ばか！バカ！　馬鹿ー月！

But those characters are only minor. If they do show up, it's only for a comic relief.

AuraTwilight wrote:We don't know the full names of anyone who isn't a supernatural being, it's not unusual. What's Tsuruya's given name? Taniguchi's? Kunikada's? We don't have ANY name for the Computer Club President or the Student Council President.

Fushichou wrote:But those characters are only minor. If they do show up, it's only for a comic relief.

...or Imouto-chan, or Nakagawa, or Sakanaka... Yeah, minor, comic relief...

...or "Fujiwara", or Sasaki. Oops...

Truth is, with few exceptions, and most of those understandable, every "normal" character in the series has a single name, title, or nickname, and every "special" character has a full name. It has nothing directly to do with importance to the story (although having powers usually does).

Besides, that rule aside, Haruhi isn't the only fiction where the main character's name is unknown to us. In those works, it's usually not because the real name is important, but because it's a GAG for us to not know and the characters to know but never use it. It's also usually done for the same reason RPGs let you name the protagonist, and you can't tell me we're not supposed to imagine ourselves in Kyon's position to some extent.

I was reading about Diogenes and I found something cool, but it looks like Deesies already posted it. Except some people were having a conversation, so I'll repost that.

The modern terms cynic and cynical derive from the Greek word kynikos, the adjective form of kyon, meaning dog... Dogs live in the present without anxiety, and have no use for the pretensions of abstract philosophy. In addition to these virtues, dogs are thought to know instinctively who is friend and who is foe. Unlike human beings who either dupe others or are duped, dogs will give an honest bark at the truth.

And in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody Kyon mentions wanting to have a dog. Come to think of it, his behavior is pretty dog-like sometimes. Thanks, deesies.

I was looking for the meaning of Keiichi (Maebara, from Higurashi), and found a list of popular Japanese names including Kei, which can be written if 5 different ways with different meanings:

# KEI (1-恵, 2-佳, 3-敬, 4-圭, 5-慧): Japanese name meaning 1) "blessed, lucky," 2) "excellent," 3) "respect," 4) "square jewel," or 5) "wise."

Keiichi would be "Kei" + (first son). According to the list, the 4th meaning is used: 圭一 (square jewel first son).

In comments, I saw Maebara Keiichi referred to as "K1" - which reminded me of "Kyon", which might just be the same in English. If Kyon's real given name is Keiichi, and his family name is already important sounding, his father might have chosen a different spelling to drive home a point, making his name "royal and imposing" as well as difficult to spell.

I wonder if there are supposed to be parallels between the Haruhiverse and Higurashiverse beyond that.

Are you saying Keiichi and Kyon are alternate universe versions of each other?

...that...almost makes sense.

AuraTwilight wrote:Are you saying Keiichi and Kyon are alternate universe versions of each other?

...that...almost makes sense.

lol that would be scary. still there are most likely crossover fanfics in japanese site i haven't found.

I recently watched a JDrama, "Boku Dake no Madonna," where the lead male character:

- has a regular name,
- is given the nickname "Kyon" by a slightly mischievous female,
- whereupon EVERYBODY starts calling him "Kyon,"
- even though he hates the nickname. He gives up by the end of the series, though.

The character's regular name is Kyoichi.

Oddly enough, the lead female actress, Hasegawa Kyoko, is nicknamed "Hasekyon." So "Kyon" might be a possible nickname for anyone whose name starts with "kyo."

For me, I think Kyon unknown name plays a very important role. Well since, it's something that will make the reader think that there is at least something that is mysterious about him. And also not telling his name is actually really helpful this novel.