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Character Profile: Hiei

Fields
USA Info
Japanese Info
Image
Name
Hiei Hiei Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Alias
Three-eyes(by Yusuke)  
· · ·
Runt(by Kuwabara) Chibi(by Kuwabara)
Race
1/2 fire demon, 1/2 ice demon 1/2 fire demon, 1/2 ice demon
Gender
Male Male
Age
Appears about 15 years old(see below) Appears about 15 years old(see below)
Hair
Black, with some white highlights Black, with some white highlights
Eyes
Crimson Crimson
Height
4'10"(source: Episode 57, Juri says "Measuring at 4'10" without his hair, Hiei.") 147 cm(source: Episode 57, Juri says "Measuring at 147 cm without his hair, Hiei.")
Weight
   
Status
Jaganshi(those with a third eye), Yukina's brother Jaganshi(those with a third eye), Yukina's brother
Quote
"Be quiet, you fool!"  
Voice
Chuck Huber(TV) Nobuyuki Hiyama
· · ·
James Stanley(movie)  
Debut
   
Anime
Yu Yu Hakusho Yuu Yuu Hakusho
· · ·
Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report Yu Yu Hakusho: Bonds of Fire

Character Description: Hiei

Note: In Episode 26: Toguro Returns (and volume 6, page 115 of the graphic novel), Hiei states that he and Yukina have different mothers, thus indicating they are half-siblings. However, in episodes 99 and 100 Hiei discloses his past, which reveals that Hina gave birth to twins, one which was a boy. I believe the direct quote was "Did you hear, Hina gave birth to twins... and one of them's a boy." This caused the village elder and another woman to figure that Hina violated their rules of complete isolation and conceived Hiei with a man. I'm then told that in the manga, Hiei explains his reason for lying was so Yusuke wouldn't feel the need to tell anyone.


Hiei is the offspring of a mating between a Koorime (Hina) and an unknown fire demon. Hina is born a Koorime, a race of self-reproductive ice demons who are all female. She fell in love with a fire demon and bore his son. However, this kind of action is considered a crime in the Island of the Koorimes, which floats above the Makai. Thus because of this and the fact that he was a male, he was given the title, "The Forbidden Child", and as an infant was thrown overboard by Rui, Hina's best friend. Before she did, however, she told the infant that if he must, he should come back and take revenge upon the Koorimes. Hina shed two tears which turned into gems, one for Hiei and one for his sister, Yukina, who is full fledged Koorime. Then he was thrown off.

A band of thieves picked up Hiei in the forests of the Makai and took him in as one of their own. He learned survival skills, thievery and such. As he grew more and more powerful, the thieves finally left him. He carries his katana (sword) everywhere as means of weaponry. His only pursuit was strength. Hiei wanted to find his homeland and his tear gem, which he lost during a fight when the chain was broken, causing it to fall into a rushing river. Once he succeeded, though, he learned about his long lost sister, Yukina, and he began to search for her.

As Hiei is retelling the story of his past, he speaks of how he used the Tear as a lure to draw other demons to battle him so he could kill them and grow stronger. During one particular battle, the Tear was cut from his neck and lost in the valley below while he continued the duel on the cliff and killed his foe. Afterwards, he rushed to the floor and hunted for it, but it couldn't be found.

When he learned that Yukina had left the island (which was destructing) to search for him, he went to a demon named Shigure. He told Shigure his story and asked for a 'jagan,' a third eye to be implanted. Unsure that Hiei would be able to bear the pain, Shigure had Hiei stab himself to prove how painful the surgery would be, and if Hiei could bear it, he would implant the eye. Reassured by Hiei's endurance, Shigure made Hiei promise never to tell Yukina that he is her big brother, in exchange for the surgery.

So Shigure implanted the jagan eye, and Hiei's power sunk, making him no longer an A class demon. Hiei gained back his power when he learned the jagan's techniques, such as the Kokuryuha (the Black Dragon Wave) and what we call Majin Hiei, which is his transformation process where his skin turns green and numerous eyes appear all over his body. Shigure had a thing for irony, and demanded that his price would be that Hiei could never tell his sister he was her brother, because hunting for her was the purpose of the Jagan Eye. But then, Hiei may have wanted to protect her from the truth of what he really is, anyway.

