Tamaki Suoh

## Voices

**René Tamaki Richard de Grantaine Suoh** (シャール・ド・グランテーヌ, *Rune Tamaki Rishāru do Gurantēnu*) also known as **Tamaki Suoh** (須王 環, *Suō Tamaki*) is the illegitimate son of Yuzuru Suoh (Ouran Academy's Chairman) and the president of the Ouran Host Club. He is in Class 2-A, the same class as Kyoya Ootori (Tamaki's best friend and co-founder of the Host Club).

## Appearance

Being a hafu (Japanese by his father and French by his mother), Tamaki is a handsome young man with pale-blond hair inherited from his mother. his eye color is violet, He is tall and slender in build. When not at school, he prefers to wear haute couture clothing. His good looks and charm often allow him to win over others and he is known by the rest of his club members as Tono (i.e. King/Boss), with a 70% request rate by the female guests. He enjoys cosplay and does so with the Club, often. He is able to cry without the use of eyedrops (which he claims to be the mark of a true Host) and his appearance is often compared to the president of the Black Magic Club, Umehito Nekozawa, whose natural features also include blond hair and blue eyes.

## Personality

Tamaki is credited as the co-founder and president of the Host Club. Although his outward manner would be best described as flamboyant, egotistical and dramatic he is, in fact, a young man dedicated to his studies, his friends, and his duties as a host. He is considered the "Princely" type, entertaining his female clients with upper-class etiquette and shameless flattery. He views the club as his "family" with himself as the father, Kyoya Ootori as the mother, Haruhi Fujioka as the daughter, Hikaru Hitachiin and Kaoru Hitachiin as the sons, and Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka and Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka as the neighbors.

Tamaki is portrayed as outspoken and naive for his age. Throughout the anime and manga series, his facial expressions are the most exaggerated. While celebrating romance in general, he is quite blind to his own feelings of romantic love towards Haruhi, of which the other Hosts are completely aware. Of all the Hosts, Tamaki's "host" personality differs the most from his true personality insofar that he is both poised and charming as a Host, but often bumbling and attention-seeking outside of that milieu. His desire to please the Host Club's female guests, however, is genuine to the point that he denies to himself and everyone else his love for Haruhi in order to keep the Host Club up and running.

Despite his childish attitude, he is highly intelligent, easily ranking second in Class 2-A, the top spot being held by his best friend and Host Club co-founder, Kyoya. It is also shown that he does not put much effort into his studies (e.g. watching TV in the middle of the night before a quiz), hinting that his academic standing may not originate from hard work but superior intelligence. Although there are instances where he demonstrates brilliant insights that surprise many, he still remains a goofball and a flirt most of the time. He is, at heart, a generous and kind person. Two examples of his kindness are when he helped a man find his daughter and he comforted Haruhi when he found that she was afraid of thunderstorms.

## Relationships

### Haruhi Fujioka

Initially, Tamaki sees Haruhi as a commoner and is the last of the Hosts to realize her true gender, which he only realizes when he accidentally walks in on her while she's changing. Tamaki's feelings develop from casual interest to deep abiding love over the course of the anime (in part) and in the manga (completely). In the anime, even under the illusion that Haruhi is a boy, he shamelessly flirts with her, his feelings intensifying upon discovering that "he" is a "she." His blindness to his own feelings comes out as jealousy towards the Hitachiin twins, who spend a good deal of time with her because they are classmates. In the manga, he first shows his romantic interest in Haruhi when she's ill and he kisses her on the forehead, just as his father did to him under similar circumstances. For most of both series, however, he thinks of his emotions as "Fatherly Love," in part because he truly is oblivious and in part because he cherishes the Host Club "family" he has created. At first, Haruhi calls him obnoxious due to his antics, but later realizes that he is genuinely thoughtful and kind to her, as well as towards others. After they overcome countless difficulties (which mainly consists of clarifying their dense feelings for each other), the two are shown marrying in an omake and are the first of the Host Club members to have children.

