Hajime Hinata

## Talent

* Ultimate ???
* Ultimate Hope
* 超高校級の「???」
* 超高校級の「希望」

*Chō kōkō kyū no “???”*
*Chō kōkō kyū no “kibō”*

**Alternative Localizations:**
Super High School-Level ???
Super High School-Level Hope

**Hajime Hinata** (日向 創, *Hinata Hajime*) is a student of Hope's Peak Academy. His title is the **Ultimate ???** (超高校級の「???」, *Super High School Level ???*).

## Appearance

Hajime is an attractive and fair-skinned young man with short, spiky-ish brown hair with an ahoge that moves according to his emotions. He wears a simple white shirt with the emblem of his previous high school embroidered on the hem, along with a green tie which also bears the same emblem. He also wears dark pants and red-and-white sneakers. During his time in Hope's Peak Academy, he wore a black reserve course student uniform, which are the same clothes he wears as Izuru Kamukura.

Hajime's eyes have straight lines running across his pupils, resembling a prohibition symbol. Although his eye color is originally (presumedly) Green, his eyes turned red with symbols resembling target radars when he lived as Izuru. After the two personalities merge, his left eye remains red while the other reverts to his natural eye color, with the design of both eyes having adapted Izuru's target radar design.

## Personality

Hajime seems cynical at first glance, but it would be more accurate to describe him as a realist. He is quite skeptical and tends to worry more than the other students, but his worries are usually understandable. He is logical and keen, often annoyed by the idea of not being able to understand someone or something at all. He tends to be quite serious, but he does joke around and often goes along with his 'classmates' eccentric hobbies anyway, and sometimes smiles awkwardly and sheepishly while his friends engage in some of their usual weird behavior. He is sometimes annoyed by some of his classmates and can be snarky towards them in his thoughts as well as blunt while speaking to them, though he's more frank than sarcastic or mean-spirited. Though sometimes a bit submissive (especially with bossy girls), he is not afraid to speak his mind, and he can be rude if annoyed enough (for example, after enduring Hiyoko's attitude during her Free Time Events, he finally ends up stating "I don't even care anymore"). He can sometimes be short-tempered and snap at others, especially when he's tired or under pressure. He was also quite paranoid during the start and didn't have much interest in friendship, but he later really wanted to believe in his classmates and felt bad about doubting them during the Class Trials, though he understood it was necessary. He sometimes regretted exposing the murderers.

Hajime's more aggressive personality is well-demonstrated in a scene in which he attempts to punch Juzo Sakakura after he spoke in a very condescending and dehumanizing manner, and slapped Chisa Yukizome's hand away in anger when she tried to help him, which is notably different from the way the other protagonists would have behaved. In the Japanese version, his more blunt personality is also shown in his way of speakingーduring Nonstop Debates, he uses the phrase **それは違うぞ** (*sore wa chigau zo*; lit. "That's wrong"), while Makoto Naegi says **それは違うよ** (*sore wa chigau **yo***; lit. "That's wrong"). Using よ *yo* at the end of a sentence is much more polite than using ぞ *zo*, which is perceived as impolite and more masculine. Another example of this is how he uses the more masculine and boastful word 俺 (*ore*) to refer himself while Makoto uses the more polite word 僕 (*boku*). Notably, he has also referred to Junko Enoshima as an "insane bitch", which is something Makoto wouldn't do even in the case of his worst enemies. Due to his more irritable personality, both Monokuma and Nagito have more or less jokingly compared Hajime to a tsundere, with Nagito calling him "tsuntsun hair" and Monokuma outright calling him a tsundere.

Despite his flaws, Hajime is generally pleasant and easily exhibits kindness and thoughtfulness to others around him; he genuinely cares about everyone. Although he may have trouble understanding or relating to his classmates, he is tolerant of everyone's eccentric personalities and quirks and is always willing to listen and give advice. The official artbook reinforces this by stating that he spends his time talking with everyone and gets along great with both the girls and the guys. In Free Time Events, he makes even the most antisocial characters feel more relaxed and they often reveal things about themselves they wouldn't tell anyone else. Due to this particular trait, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu thinks that Hajime's talent might be Ultimate Counselor and Nagito calls him Ultimate Serenity.