Hiei returned to the Island of the Koorimes, where he found Rui by Hina's grave. She told him Yukina had left to find him. She said he could kill her because Hina had committed suicide due to the loss of her son. Hiei didn't do a thing, but disappeared.

Hiei was not able to find Yukina in the Makai, so he left for the Nigenkai (Human World). There he met a boy named Kurama. Kurama was walking with a girl named Maya, who confessed to Kurama that she loved him dearly. Hiei attacked Kurama, thinking he was a spy of a demon Hiei was hunting. Hiei was injured during the fight, and Kurama took him home and nursed him. Kurama asked for his name, and reluctantly he replied.

Hiei believed that Kurama held information about a demon known as Eight-Hands and his relation to an ice maiden. Hiei did not know for sure that Eight-Hands had Yukina. The only information he had was that Eight-hands supposedly had eaten an ice maiden and therefore Hiei went after him thinking that he would find information about Yukina. Although after battling in alliance with Kurama against Eight-Hands (Kurama thought that Eight-Hands might've gotten hold of Maya), just before killing him Eight-Hands revealed that he never consumed an ice maiden, leaving Hiei to have followed a dead end.

Hiei- Majin form A year or two later, they met again when Hiei asked Kurama to steal three Reikai artifacts with another demon named Gouki. Hiei stole the Shadow Sword, which can turn a person into a mindless demon if cut with it. Hiei tried this with Keiko, someone Yusuke cares deeply for, in an attempt to get the other two artifacts, the Orb of Baast and the Forlorn Hope. In the handle of the sword is the antidote to it's power, which cured Keiko. Gouki was killed by Yusuke, while Hiei and Kurama's punishment was to join Yusuke on his missions. Another human named Kuwabara also joined the team. Hiei had no choice, for if he kills a human, he will be severely punished or suffer death, as killing humans in forbidden by all means in the Reikai (Spirit World).

One of the biggest Yu Yu Hakusho events is the Ankoku Bujutsukai, a tournament on Hanging Neck Island in Ningenkai, where the reward is any wish granted. Hiei's team, the Urameshi team, won. Yusuke wished for Genkai to be resurrected (after Toguro Ototo killed Genkai, he told Koenma to keep her body and resurrect her if Yusuke wins). Soon after, another tournament arose. This time, it was with the three overlords of the Makai, the three most powerful demons. Their names were Yomi, Raizen, and Mukuro. It turns out Raizen was Yusuke's ancestor, and for survival he needs to feed on humans. Raizen refuses to do it, and soon after his death Yusuke took his place. Kurama joined Yomi, and Hiei became the heir of Mukuro. Before he left the Nigenkai, he was given a tear gem from Yukina. She indirectly called him "brother," and explained that it was because he would probably be what her brother would be like. He strings the gem into a pendant and left for the Makai.

There he met Shigure who challenged him to battle, pitted by Mukuro. The masked Mukuro said that he will reveal his true identity to whoever wins. Shigure said that if Hiei wins, he could tell Yukina who he is. Shigure knocked Hiei into a coma-like state of unconsciousness, but not before Hiei sliced through Shigure's forehead. Hiei had no problem with death, as he already had achieved all he wanted in life. Mukuro wanted to keep Hiei around, so she put him in a rejuvenation chamber where he slept until he regained his arm and his midriff wound was healed. She showed him her identity: a female whose body is half gone and replaced by metal and machinery. Hiei stayed around with Mukuro and whatever happened afterwards is a mystery. Hiei's story is perhaps the saddest one in Yu Yu Hakusho, where his life and soul was constantly challenged by betrayal, angst, and his disturbing past.

Hiei's Age

Someone claimed that one of the DVDs indicates that Hiei is over 500 years old. Apparently this is in the episode before Hiei's fight with Shigure, where Mukuro states "Hiei's had over 500 years of combat experience". It is my belief that Mukuro was not indicating Hiei's age, but rather indicating that after all Hiei has been through he has the equivalent of 500 years of experience.