### Kyoya Ootori

As Tamaki's best friend, Kyoya has shared the same class as him since Tamaki entered Ouran Academy's middle school division in the spring of their 3rd year. Their close relationship manifests itself in the blond's frequent reference to him as "Mommy" and his reciprocated (though reluctant) reference to Tamaki as "Daddy". Despite their contrasting appearances and outward personalities, they are both shown to share the quality of helping others, and Kyoya is often shown assisting Tamaki in implementing the blond's plans. When first introduced to each other, Kyoya is polite but secretly envies Tamaki's position as the heir-apparent within the Suoh family despite his status as an illegitimate son. In time, the bespectacled male vents his frustrations towards Tamaki in an emotional outburst, where he accuses him of not trying hard enough to achieve patriarchal status of his family. Tamaki responds that it is Kyoya himself who refuses to rise to that particular challenge. An epiphany occurs within Kyoya, who realizes that Tamaki is correct and that his honesty in a world of duplicity makes him a valuable friend and ally.

### Hikaru Hitachiin

Despite their outward rivalry for Haruhi's attentions, it is Hikaru who helps Tamaki realize his true feelings for the girl, helping him understand that their bond together as a club or as a family wouldn't be broken should he pursue romance with Haruhi. Hikaru first meets Tamaki when he and his twin brother, Kaoru, are recruited for the newly-formed Host Club during the twins' last year of middle school. They agree to join on the condition that the blond can win the "Which One Is Hikaru? Game" without randomly guessing. Despite the fact that Tamaki fails many times, he persists and finally guesses correctly to win the game once, via intuition. The twins, secretly impressed with his determination, uphold their end of the bargain and join the Host Club where they engage in questionable behavior suggested by Tamaki as the "brotherly love" package. In the manga, Hikaru is a member of Tamaki's team during the Annual Sports Carnival. Also in the manga, Hikaru and Tamaki compete for Haruhi's favor when they argue over who will give Haruhi the best gift on her birthday. In the end, they both lose to Kasanoda who gives her a shrimp porridge maker.

Through his interaction with the club members, Hikaru begins to open up and to think of others. He is remorseful, perhaps for the first time in his life, when Tamaki berates him for abandoning Haruhi during a thunderstorm in Ep 16 - Operation Haruhi and Hikaru's First Date! His teasing of Tamaki is actually Hikaru's socially inept way of showing his fondness and he, along with Kaoru, frequently plays jokes on Tamaki and finds it especially amusing to tease the Host Club President about his wish to be called "King" (aka Tono or Boss) and, instead, calls him an idiot. Knowing that Tamaki loves Haruhi, even if he's unaware of it, both twins flirt with her endlessly to prod him into reality or just to get him fired up for their amusement. An example of this is seen in Ep 07 - Jungle Pool SOS! wherein they trick the blond into a water gun fight by telling Haruhi they're going to marry her and go on honeymoon which effectively gets Tamaki into the fray. Tamaki is equally fond of them, despite being frequently exasperated by their mischief and calling them "shady twins."

### Kaoru Hitachiin

Kaoru first meets Tamaki when he and his twin brother, Hikaru, are recruited for the newly-formed Host Club during the twins' last year of junior high school. They agree to join on the condition that the blond can win the "Which One Is Hikaru? Game" without randomly guessing. Despite the fact that Tamaki fails many times, he persists and finally guesses correctly to win the game once, via intuition. The twins, secretly impressed with his determination, uphold their end of the bargain and join the Host Club where they engage in questionable behavior suggested by Tamaki as the "brotherly love" package.

