Tobio Kageyama

* Pre-timeskip
* Post-timeskip

## Image gallery

**Tobio Kageyama** (Japanese: **影山 飛雄** *Kageyama Tobio*) is a professional volleyball player who currently plays as the starting setter for the Italy Volleyball League team, Ali Roma. He is the deuteragonist of the *Haikyū!!* series where he served as the setter for the Karasuno High School boys' volleyball club. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Japan Men's National Volleyball Team and previously played for the Japanese V-League Division 1 team, Schweiden Adlers.

## Appearance

Kageyama's height and impressively sharp glare are said to be his most prominent physical features and source of attraction to several female classmates. He is of a lean but muscular build. He often emits an intimidating aura, which is heightened by the almost permanent scowl on his face. His black hair is cropped short, with a fringe that hangs just above his dark blue eyes. His typical attire consists of either his school uniform or practice clothes.

Post-timeskip, Kageyama has grown to be 188 cm. His hair is now parted down the middle similar to that of how Kunimi had his. By the end of the series, Kageyama now has short bangs that end just above his eyebrows.

## Personality

Perpetually sullen, arrogant, and undeniably short-tempered, Kageyama originally came off as a typical overbearing perfectionist, caring only about winning and completely disregarding the opinions and well-being of his teammates. His habit of complaining about their performance and barking orders at them eventually led the other players in Kitagawa Daiichi to nickname him the "King of the Court", a constant reminder of the oppressive, egocentric attitude he demonstrated during his volleyball career in junior high.

Unbeknownst to the majority of his schoolmates and acquaintances, however, he is much more sensitive and childish than he appears to be; he simply does not know how to control his frustration, and hence expresses his thoughts and emotions in an inappropriate way. After everyone in Kitagawa Daiichi became fed up with him and abandoned his side, Kageyama was filled with genuine regret and developed an intense fear of being despised and mistrusted but refused to openly discuss his problem until Tsukishima confronted him about it.

Despite his inability to properly socialize, he sincerely wishes to do his best and is extremely passionate and dedicated when it comes to volleyball, to the point where he gets overly excited about nearly every successful move he pulls off with Hinata.

Since joining Karasuno, he has grown to be more respectful of his upperclassmen, as well as more accepting of people whose abilities and/or views differ from his own and has come to once again understand the importance of teamwork and mutual trust in the sport he treasures so much. Additionally, this has also helped him regain his confidence as a setter. He has also come to realize that he doesn't call the shots on the court and has learned to give up control to Hinata and other spikers.

During high school, he still gets extremely angry when he is called by his nickname, "King of the Court", but, by the Final Arc, he has changed greatly on how he views the nickname.

## Background

Even shortly after he was born, Kageyama was shown to already have a great love for volleyball when he held on dearly to his older sister's volleyball and refused to let his grandfather take it away from him. When he was around four years old, Kageyama started playing volleyball with his grandfather, Kazuyo, and his older sister, Miwa, and soon found a passion for the sport, and became a setter due to it being the position that got to touch the ball the most. During his time at Akiyama Elementary, Kageyama is soon recognized as a prodigy.

Once he entered Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, it was clear that his potential would be much higher than the other players on his team, including the current third-year setter Tōru Oikawa. However, Kageyama's exceptional abilities and lack of consideration for others led him to develop a demanding demeanor and an inability to cooperate with his teammates, causing them to refer to him as the "King of the Court". Since the true meaning of this nickname was only known to the players at Kitagawa Daiichi, outsiders simply assumed that it referred to Kageyama's incredible talent. Additionally, he would often practice more than required, which his teammates, Kunimi and Kindaichi, would notice and judge him for and at times try to avoid.

By his third year of junior high, Kageyama's attitude had already destroyed his relationship with his teammates to the point where Kindaichi and Kunimi considered asking the coach to bench the setter. Despite the setter's lack of teamwork, Kitagawa Daiichi still managed to be a favorite to win at the Junior High Athletics Meet. It was at the tournament where he would first meet and begin his long-term rivalry with Shōyō Hinata.

Kitagawa Daiichi was said to have moved forward with the tournament but lost in the finals; it's hinted that Kageyama may be one of the main reasons for the loss due to his picture being on an article about the match. At some point during the junior high competitions in his third year, Kageyama sent a toss to his teammates in the middle of a game only to find no one behind him. His teammates refused to hit his tosses anymore, showing their clear desire of having him removed from the team. Kageyama was then benched and ended his final game at Kitagawa Daiichi in shame. Not long after this, Kageyama fails to enter Shiratorizawa and his grandfather passes away, which is shown deeply affecting him and his sister, Miwa.

## Statistics

* High School 1st Year
* High School 2nd Year
* Post-Timeskip

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

Kageyama is known as the "King of the Court" and a volleyball genius for his incredible technique and game sense. As a high-caliber setter, Kageyama has the potential to unify the team with his overwhelming talent, but he originally struggles with effectively communicating with his teammates. Over time, he has learned to utilize his skills to bring out the best of his spikers. He now pays attention to his spikers' condition and adjusts his toss accordingly instead of forcing them to match him all the time.

In addition to his astounding accuracy and technical skills as a setter, Kageyama is a skilled all-rounder with a remarkable grasp of both the basics and the complexities of volleyball. He is capable of playing many other positions, including wing spiker, but chooses to become a setter due to his love for being the team's control tower. Kageyama also has an affinity for improvised strategy and is the first person to suggest using Hinata's prominent presence on the court as an effective decoy. Due to all these factors, Kageyama is one of the players selected to participate in the All-Japan Youth Intensive Training Camp.