In the episode where it recapped on Hiei's life, it mentioned that the koorimes give birth once every 100 years. I believe the direct quote was "Every one-hundred years, to each woman a girl is born." But Yukina (a koorime) is Hiei's twin sister (which was also revealed in the episode, even though this contradicts Hiei's statement in episode 26 that they have different mothers), and she has no children, thus indicating that they are both less than 100 years old... or actually, less than 98 years old, because the series takes place over two years. Someone else pointed out, however, that this may also be misleading, because Yukina could have had children and never mentioned them (which I find extremely unlikely), or their heritage from their father could have altered their reproduction. Then someone else pointed out that Yukina simply may not yet be at the age for which conception starts taking place. The quote did say "to each woman", but we don't know at what age they change from a child into a woman.

Another possible clue to age may come from Hiei's tear gem. The one who found it was Mukuro, who was a slave, and after finding Hiei's tear gem, she became one of the rulers of Makai. In one episode, one of Mukuro's subordinates had told her Hiei had killed all of the A class demons she called for. She then asked him how long he had been serving under her, and he said 250 years. Since she had ruled Makai ever since after she found Hiei's tear gem, that would indicate Hiei is least 250 years old.

I have been told by someone else that in one episode Tarukane states that after the first 2 years that he had captured Yukina, she hadn't cried from physical pain, and that it had been like that for the past 5 years. This would make her at least 7 years old. I'm told by someone who has apparently seen every episode and read every manga that their ages are never revealed, thus all we can do is go on these clues, which indicate that Hiei and Yukina could be anywhere from 7 to over 250 years old.

Character Description: Hiei

Hiei was born of the Ice Maiden, Hina [Biura], along with his sister, Yukina. Hiei, however, was born through the union of man and woman which is forbidden in Ice World. Hiei was a male, full of demon power at birth, and therefore the elder considered him a curse. He was thrown off Ice World (which is in the sky) when only a few days old. He understood everything that was said already. He was found and raised by a band of thieves. In a very short time, he was a better fighter than they were, and they feared him. He left and wandered for years, finally meeting Kurama and Yusuke.

During the Demon Tournament saga, Hiei meets Mukuro, one of the three rulers of Demon World. She is a woman who also had a rough childhood, and is as cold and hard as Hiei. Through their past, she and Hiei find a common ground. At the end of the series Hiei is in charge of the path to the human world and instead of killing the humans who come to Demon World, he rescues them, using his Jagan eye to erase their memories. He is finally at peace and seems content. He is working directly with Mukuro and may be romantically involved with her (he walks uninvited into her bedroom), but this is not clarified. At least he does have a relationship with her and both of them have healed because of their relationship.

Editor's Note:


If Yukina was conceived "through immaculate means", and Hiei was conceived through the union of a man and woman, then it seems to me like Hiei and Yukina would actually be half-sibling twins. I know that sounds just plain weird, but it is quite similar to superfecundation, a rare form of twins in which fraternal twins have different fathers.

Visitor Comments

Average Rating: Total comments: 73 (page 1 of 8)

Flag[admin]#73 - Posted by jasmine on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 8:38pm:

I love hiei and in my opinion his is the best character in the sho

Flag[admin]#72 - Posted by drm_fox on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 4:16pm:

I don't think Hiei is over 100 years old personally. The translation of the manga I read said that Mukuro got the tear gem as a tribute from some country she controls, never giving us a time frame for that. The 100 years... I don't think Yukina has had any children yet, and both her and Hiei are short compared to the other koorime we've seen. If just Hiei was short then we could say his father was also short, but Yukina should be about as tall as Hina fully matured due to a statement that the girls grow up to look exactly like their mothers. Hina did not look that much shorter than Hina's friend (Rui/Ree depending on source) yet Yukina (using Hiei's height to compare the other two) still looked child height compared to her. Thus I argue that for manga canon that Hiei, and thus Yukina, have not reached full maturity yet. I concede that it's true we don't know at what age a koorime reaches maturity though a 100+ year long wait for maturity in such a dangerous environment as the Makai does not seem very practical for youkai of their size. ... show more »

Flag[admin]#71 - Posted by Fatin on Saturday, December 31st, 2011 at 6:24pm:

I love Heie and Kurama because their both a mystery and very clever too.

