| “ | If I turn back now, I'll definitely regret it! | „ |
| ~ Hibiki Kuze, Devil Survivor 2: The Animation |
Hibiki Kuze is an 18 year old high school student in Tokyo, Japan.
Appearance
The Protagonist is a young man with short black wavy hair and blue eyes. He wears a blue and white stripe turtleneck shirt with sleeves with a white jacket, and a hoodie with long rabbit-like ears, blue trousers, and dark navy sneakers. On two occasions, he has been said to be good-looking and handsome, by both Joe and Koharu.
In the anime, Hibiki obtains a burn scar on his right arm of the dragon stream after Benetnasch's defeat until the world has reset like in the beginning.
In Break Record, he is still wearing his white jacket with the hood that has a long rabbit-like ears, but instead of wearing a blue-and-white striped turtleneck shirt, he wears his black school uniform with a blue-and-white striped necktie.
Personality
The personality of the protagonist is determined by the choices of the player.
Unlike most Shin Megami Tensei protagonists, his dialogue choices are typically far more comical. In more vexing situations, his dialogue choices are alarmingly aggressive and gutsy. Additionally, should the player choose so, he is also very knowledgeable and well read. It seems that above all, the protagonist canonically has a great sense of humor. For example, if the player chooses to successfully persuade Ronaldo to join the party, he will always comment that he hopes to gain the protagonist's sense of humor no matter what choices are chosen. Similarly, throughout the Restorer ending, Io comments multiple times that the protagonist is saying something funny again. There is even a point of conversation near the end where all the choices are comical jabs at Daichi.
As for what other people think of him, the entire cast respects and admires him whether it be for his strength, aloofness, or comedic talent to the point that they still maintain a healthy relationship with him on the last day even if they disagree with the player's actions or ideals.
In Devil Survivor 2 The Animation, Hibiki is calm yet cheerful, and a somewhat laid-back young man, especially around his best friend, Daichi. He is very good at studying, finishing his mock exam with ease, but still unsure about his future afterwards. He is not easily attracted to girls that are considered popular, finding Io no different in particular, which made Daichi state that something is wrong with him as a man, though he replied that everyone's type is different. Despite the suddenly dangerous situation he got himself into, he is mostly quick to regain his composure and shows little to no fear in order to protect his friends and would fight with his life on the line, even though he doesn't actually want to fight. He has a sharp mind and is perceptive, quickly adapting to situation. He is likewise reliable, but when his emotions got the better of him, he became rather impulsive and reckless in his action to the point of nearly being suicidal.
Hibiki has a strong sense of what's right, believing that those who have power should save as many lives as possible, and self-condemns himself for being unable to save anyone, even after receiving their death clip.
Stats
As usual with most other protagonists in the Shin Megami Tensei series, the stat distribution of the protagonist is up to the player to decide, allowing for customization of how the player wants him to perform in battle.
Trivia
- The protagonist's cell phone is blue, and the only one with a cycloid feature. It is based on a real cell phone: Sharp AQUOS 943SH model manufactured by SoftBank, a Japanese cell phone company.
- Although it can plainly be seen that the protagonist carries an MP3 player with him all the time, he is never shown wearing headphones except in Yamato's Route.
- He's the only one in the game who doesn't have a shadow during the battle with Polaris if the player chooses Triumphant ending.
- At one point one of his dialogue choices references Maerlyn's Grapefruit.
- In Yamato's route, at the start of the last day Sunday's Fruitions, he greets Yamato in Spanish, hinting that he learned Spaninsh at some point before the invasion, He does the same with Ronaldo.
- He has a shocked expression, though it is used on only six occasions: the first and second time is when Keita and Airi offers some kind of food when he is returning to Tokyo (dialogue choice: looks strange... for Keita and "looks gross!" for Airi.), in one of Fumi's fate events, where Jungo is electrocuted by her machine; the dialogue choice is "Jungo's still awake...". Another time is in Daichi's/Ronaldo's route, when Yamato calls out to him from behind (dialogue choice: "Gaaaah!"), and the last two times are in the Anguished One's route: when the Anguished One suddenly appears behind the protagonist (the dialogue choice is "Holy crap--!"), and when Yamato activates the magic circle at the Shinsekai Terminal (if only the protagonist is dispatched).
- He is referred to as the "Shining One" frequently by Alcor. This is the term used to refer to the serpent in the Garden of Eden in Hebrew texts.
- He is the only character in the game that Yamato refers on first name basis.
- According to his profile in Devil Survivor 2 The Animation, his favorite music genres are J-pop and Classical, his favorite food is sweet things especially mame daifuku and yaki mitarashi, and he learned to play piano from when he was 1st grade until 6th grade.
- In the anime, his death clip appeared twice. The second one is during Tuesday.