**Height and reach**:

* **April 2012**:
	+ Jumping Reach: 335 cm
* **November 2012**:
	+ Fingertip Height: 239 cm
	+ Jumping Reach: 337 cm (spike) / 320 cm (block)
* **Post-Timeskip**:
	+ Jumping Reach: 348 cm

### Skills

* **Post-Timeskip Skill Parameter:**

 Setting
 Spike
 Technique
 Block

* **Pinpoint Accuracy**: Kageyama's most prominent and praised skill is his ability to accurately determine a ball's trajectory and tossing it to the exact point. Combined with the fact that he can set from any angle at incredible speeds, this makes his sets almost impossible for most of his opponents to predict and counter. His pinpoint accuracy is a necessary component in Kageyama and Hinata's infamous "Freak-Quick" sets. He can calculate Hinata's exact spike point to send the ball straight to him at the perfect moment in time. Moreover, Kageyama uses his accuracy and fast handling of the ball for other purposes too, such as straight shots and setter dumps. Like Atsumu, Kageyama's sets are also easy to hit and give the hitters the impression that they have gotten better.

* **Minus-Tempo Quick Strike**: Also known as the "God-Fast Spike", "Freak-Quick" or the "Oddball Combo", this is an offensive maneuver developed by Kageyama and Hinata during their three-on-three match against Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Daichi. It combines Kageyama's setting talents with Hinata's speed, agility, and extraordinary jumping power. Kageyama uses his pinpoint accuracy to set the ball to Hinata's exact spike point. His toss is so accurate that Hinata can spike even with his eyes closed. Ever since the summer training camp, Kageyama has modified his toss to one that stops and falls around the spiker's hitting zone to give Hinata more control in mid-air. He also can send a toss close to the net for Hinata to spike it straight down.

* **King's Toss**: His best set is known as the "King's Toss," which causes the ball to go straight with a lot of force past through the spiker's point of impact. Originally, his teammates found this sort of set to be impossibly fast to spike. Following Karasuno's summer training camp, Kageyama learned to perform a set that falls around the spiker's point of impact by adding a backspin. The brutal force he'd habitually put into it would thus die out and allow the spiker to manipulate the ball in whatever way he wished.

* **Jump Serve**: Kageyama has a powerful jump serve that his opponents are wary of. Early on, he hasn't learned how to aim it yet, but during the Shiratorizawa match, he displays the ability to manipulate the power he puts into the serve to catch his opponents off guard (by dropping the serve shorter than expected, for example). By the time Karasuno reaches nationals, his jump serve has become a reliable weapon. He is seen scoring many service aces and even adding a side-spin to avoid the receivers. When he joins the V league, he becomes the top ranked server beating out other players like Atsumu (before the debut of his hybrid serve) and Romero. He has even gotten 5 serve aces in a row against the French national team.

* **Dump Set**: Kageyama often utilizes dump sets and rarely gets blocked. He's adept at finding the perfect moments to perform a dump set, often surprising both his opponents (such as Oikawa) and his teammates. He can also fake this to set up a short-range quick attack. Kageyama can also change his simple dump to a power tip, this knocks the ball off the blockers hand causing it to land in the outer edge of the court.

* **Two-setter Attack**: Kageyama also has a sharp straight spike, which allows him to act as an extra wing spiker on the right side when Sugawara is used as a setter.

* **One Person Time Difference Attack**: Kageyama has shown the ability to match his spikers to perform a One Person Time Difference Attack. He utilizes this attack with Tsukishima, who delays jumping to throw off the blockers, during Karasuno's match against Shiratorizawa.

* **Glance Feint**: A technique he learned from watching Kenma Kozume, Kageyama will look to one side of the court in order to trick opposing blockers that he will set in one direction before setting in the opposite direction. Because this is a move he very rarely uses, it is a very successful when implemented.

* **Receives**: Due to his position as a setter, Kageyama often does not participate in receives. Despite this, Kageyama is shown to have incredible defensive skills and does not have much trouble making receives when needed

## Etymology

* His first name, **Tobio** (**飛雄**) means "Flying Hero*".*
* Tobio's surname, **Kageyama** (**影山**) means "Shadow Mountain".

## Trivia

* Favorite Food: Pork Curry with Soft-boiled Egg (Japanese: **のせ** *Pōkukarē Ontama nose*).
* Pre-timeskip Concern: He gets the feeling that animals dislike him.
* Post-timeskip Concern: He wants to maintain a perfect condition, even after traveling for a long time.
* Star Sign: Capricorn (but since Kageyama was born on the cusp, his star sign isn't clear, just like Hinata).
* He wears black volleyball shoes with light grey accents.
* He usually buys a carton of milk or yogurt during lunch.
* He uses an iPhone as seen in the last arc of the manga.
* He is the only first-year on Karasuno's volleyball team that is not a middle blocker.
* He's been playing volleyball since his second year at Akiyama Elementary but became involved with volleyball as early as three years old.
* He is the youngest first-year and member on the team.
* Worst Subject: Kageyama claims to have a poor memory when it comes to English vocabulary, but when he was quizzed by Daichi on tactic signals, he was able to answer them quickly and revealed that it took him barely a day to memorize those. This shows that he does have a great memory but lacks the motivation to put it to use on subjects that aren't related to volleyball.