Flag[admin]#70 - Posted by Maryy on Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 12:51pm:

Hiei is yummy!!

Flag[admin]#69 - Posted by Jo-jo on Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 9:46pm:

no, they are not gay at all...however; Togashi WAS in fact going to make them lovers. But decided against the idea. I am a kurama fan girl i love Kurama, but if they were lovers then i wouldnt mind it either. But you can tell that they have this special bond. They care for each other more than friends but not enough to be lovers lol but i love the fact that Hiei actually cares about someone other than Yukina and himself..he even cares about Kuwabara and Yusuke. ... show more »

Flag[admin]#68 - Posted by Bekah on Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 at 7:59pm:

Hiei (飛影?) is a male fire demon born to a race of female Ice Maidens. The Ice Maidens reproduce every 100 years asexually, always giving birth to a female. A male child is born only if the Maiden has had sex with a male, which is forbidden in their society. Hiei was born as one of the twin children of the Ice Maiden Hina. As her children were born, Hina wept two tears which crystallized and were given to the babies. Hiei was thrown from the floating Ice Domain by Hina's closest friend Rie, to his supposed doom. He managed to survive, though, and grew up in the wilderness where he developed a thirst for killing. The only times he found peace were while looking at the tear-gem from his mother. He later decided to find the ice domain in order to take revenge on the women who cast him out. He loses his tear-gem during a battle and, realizing he must now find the stone as well as the Ice Domain, went to the Osteopath Shigure and has the Evil Eye (Jagan in Japanese, referred to as the Jagan Eye in the English anime dub) implanted in his forehead which gives him many powers, including hypnosis, telepathy, and clairvoyance or remote viewing. Even with the Jagan Hiei cannot find his tear stone, though he easily finds the Ice Maidens' glacier home. When he gets there he finds his mother's grave and his lust for revenge fades. He is told his twin sister has run away and decides to search for her as well. Hiei is an expert with a Katana due to the environment in which he grew up. He also has superhuman speed and can produce and control fire. During the Dark Tournament he taps into the unruly fires of hell, known as the Dark Flame of the Overlord, or in the English dub, "Dragon of the Darkness Flame", which he eventually masters. At the end of the manga, he is assigned as one of the guardians of the portals between the human and demons realms.

In the anime television series, Hiei is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama in Japanese and Chuck Huber in English.[2] Togashi was not certain as whether or not he wanted to make Hiei a main character when beginning the manga.[3] Kitayama considers Hiei to be her favorite to design.[8] Hiei is a popular character among fans of the series. He was ranked as the first, then second, then third most popular male anime character in the Animage Anime Grand Prix for the consecutive years of 1993, 1994, and 1995.[4][5][6] The Japanese publication Newtype ranked him as the fifth best male anime character of the 1990s.[7]
... show more »

Flag[admin]#67 - Posted by Ookami on Sunday, July 17th, 2011 at 10:35am:

Hiei = Best manga/anime character ever. Love the look, love the jagan, love the dragon, love the personality, love the tragic past and hopeful future. Yoshihiro Togashi really nailed it with this guy!

Flag[admin]#66 - Posted by They r not GAY on Sunday, June 19th, 2011 at 12:30pm:

Damn those basterds that say Kurama and Hiei r Gay well They arent
there is no proof at all through out the whole show that tells us they r so stop making crapy rumers about the most beautiful guys ever.

Flag[admin]#65 - Posted by mikayla on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 3:02pm:

to be honest i like hiei. ( who wouldnt?!?!) but i dont go all crazy like this..."OMG!!! I LOVE YOU HIEI!!! IF YOU WERE REAL YOU COULDNT IMAGINE THE THINGS ID DO TO!!! YOUR SO HOT!!!" thats what creepy fan girls say! poor hiei!

Flag[admin]#64 - Posted by mikayla on Monday, May 23rd, 2011 at 8:25pm:

what are you creeps thinking?!?!?!? kurama and hiei arent gay fyi!!!!!!!! even though kurama wears pink and uses a rose whip thingy...hes not gay!!!! niether is hiei! so get it straight!!!!!

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