Hiroki Sugimura

Hiroki Sugimura is a major protagonist in the novel, manga, and film Battle Royale. He was a member of Class 9-B and an expert on martial arts, who wanted to prove himself as strong while also trying to avoid unnecessary fights.
He was portrayed by Sousuke Takaoka in the film.
== Biography ==
=== Background ===
When Hiroki was a child, he used to be bullied by other kids, who one day, broke his toy. After this Chigusa would appear and insult him for his weakness, with Hiroki swearing that he'll learn martial arts. Over the course of the next few years, he would learn kung fu and become a master at it.
One day, he was getting beaten by a group of thugs, only for Shuya to appear and save his life, causing Hiroki to protect Shuya and help him defeat the thugs with his help. After this, Shuya told him that he only uses his strength for good causes and for justice, causing Hiroki to decide to do the same.
Hiroki would then get abused by a judo master because he lied that kung fu and judo were the same and thus he beat him easily, and would later arrogantly choose to fight against Kazuo, who cruelty ripped his eye from his eye socked and squeezed it while joking on how the eye was as easy to squish as an egg, shocking both Hiroki and the entire class despite how bad he was towards them.
Hiroko would then start to have a crush on Kayoko, as he would watch her take care of flowers from a window, which his sensei noticed and told him not to hesitate and tell her that he loves her due to believing love is a natural part of life and Hiroki shouldn't be afraid of it. However, Shinji threatened to tell everyone about his crush on Kayoko, which stopped him from saying it until he was in the program.
One day, he would find an abandoned kitten, who he would adopt and would take care of it with a bit of help from Kayoko, due to her having three other cats in her house.
=== Battle Royale ===
He got kidnapped by the government alongside his class and were forced to join the Battle Royale program where they would be forced into killing each other until one remained. However, Hiroki's main goal was to help others survive, and the first thing he did was to try to find his best friend Chigusa, who had been killed by Mitsuko by the time he arrived.
Hiroko would then meet Shuya, Noriko, and Shogo while looking for Kayoko, and would help them in try to find people in order to fight against the people controlling the program, but he leaves since he's more focused in finding Kayoko, although he tells them that he would also try to help the people he comes across.
Hiroko would later find Mitsuko in a forest at night, where she nearly killed him, he would then find out she was responsible for Chigusa's death. Despite him being angry over her killing Chigusa, Hiroki refused to kill her, so she escapes after she told him about her twisted ideals of love and the abuse she got from her stepfather, causing him to feel shocked.
He then finds Hirono's body in a well and discovers that she was killed by Oda. Despite what he did to Hirono, Hiroki gave Oda a chance to believe in hope and join him in trying to find other students to rebel against the program. Faking sympathy, Oda lies that he would help them so he could get his pistol to shoot Hiroki, but he understands what he's about to do and threatens to shoot his legs off if he didn't get back, understanding that he was bluffing, Oda tries to shoot him, but Kazuo appears and kills Oda, although Hiroki is able to escape.
He would later save Shuya when he was about to get killed by Kazuo and tried to help him defeat the latter, but Kazuo is able to throw them off a cliff and they fall into the sea, where Hiroki brings an unconscious Shuya to a beach where he allowed a group of girls that were in a lighthouse so they could treat his injuries while he looked for Kayoko.
Hiroki then found Kayoko, whom he convinced to not go insane and to still have hope. After this, they would talk to each other and try to meet with Shuya and his friends, only for Kazuo to appear and try to kill them. They would then have a fight with Kazuo while making sure he would protect Kayoko no matter what, and in that moment would not hesitate to attack Kazuo nor show mercy, he would then be able to temporarily knock Kazuo out by using a ki technique he learned from Kayoko, telling her that it was their moment to shine. 
After the fight, Hiroki reveals his feeling towards Kayoko, only for Kazuo to appear and kill them both, with his last thoughts being that he regretted telling Kayoko his feeling for her and that he would be forced to lose someone he loved like what happened with Chigusa, since Kayoko refused to leave him when trying to protect her from Kazuo.
In the film and novel, he gets killed by an insane Kayoko.
== Personality ==
Hiroki is a pacifistic and insecure person, who, despite being a great fighter, refuses to fight against people unless if it is to protect those whom he cares about, and has problems expressing himself, which is why he was unable to tell Kayoko that he liked her until the time of the program. Hiroki also has a great sense of honor and he never goes against it, and sometimes shows sympathy even for those who hurt him.
Hiroki tries his best to avoid killing because he believs that if he gets accostumed with hurting someone, he may start to enjoy it. Despite this, he isn't stupid, as he didn't fall in Oda's attempts to manipulate him. By the end of the program, Hiroki became more self-confident and told Kayoko about his feelings for her, although this also ended badly in the manga, as she decided to stay with him when he was fighting Kiryiama, resulting in her death, with Hiroki's final thoughts being him lamenting such decision.
==Gallery==
Battle Rle.jpg|Hiroki with the other main contestants in the manga adaptation.
Kill or be killed BR.jpg
BR MC.webp
Hiroki and Chigusa.jpg|Hiroki with Chigusa before the latter's death in the film adaptation.
== Trivia ==
* Hiroki is the only major character in Battle Royale to not have known family members.
==External Links==
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