Maria Kurenai

Maria Kurenai (紅 紅 亜, Kurenai Maria) is a sickly girl who was the new Night Class student at Cross Academy. She is a very distant relative of the late Shizuka Hio.

Appearance
Maria has a petite built and, like most vampires, has a pale skin complexion. She has grayish-purple hair and eyes. Her hair is long and straight, with a full dolly fringe at eyebrow length and a small bun adorning at the side of her head. She possesses beauty, like the rest of the vampire race, and in addition, is a distant relative of the Pureblood vampire, Shizuka Hio, whom she bears a slight resemblance to. Maria dresses formally like most aristocratic vampires.

Personality
Maria is a very fragile, feminine vampire. When she was first introduced, she was possessed by the Pureblood, Shizuka and was displayed as haughty and cruel. However, her true personality is quite the opposite. She is very caring towards her friends and wishes to be seen as useful. Though she can show a competitive side when it comes to the Kiryu twins, she openly approaches Yuki about her relationship with Zero. Maria has no problems with discussing her feelings and is quite honest and straightforward.

She still harbors feelings for Ichiru and now shows interest in Zero who ate his brother to become fully powered.

History
She allowed Shizuka to possess her body in exchange to being allowed to drink her blood, which would strengthen her sickly body. Due to Shizuka's untimely death, this promise was never fulfilled. Shizuka's heart was pulled out by Kaname. Not long after that Maria finally woke and what happened after that was unknown.

Plot
Maria is first seen in 14th Night in which the Headmaster asks Yuki to show her around Cross Academy when Maria enrolls as a Night Class student. At first Maria is unsure how to act at Cross Academy, remarking that Yuki looks tasty, to which the Headmaster tells her that word is taboo at Cross Academy. Maria confesses to Yuki that she is scared the other vampires won't like her as she is a sick and frail vampire, thus making her liable to insults or taunts. Yuki comforts her and hugs her, again remarking that she is tasty. She gives off a bad first impression to the Night Class - playful and fearless. Later, she rushes out of class to tell Yuki that she thinks she messed up with making friends.

Zero seems to recognize the dangers of the new vampire and as he confronts her, it is revealed that Shizuka Hio, the Pureblood Princess, is in possession of Maria's body. When Yuki goes to Shizuka/Maria to offer herself in exchange for helping Zero, Shizuka then departs from Maria, and returns to her original body, leaving Maria unconscious.

Maria is seen again when she awakens in the infirmary. She mistakes Zero for Ichiru and embraces him, but after realizing her mistake, droops and says that if he really is Zero, then it is true that Shizuka must be dead. She reveals to Zero that an unknown individual is orchestrating these events from behind the scenes, and whoever that person is, is Zero's real enemy. She is taken home by her parents, but she hopes to remain friends with Yuki.

Maria's reappears when using a bird's eyes while attempting to find Ichiru, she witnesses Kaname murdering the vampire council and advises her father of what occurred. She again later find out about Kaname's murder of Nagamichi Aido and is in the midst of asking her parents about it when Yuki comes to recruit her to the Night Class. A little stronger than she once was, thanks to Shizuka's blood, Maria accepts Yuki's offer of joining the Night Class. While at Cross Academy, Maria becomes interested in Zero due to his resemblance to Ichiru, and even goes so far as to ask Yuki if she can take him from her.

In 69th Night, she is also seen in her home, either with her parents or carers.

She notices the changes in Zero and Yuki's relationship and tells Yuki she intends to take Zero. She becomes closer to Zero, seeking him out and finding the presence of his twin within him. She helps Yuki with retrieving Sara's blood tablets from the Night Class, and tells Yuki that she can't cure Zero's hunger. The two discover Hanadagi's servant, and Zero shows up and orders her to take her to Kaito. Maria encounters Ruka and Akatsuki and attempts to attack them, but they tell her that they are just passing through.

In a recent, online scanlation of the Vampire Knight Memories manga, it was shown a vigilante group was formed against the recent attacks by the so-called 'Vampire King'. Maria was shown to have joined, and was escorted by Zero on patrol. To deny accusations Zero had been cheating with her as they looked rather close at that moment, she admitted she joined out of the wish to become a woman Ichiru could have been proud of. Showing that her love for the younger Kiryu twin hadn't wavered as an adult. Zero told her that Ichiru would have found her admirable, but that if she died, 'the Ichiru inside of him' would be sad.

Powers & Abilities
She has accelerated healing and can erase memories like most vampires. Maria can also see through a bird's eyes and control them. In the anime, she and Shizuka Hio apparently have the ability to levitate.

In the Vampire Knight Official Fanbook, it mentions her special ability as using weapons. This is implied when Maria wields a sword in a brief meeting with Zero, although she was controlled by Shizuka at the time.

Equipment
She uses a steel sword in her combat.

Shizuka Hio
Although Shizuka and Maria are distant relatives, Shizuka chose Maria to be her vessel in order to hide her identity when she enters Cross Academy. Maria agrees to loan Shizuka her body both because she admires her, and also in exchange for some of Shizuka's blood, which helps heal Maria's sickly constitution.

Ichiru Kiryu
She loves Ichiru greatly. It is hinted that Maria may have romantic feelings for him. She appears to have spent a great deal of time with him while he was living with Shizuka and admired Ichiru's kindness towards her.

Zero Kiryu
Maria becomes attached to Zero after the death of Ichiru, claiming the two brothers are more alike than Zero realizes, and that the Ichiru she'd always been searching for resides inside of Zero.

Quotes

 * "This class looks like fun! Say, shouldn't this class have started already?" (To the Night Class)
 * "The hell? Excuse me boy, you think you can talk that way to me?" (To Hanabusa)
 * "I took my prank too far...and now everyone hates me." (To Yuki)
 * "How do you do? I'm Maria Kurenai." (To Zero)
 * "Yuki, will you believe me if I tell you I'm scared of transferring here? Everyone will probably ignore a frail vampire like me." (To Yuki)
 * "I love girls like you. Girls like you, are delicious..".(Whispering into Yuki's ear)
 * "This is so much fun!" (To herself)

Trivia

 * The meaning of her surname: Kurenai means "crimson." The kanji for the last a in Maria's given name is also in Asia.
 * The name Maria is a Japanese name for girls meaning Sea of bitterness.
 * Maria good at: Home economics (Making sweets).
 * Maria vampire abilities: Uses birds and weapons to fight.
 * Maria taste in men : "Ichiru".
 * Maria comes from a mountain villa.
 * Maria is shown to be leading a group of vigilantes 50 years later to help with either capturing the terrorists "Vampire King" or save lives. At least one of the group is the grandchild of a Day Class girl who didn't have her memory wiped.
 * In the English Dub, to show the times Shizuka isn't pretending to be Maria, her voice switches from a childish one to a mature voice.