashi-hen and Minagoroshi-hen.

, Masashi Taniguchi (live action)

Jirou Tomitake is a freelance photographer who occasionally visits Hinamizawa (Around three times every year). He gets along well with Miyo Takano, because of their similar interests in photography. Despite being only an occasional visitor, he seems to know a fair amount about Hinamizawa's past (Specifically the Hinamizawa murders). Ooishi and the police are suspicious of his true identity. In the first six arcs, he is consistently found dead of suicide (clawing his throat out) on the night of Watanagashi, triggering many of the events that follow. It is revealed later, however, that he was actually murdered by Miyo, who gives him an injection of the H173 drug, produced in the process of developing a cure for the Hinamizawa Syndrome, but has the exact opposite effect (incurring the symptoms of the disease instead). Jirou is revealed in Minagoroshi-hen to be an officer working on the Hinamizawa Syndrome, together with Miyo Takano and Kyosuke Irie, and is but merely posing as a photographer.

, Fuyuka Ōura

Fuyuka Oura

is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Haikyo. Her hometown is Sapporo, Hokkaidō.-TV anime:*Aishiteruze Baby - Mai Motoki*Animal Yokocho - Takeru, Kotaro Matsuzaki*Bakugan Series - Serena Sheen *Basquash! - Thousand...

 (Child), Ayako Kawahara (live action)

Miyo is a nurse at the village clinic who has a keen interest in Hinamizawa's past and culture, recording all her speculation in notebooks. At times, her storytelling can be very mysterious and chilling—she seems to enjoy putting people on edge. In the first six arcs, she consistently disappears on the night of Watanagashi, and an incinerated body thought to be hers is found in the mountains (and the autopsy report states that she actually died the day before the festival). Miyo is the person who kills Rika, leaving her body and scattered organs out for the crows to eat. It is shown that following the death of her parents when she was a child, she was sent to an orphanage, where she and other children were regularly abused. Eventually, she calls Hifumi Takano's (her father's former professor) number for help and is saved by him after she and her friends attempt to escape. In the manga, they further detail what happens to her and her friends when they try to run away. She calls Hifumi, but is caught and then is forced to watch her friends undergo strange types of torture. They try to torture her as well, but Hifumi saves her. Her original name is , but she changed it when she was adopted by Hifumi Takano. Hifumi was the one who started Miyo on the path of medicine with his study of the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

, Kōtarō Tanaka (live action)

Kyosuke is the head doctor of the village clinic. Despite his young age and the fact that he has a severe maid fetish

French maid

French maid refers to a strongly modified style of servant’s dress that evolved from typical maids’ black and white afternoon uniforms of the nineteenth century . The designs of the French maid dress can range widely from a conservative look to revealing...

, he is highly respected in the community. He cheerfully makes house calls and seems to truly care about everyone's health. He has (half-jokingly) admitted that he wishes to marry Satoko when she is older, but is not above chasing after Rika when she is wearing one of the uniforms from the restaurant Angel Mort. In addition, he is the manager of the village's baseball little league team, the Hinamizawa Fighters. In the past, he has performed lobotomies without consent, which led to him being banished from the medical academic society in Tokyo. He is recruited by Takano to direct research the Hinamizawa Syndrome, which he feels will redeem himself. It is later revealed that he works under Miyo in research, where he is trying to find a cure for Hinamizawa Syndrome, while not knowing of his employer's true desires.

, Hitomi Miwa (live action)

Rumiko is the female teacher of Keiichi's class, who is a parody character of Tsukihime

Tsukihime

is a Japanese eroge dōjin visual novel game created by Type-Moon, who first released it at the Winter Comiket in December 2000. It was adapted in 2003 into an anime series, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, produced by J.C.Staff and Geneon, and a manga series, which has been serialized since 2004 in...

's Ciel (permission for her usage was given by Type-Moon

TYPE-MOON

is a Japanese game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operations...