It's also heavily implied that Hajime is romantically inexperienced, appearing somewhat shy and even naive about the topic. He once mentioned that he hadn't really thought about it and has never asked a girl on a date. However, during Free Time Events and especially during Island Mode, several characters appear to have a romantic interest in Hajime and he sometimes responds by flirting, dating, or even forming actual relationships with them. He is sometimes shown to be a bit gullible when other characters show interest in him, with he himself admitting that he is "kind of dense" during Hiyoko Saionji's Shot Through The Heart event. Ironically, he incorrectly assumes Peko Pekoyama has romantic feelings for him during her Free Time Events, while actually she is one of the few characters who is confirmed to not have any feelings towards him.

Although he tries to hide it, Hajime is very insecure about his lack of talent, and it bothers him deeply. This caused him to admire Hope's Peak Academy more than anything, as he believed that attending the school would fix his problem. He wished to be part of something bigger than himself, to become more confident and someone he can be proud of. He felt bitter about being just a reserve course student. Chiaki was the one who guided Hajime to see the reality that whether or not he had a talent was irrelevant. It was largely due to her support and encouragement that he was finally able to overcome despair and gain true confidence.

## Talents & Abilities

### Ultimate Hope

After fusing with Izuru's identity and becoming a new person carrying Hajime's name, he gained Izuru's ability to use all the known Ultimate talents that have been researched at Hope's Peak Academy. He has only been seen using a few. As the Ultimate Hope, Hajime possesses many talents such as the Ultimate Analyst, the Ultimate Soldier, etc.

Unlike other people seen with the Ultimate Analyst talent, Hajime is much more capable of feeling emotions and lacks constant boredom. However, he still feels bored at times, most likely because of his heightened analyzing skills.

Hajime has heightened physical strength, reflexes, and speed, to the point of being superhuman. He is capable of defeating several armed and skilled people in a few minutes. He is also seen easily bending metal and ripping a human-sized hole in a sturdy wall.

Similar to Izuru, Hajime seems to be capable of being more cold-blooded when needed, as he badly wounded and likely killed people who were threatening his friends.

Hajime utilized an incredible talent that could bring back the comatose students alive from the Neo World Program. It could be talent related to Therapist, Neurologist, or Programming, as these talents were held by the creators of the Neo World Program. Considering the fact he was imbued with every talent known to Hope's Peak Academy, it could easily be a combination of the three.

### Counseling skills

Though he did not naturally possess an Ultimate talent, other characters have noted that Hajime may have a potential for many talents, the most notable trait being his ability to make other people feel more relaxed and talk about their issues. Because of this, Fuyuhiko says he could be the Ultimate Counselor, while Nagito calls him the Ultimate Serenity. However, though he's glad to help, Hajime feels that such a talent would be stressful. Hajime also displays this trait as he manages to calm down Ryota Mitarai.

## Etymology

* While the pronunciation of Hajime's first name (はじめ) often means "beginning", the kanji it is written with, 創, primarily means "injury" or "flaw". "Hinata" (日向) means “a sunny place” or “to face the sun”. His full name can altogether translate as either “to face a new day” or "to face an imperfect day".
	+ The names "Hajime" and "Hinata" are very common names in Japan, with either having many written forms (e.g. Hajime can be written as 始, 治, 初, 一, 元, 肇, 創, 甫, 基, 哉, 啓, 本, 源, 東, 大, 孟, 祝...). Hinata itself is both a surname and a given name. This 'common' quality of his names is parallel to how Hajime was a common student with no extraordinary talent.
	+ His full name (日向創) can also be read as Kamukura according to Kodaka in a tweet he made, foreshadowing his identity before entering the Neo World Program.

## Trivia

* Matching the meaning of his given name, Hajime's birthday is January 1, the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
	+ Hajime shares his English voice actor, Johnny Yong Bosch, with Rantaro Amami.
* During the final trial, in his temporary "Awakened Form", Hajime bears a striking resemblance to Kiyotaka Ishimaru's "Kiyondo" form; both have their dark hair turn pure white and their eyes bright red (Kiyotaka's were already red, however).
	+ They both also changed into their respective forms because of memories of their deceased friends; Kiyotaka became Kiyondo due to his love for his friend Mondo, and Hajime entered his "Awakened" form due to the memory of Chiaki helping him overcome his despair.