Kaoru, being more sensitive and insightful, understands that both Hikaru and Tamaki care about Haruhi, as he does himself. He gives up on pursuing Haruhi to allow Hikaru a chance to be with her. His teasing of Tamaki is more as a support for Hikaru, although he also finds it amusing to tease the Host Club President about his wish to be called "King" (aka Tono or Boss). When Hikaru takes Haruhi on a date in Ep 16 - Operation Haruhi and Hikaru's First Date! and is rude to her, it is Kaoru who calms down an outraged Tamaki by explaining that he thought Haruhi would be the best person to help Hikaru learn how to think of others before himself. This impresses the Host Club King greatly. Tamaki is fond of both brothers, despite being frequently exasperated by their mischief and calling them "shady twins" and although they initially find him annoying, they grow to admire Tamaki because of his ability to simultaneously see them as unique individuals and as an inseparable unit, which he views as a positive aspect of their relationship.

### Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka

Honey refers to Tamaki as "Tama-chan" and is shown to respect and care for him. Tamaki is the first person, outside of Mori, to encourage Honey to be exactly who he is without apology and who accepts his loli-shota ways without question, stating that true courage is the ability to be oneself. In Ep 14 - Covering the Famous Host Club! it is Honey who comes to Tamaki's defense when the gossip-mongering Newspaper Club accuses Tamaki of using his position as the School Board Chairman's son to control the other Hosts. Honey speaks up, saying that Tamaki is blameless in that regard; that they are all members of Host Club because they just simply like him.

### Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka

Mori and Tamaki become friends as a result of their mutual friendship with Honey, though they don't seem to interact on a personal level as much as the blond does with the other Hosts; in fact, Mori's reticent nature renders him a bit of a mystery. When Ritsu Kasanoda comes to the club unannounced to become Mori's apprentice, Mori lashes out without warning, which Tamaki misinterprets as anger towards Host Club because Mori has so few lines throughout the anime. What follows, then, is Mori's definitive episode, *Ep 22 - Mori-senpai Has an Apprentice Candidate!*

### Kyo Sohma

When Tamaki hurted Ken's feelings, kyo immediately didnt like him which causes him to have a major dislike towards Tamaki. and even though Ken and Rody forgave him, Kyo did not.

Even after a year later, their relationship hasnt changed. with Tamaki mentioning that Kyo had blocked him on all social media accounts.

## Trivia

* Tamaki's rose color in the Host Club is white. In Japanese culture, this signifies innocence, which manifests itself in Tamaki's general naiveté. In Western culture, the white rose is symbolic of happiness in love. This is ironic insofar that, although he genuinely strives to provide his female customers with happiness in *their* love pursuits, he himself is unable to recognize his own love for Haruhi until the near-finale of the manga and only marginally in the anime's final episode.
* In **Chapter 77**, it is mentioned that the name **Tamaki** means "circle" or "link." His surname, Suoh, means dragon.
* Tamaki's nickname **Tono** means "lord" from antiquity.
* Tamaki's view of Haruhi Fujioka as his daughter is a defense mechanism known as "sublimation," where unacceptable feelings are relegated into a more palatable framework so that the individual can maintain a particular relationship or situation which would otherwise be considered inappropriate to them.
* Tamaki shares his birthday with Buddha (i.e. April 8); April Fool's Day (i.e. April 1) having been an alternate suggestion.
* In Chapter 21 and Episode 11, Tamaki is shown to bear a striking resemblance to the president of the Black Magic Club, Umehito Nekozawa, when Nekozawa doesn't have his robe on).
* Tamaki doesn't like chrysanthemum as food.
* Bisco Hatori labeled Tamaki's hair as light brown at the end of a volume in the manga although it is seen as blond in the anime.
* Tamaki's English voice actor is Vic Mignogna who also voices Takenaga from *The Wallflower*, Zero Kiryu from *Vampire Knight*, Edward Elric from *Fullmetal Alchemist*, and Broly from *Dragon Ball Z*.
* Tamaki's seiyu is Mamoru Miyano who also voices Sho Fuwa in *Skip Beat!*, Tokiya Ichinose from Uta no Prince-sama, and Rin Matsuoka from Seasons 1 and 2 of *Free!*.
* Tamaki has a beloved bear from childhood named, "Kuma-chan" or "Beary."
* It is revealed that he had a crush on Ken throughout the series, which has led to a relationship then engagement. But that is just an AU headcanon.