). The voice actress

Seiyu

Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...

 for her character in the anime series is the same as the seiyū of Ciel from the Tsukihime anime. Going along with the parody, her favorite food is curry

Curry

Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...

 rice, just like Ciel, and she will react violently when anyone insults it. Also, in the comedic chapter Batsukoishi-hen, she is shown wielding six small wooden boards in the same fashion that Ciel wields her "Black Keys" swords.

, Takehito Koyasu

Takehito Koyasu

is a Japanese voice actor.-Career:Koyasu is part of the voice actor quartet Weiß consisting of Weiß Kreuz voice castmates Shinichiro Miki, Tomokazu Seki, and Yuuki Hiro...

 (drama CD)

Mamoru is the main character in Himatsubushi-hen. He is a young police investigator at the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo. He befriended Rika while investigating a case in Hinamizawa four years ago, all due to a prophecy about his wife which came true, though he just brushed it off as coincidence. In an untold world, Mamoru regrets being unable to save his wife and Rika, and learns martial arts to clear his mind, hoping to relive the time before Himatsubushi-hen to save them. Through a miracle, Mamoru inherits his martial art skills in Matsuribayashi-hen, using them to single-handedly defeat a Yamainu squad, and decides to save Rika from her destined death as a payment for saving his wife through her prophecy.

Tatsuyoshi is an employee of the Sonozaki family, who looks like a secret agent. He was more active in the past, but has settled down to become Shion's caretaker. He somehow knows both Teppei and Rina, and is aware of their lifestyles and badgering tactics. In Matsuribayashi-hen, he displays extreme strength and combat experience while raiding the Irie Clinic, frequently subduing members of the Yamainu.

, Hiroo Ōtaka (live-action)

Teppei is Satoko and Satoshi's uncle/foster father. He and his wife were forced to take care of Satoko and Satoshi after the death of their parents, but they abused them. He currently lives in Okinomiya. According to Kasai, he is a pimp and uses his lover Rina to swindle men out of their money. He is killed by Keiichi in Tatarigoroshi-hen to protect Satoko, and by Rena in Tsumihoroboshi-hen when he tries to blackmail her father. Shion contemplates killing him in Minagoroshi-hen to protect Satoko, but Keiichi stops her before she can make the same mistake.

Satoko and Satoshi's aunt/foster mother. She was beaten to death on the night of last year's Watanagashi Festival, causing Teppei to flee Hinamizawa. A drug addict was charged with her murder, but various characters suspect that Satoshi was the true murderer, which he either was, or deluded himself to think he was.

Oryō is Mion and Shion's grandmother and head of the Sonozaki household. She appears to be a very harsh old woman and is considered the most powerful person in Hinamizawa. Both Mion and Shion call her 'Oni-baba', meaning 'demon granny'. She had the twins separated when they were young, in order to try to avoid the curse of twin heirs, also treating Shion badly whenever they meet. Shion suspects that she was the mastermind in Satoshi's disappearance, and accidentally kills her while attempting to interrogate her in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen. Although she appears to be somewhat of a tyrant, she occasionally shows her softer side such as agreeing to help Satoko when Keiichi stood up to her and is only harsh to keep appearances. She respects him after this and later described him as an interesting young man in Minagoroshi-hen (but warns him that he will be chased around with a sword if he shows up again).

Head of one of the Three Families, and the official village chief of Hinamizawa. He seems to be a kindly old man, but is vehement in his hatred for Hinamizawa's enemies. As this includes Satoshi and the rest of the Houjou family, he is killed by Shion in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen.

, Kyōko Hikami

Kyoko Hikami

is a Japanese voice actress who was born in Kobe. She is part of the voice actress trio Furil which also consists of Wedding Peach voice castmates Yūko Miyamura and Yukana Nogami.-Notable voice roles:*Sudou in Atashinchi...

 (drama CD),

Rina is a woman who appears in Rena's life in the story Tsumihoroboshi-hen. She is the lover of Teppei Houjou, and together they swindle men out of their money through intimidation and blackmail schemes. Her real name is Ritsuko, but she uses Rina as a fake name. Rena kills her to protect her father. She is killed in Tatarigoroshi-hen, when her body was found in a bag in a stormdrain after having been tortured to death by an unknown assailant, in Minagoroshi-hen, when she is murdered by members of the yakuza when she tries to flee Okinomiya, and in Miotsukushi-hen, where she is killed by Takano. Her death often triggers Teppei's return to Hinamizawa.

