Kaname Kuran

Kaname Kuran (玖蘭 枢) is a pureblood vampire who saved Yuki Cross from an attack by a Level E when she was five years old. Prior to his re-awakening, Kaname was the first king and the founder of the Kuran family.

Personality
He is normally a stoic and authoritative individual, but is very kind, warm, and gentle to Yuki. He is very strict and often imposes discipline in a fierce way. Yet he is indulgent to Yuki, even though she tends to put herself in danger. Kaname never hides the fact that he is not interested in anything else but Yuki’s welfare. Every action he makes is towards one goal, and that is Yuki’s happiness. Kaname’s love for his sister cannot be reached beyond the depths of the abysses in the monster world they live in. The brotherly love is only a faint reflection of the intensity of feelings and bliss he feels whenever he is with her. Kaname sacrifices everything for her and this shows how deep his love for her is. He is very determined to have Yuki live for all of eternity by his side and deeply fears losing her as he did for the ten years she spent as a human. He was thirteen years old when his family was attacked and Yuki was five years old.

He seems to frequently plots things in secret making him rather secretive and mysterious.

Appearance
His height is 186 cm (6' 0.4"). He is slender and lean and has a pale complexion like the rest of his race. He has long, thin, deep red-brown hair, with long bangs and reddish brown eyes.

Background
Kaname is the class president of the Night Class, both feared and respected by the other Night Class students. While he is cold and authoritative towards his contemporaries in the Night Class, he is always kind and sweet to Yuki. Kaname has shown that he cares for Yuki in a romantic sense and that he had fallen for Yuki ever since they were children. He wants to be closer to her, but senses how shy she is about it. Since he adores her, she is reluctantly accepted by the Night Class. He has attempted countless times to expand intimacy with Yuki. He is also Yuki's fiancée and Yuuki knows him as her brother.

As a Pureblood, Kaname is capable of controlling lesser vampires, but he chooses not to exercise his powers, thus earning the respect of the Noble vampires. He shares the Chairman's hopes for peace between vampires and humans. He worked with the Chairman to create the Night Class at Cross Academy and with his presence, allows the Night Class to be kept in check. But the real reason Kaname agreed to attend the academy is so that he can be near Yuki and protect her.

Plot Summary
Kaname tells Zero that he only allows Zero's existence by Yuki's side to ensure her safety and is envious that he cannot protect her himself.

To protect Yuki, Kaname kills Shizuka Hio. He promises Shizuka that he will destroy that which ruined the destiny of the purebloods. He drinks her blood in order to gain power to protect Yuki. He asks Yuki to be a vampire and live with him for all of eternity by his side, but stops himself from biting her. Troubled by her forgotten past, Yuki attempts to ask Kaname to tell her about her past. Kaname bargains the answer in return for her becoming his lover. Yuki admits she loves him and agreed to his proposal, but when she did not get an answer, she attempts to remember on her own, causing her to receive waking nightmares. Shortly after this, Kaname finally bites Yuki in order to awaken her as a vampire and feeds her his blood in order to revive her memories as a Kuran. They are reunited as siblings and fiancés, though she still does not know the truth about who he really is. Kaname reveals to Ichijo that he is not Yuki's brother and is really the ancestor of Kuran and was resurrected by Rido Kuran to be his strongest slave, therefore making Rido his "master". Juri and Haruka Kuran raised Kaname as Yuki's brother, in place of the son that Rido took and used as a sacrifice to revive Kaname. Kaname and Yuki planned to marry as children, following the example of Juri and Haruka who were also siblings and married.

Kaname convinces Zero to drink his blood to stave off insanity, slowing Zero's decent to a Level E vampire. He reveals that he has been preparing and strengthening Zero so that he can kill Rido and free Kaname from Rido's curse.

When Rido resurfaces at Cross Academy, Kaname attempts to remove Yuki from danger. Her refusal to leave upsets Kaname, but she kisses him in order to console him and convinces Kaname to go do the things that only he can do. Kaname went to the vampire council, where he summoned the vampire council members and killed all of them except Asato Ichijo, whom he trusted Takuma to deal with.

Kaname returns to Yuki's side and attacks Zero for pointing his gun at Yuki, he reverses his decision to kill him when he realizes Yuki will not forgive him for it. After their goodbye, Yuki and Kaname return to the Kuran mansion via a hidden entrance. While Yuki does not leave for the year, Kaname frequently leaves to resolve the issues of the vampire society and working to regain his allies.

Kaname is acknowledged as the leader of the vampire society and he meets with the vampire hunter association and they agree to resume their agreement. Kaname holds a ball and finds himself confronting Sara Shirabuki there. The party is disrupted by the death of a pureblood vampire and a hunter. Kaname investigates and presents a cover story of suicide. Upon returning home, he declares that he will take over Yuki's education.

Trivia

 * Kaname means "hinge" or "door", and the kanji for his last name, Kuran, is a combination of the old fashioned way of writing "ku", meaning "nine" and "orchid".

Unanswered questions

 * Who is Kaname the ancestor?
 * How did Kaname become Yuki's brother?

Gallery
=See Also=
 * Yuki and Kaname
 * Zero and Kaname
 * Kaname and Takuma
 * Kaname, Yuki, and Zero