Kyoko Honda

*This article is about the **Kyoko Honda** character. For articles that share the same name, see Kyoko.*

## Kyoko Honda

* Current
* Past

### Alias

The Red Butterfly
Ms. No Eyebrows (By Katsuya)

## Professional Status

### Occupation

Gang Leader (Formerly)
Student (Formerly)

## Relationships

### Parents

Unnamed Father (Estranged)
Unnamed Mother (Estranged)

### Other relatives

Tomohiro Honda (Father-in-law)
Eshima Honda (Sister-in-law)
Aneko Honda (Niece)
Souji Honda (Nephew)

## Voice Actors

### English

Lydia Mackay

**Kyoko Honda** (本田 今日子, *Honda Kyōko*) is the mother of Tohru Honda and the wife of Katsuya Honda.

Kyoko used to be a lonely and troubled teenager who was also an infamous gang leader called "The Red Butterfly". However, after she met Katsuya, they worked through difficulties in a joint effort, and he helped her leave the gang and her own abusive household.

## Description

### Appearance

Kyoko is an adult woman with fair skin and a rather slender build. She has short, bobbed, and strawberry blonde hair which appears to grow darker the further down it goes. Her bangs are long and “M-shaped”, and usually covers her right eye and frames her face. In flashbacks, she was also seen to have longer hair. She has a pair of light-brown eyes with long eyelashes, and is often seen with earrings and pink nail polish.

Kyoko's usual outfit consists of a yellow long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and a pair of pink heels. However, she would also wear a black shirt and a blue skirt along with her trademark red coat from her gang days as well.

When Kyoko was young, she had mid-back-length hair with straight bangs covering her entire forehead. She also used to draw her eyebrows in, prompting Katsuya to call her “Ms. No Eyebrows”. During her gang days, she was often seen with bandages on top of her chest, along with black shorts. She would also wear her trademark coat as well. In school, she was seen with several plasters and dressed rather modestly; such as long-sleeved, long black dresses.

### Personality

In her teenage years, Kyoko was an abrasive, ill-tempered and violent delinquent who blamed everyone for her sadness and took her anger out on those around her. This was largely caused by her self-centered parents, who made Kyoko hate the entire world and desperate for someone who would make her feel loved and needed. After she met Katsuya, who treated her with the love and understanding no one ever gave her before, Kyoko quit the life of a delinquent, and her personality greatly improved thanks to his influence. As a result, Kyoko became self-conscious about her past mistakes, but also a more lively and optimistic woman who was always smiling. On the other hand, when Katsuya passed away, Kyoko lost all hope, abandoned Tohru for a while, and even attempted suicide. But when she remembered she had a daughter who needed her love and care, Kyoko swore to live for Tohru's sake; eventually becoming the incredibly kind, loving and gentle mother seen in Tohru's flashbacks.

Kyoko is a very wise woman who extends and shares this wisdom with others around her, including Arisa Uotani, Saki Hanajima, and Kyo Sohma. Even after her death, Tohru relies on Kyoko's wisdom greatly, as she was responsible for shaping Tohru's entire outlook in life. She is incredibly emotionally intelligent and strong-willed; firmly believing that people often can't mature and become emotionally strong until they have expressed lots of pain and hardships. Exactly because of her own upbringing, she was quick to sense other people's loneliness, such as Kyo’s and Arisa’s, and thus could easily empathize with others and accept them without any hesitation. Aside from her wisdom, Kyoko is a cheerful, cool and fun-loving woman with a noticeable sassy side to her, who could get along with anyone, even if it was a child decades younger than her.

## Etymology

* The name **Kyoko** means *京 (**kyō**)* meaning "capital city" or *恭 (**kyō**)* meaning "respectful, polite" combined with *子 (**ko**)* meaning "child".

## Trivia

* Kyoko's nickname "The Red Butterfly" originated from the legend of how the tail lights on her motorcycle danced like a bright red butterfly when she rode at night.
* Kyoko never re-married after Katsuya's death.
* Kyoko dislikes wedding ceremonies, to the point where it “sent nasty chills down her spine”.
* Kyoko never wanted a wedding ring, since she was afraid to lose it. Rather, she wanted simple things such as blenders to help Katsuya.
* Kyoko mentions to Kyo that when she abandoned Tohru for a while, her parental custody might have gotten a little “dicey”, but that she was lucky she had Katsuya's father to take care of Tohru during that time.
* Kyoko was apparently quite infamous as a delinquent, as Arisa recognized her as a legend even though she had quit the gang lifestyle years ago.