Akane is the mother of Mion and Shion Sonozaki and is the daughter of Oryō Sonozaki, the leader of the Sonozaki household. She attends the council meetings with Oryō and obeys her commands despite the fact that she lost the inheritance of the Sonozaki estate for marrying an outsider.

Okonogi

(anime), Ken Narita

Ken Narita

' is a Japanese seiyū and actor from Saitama Prefecture. His real name is '. He is currently a freelancer.He is best known for his roles in Chō Tokkyū Hikarian , InuYasha , the Angelique series , Code Geass , Le Chevalier D'Eon , and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers ' (May 18, 1964 - ) is a...

 (games)

Okonogi is the leader of an organization called the Yamainu. The Yamainu are a group of what are essentially mercenaries, working for the group "Tokyo". They work for Miyo Takano to help her carry out her plan to destroy Hinamizawa, but betray her in the end when things go wrong.

Nomura

Nomura is a mysterious woman who represents "Tokyo"; an organization plotting the whole murder and massacre of Hinamizawa. "Tokyo" members consist of very powerful figures such as governmental and political people. Within this organization, there are three main members who investigate directly in Hinamizawa: Kyousuke Irie, Miyo Takano, and Jirou Tomitake. "Tokyo" has control over a large group of soldiers, known as the Yamainu, whom they lend to Takano.

Frederica Bernkastel

Frederica is an omni-present being surrounding the Higurashi universe. Frederica is the writer of the poem about Rika's struggle to escape the fate of June 1983, giving hints about each arc. She likes playing with time and events, as seen in puzzle piece #52 and the end of the second season of the anime, entering an alternate world and stopping Miyoko's parents from dying. Although she claims that she is not Rika, it's implied that she is the collective mentality of the several thousand reincarnations of Rika. The pronunciation of "Frederica" roughly resembles Rika's name in eastern order, and Bernkastel is well known for its wine. She is hinted to be one of the characters in Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The first game in the series, Legend of the Golden Witch, was first released at Comiket 72 on August 17, 2007 playable on the PC; the game sold out in thirty minutes...

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, Rie Kanda

Rie Kanda

is a Japanese seiyū. She is affiliated with 81 Produce.Also known under the name:Asamiya Saki, Saitou Aiko, Saeki Ami, Suzuki Mari, Tokiwa Misaki, Mimura Sakiko, Mimura Sachiko-Anime:*Ah! My Goddess...

 (drama CD)

Yukie is Mamoru's wife, and is only seen in Himatsubushi-hen. In that chapter she stays in the hospital while she is pregnant, and, after praying for her husband's safety while he is in Hinamizawa, falls down the stairs and dies, while her child, Miyuki, survives. In the Minagoroshi-hen and Matsuribayashi-hen chapters however, it is revealed in these alternate timelines that Mamoru returned early after heeding Rika's warning, thus preventing her death.

Onisarashi-hen

Natsumi is a normal high school girl who recently moved from rural Okinomiya to a large city. With her bright personality, she easily made new friends in her new home. She has received a confession of love by Akira Toudou, whom she likes in return. However, she has not answered it yet. She has shrugged off the beliefs and culture of her ancestral home at Hinamizawa, as well as the warnings from her overly-superstitious grandmother, whom she lives with. After Hinamizawa's "disaster", Natsumi's greatest fear is being discovered as being related to people from Hinamizawa and once living near there, in Okinomiya. She makes a cameo appearance in Miotsukushi-hen while Satoko is unconscious in bed.

Kuraudo Oishi consistently attempts to make contact with Natsumi to find out the truth about a certain "unsolved mystery".

Mamoru is an elite career investigator from the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo. He teamed up with Oishi to solve a certain mystery.

Yoigoshi-hen

Akira is a young man who finds himself wandering through the forest of the deserted Hinamizawa, with no memory of what he's doing there. He looks similar to Satoshi. It's later revealed that he originally came to the town to commit suicide with several others after accumulating a large debt, but he ended up not being able to go through with it.

Mion is a woman who claims to have been in Hinamizawa ever since the disaster. She is eventually revealed to be Shion Sonozaki, possessed by the spirit of Mion who had died in the explosion of the school years earlier. She has come to Hinamizawa in search of an item that will prove her right to be the next head of the Sonozaki family.

Ryūnosuke is a tabloid reporter who travels to Hinamizawa when its lockdown is ended in the present day.

Yae visits Hinamizawa with her boyfriend, Takumi, after the lockdown ends. She and Takumi stay in the Furude Shrine for the night and the lights attract the attention of the others, causing them all to meet. Though Takumi is believed to still be alive and just sleeping at this point, he is actually already dead. The group eventually realizes that she is the one who killed Takumi, having finally grown tired of his constant abuse of her. When she hears his plans to fix their relationship and his sorrow over how he treated her, she falls into a state of despair and chooses to stay behind with his body. The group leaves her with a gun, and it seems she might commit suicide. In the end, she instead chooses to come to Otobe's rescue with the gun. She plans to turn herself in once they leave the village, and start her life over again.

Takumi visits Hinamizawa with his girlfriend, Yae, at her urging. He is an alcoholic and hits Yae whenever he's upset about something. After he is found murdered, it is discovered that he was sorry for his treatment of Yae and planned to fix things once they returned from Hinamizawa.

Himatsubushi-hen

Miyuki is Mamoru's daughter who was able to be saved after Yukie's accident. It is said that she is seven years old, and, so far, she is the only character to have his/her age said outright. Mamoru sees a resemblance to the approximately five-year-old Rika in her. She, like any child, is very energetic. She is shy, which is shown when she meets Oishi. She always addresses her father as "Papa", and is frequently shown worrying about him. She only appears in the Himatsubushi-hen manga epilogue and in Higurashi Kizuna Sō, although there is a picture of her in the anime. She may be named after her mother.

Kagebōshi-hen

Tomoe is a new police officer who is investigating the strange occurrences that are happening all over Japan.

Madoka is a sister of Tomoe. Like her sister, she is also a police officer.

Shingo works at the Okinomiya Police Department and is a good friend of Tomoe.

Kaoru is 57 year old Chief of Police who Tomoe, Shingo, and Madoka work for. He appears to be a good friend of Oiishi.

Yoigoshi-hen

Miyuki is a freelance writer set on unraveling the mysteries of Hinamizawa with Ryūnosuke. It turns out that she's actually Miyuki Akasaka, Mamoru's daughter as an adult (Sorimachi is her married name.) and is actually an undercover police officer.

Tokihogushi-hen

Nagisa is a blue haired girl who makes her first appearance in Tokihogushi-hen; her role in the story is unknown. She happens to be a childhood friend of Rena.

Satoshi is the Secretary of The Minister of Health who first appeared in Tokihogushi-hen; his role in the story is unknown.

Kotohogushi-hen

Riku Furude is one of Rika's ancestors, also the Heir and the Shinto Priest of the Furude House. He fell in love with Hainiryuun, and they later had a child together, Ōka Furude. He was the reason that he nicknamed Hainiryuun "Hanyū," because he had a hard time trying to remember and pronounce her name that he shorten it Hanyū.

Shino is the Head of the Kimiyoshi Family and the ancestor of Natsumi and Kiichirou. She became a good friend to Hainiryuun, despite that Shino have seen Hainiryuun's horns, though she's not alarmed at this.

Mao is the head of the Sonozaki family and the ancestor of Oryō, Akane, Mion and Shion. It seems that she and Shino don't get along with each other.

Miotsukushi-hen

Shirō was mentioned in Kagebōshi-hen, but appeared in DS render of Miotsukushi-hen. He happens to be a former colleague of Shingo, and a former subordinate of Tomoe.

Kazuma is the owner of the retirement center of Okinomiya, where Natsumi works part-time. However, he and his family were mysteriously murdered.

Aoi is the 10 year old son of the Kazuma. He is the only surviving member of the family murder and is now under protection by the police in the hospital.