Kiryu Family

The Kiryu Family was a family of renowned Vampire Hunters. They are also one of the only Hunter families in history to have ever given birth to living twins, Zero Kiryu and Ichiru Kiryu. This is almost unheard of due to the "Curse of the Hunter Twins", where one twin would devour the other to gain it's strength.

The last living member of the Kiryu family is Ren Kiryu.

Overall View
The Kiryu family are well known and respected by the Hunter Society for their skills in hunting and capturing vampires. Though there is no apparent inherent hatred for vampires themselves in the family, as evident with Zero and Ichiru both having kinder opinions of vampires as young children, the Kiryu parents are hardworking, obedient and follow the rules - something that eventually leads to their demise.

Following the death of the Kiryu parents and later Ichiru, Zero is the only living Kiryu left. Much like his parents, Zero turns out to be a highly respected and skilled Hunter, and carries on their legacy even as a vampire.

Appearance
The Kiryus usually have silver-white hair, although in the anime Zero and Ichiru's mother has blonde hair. They also have lavender purple eyes and light, almost snowy skin. With the exception of Zero and Ichiru's mother, the Kiryus tend to keep their hair in a shorter cut, cropped to or just above the shoulders. Their dress sense is modern, practical and casual.

History Before the Series
The Kiryu family initially consisted of a husband and wife who were well known in the hunting community. Despite this, we never learn of their names or any information about the wife's family before marrying into the Kiryus. Mrs. Kiryu successfully carries twins to term, a rarity for a Hunter due to the "Curse of the Hunter Twins", where one twin will devour the other in order to gain its strength. However, due to the successful birth of both twins, the younger twin, Ichiru, is left sickly and without the same abilities as his brother, Zero.

Zero and Ichiru are trained alongside Kaito Takamiya by Toga Yagari. Zero learns about the true dangers of vampires when Yagari loses an eye shielding him from a Level E Vampire who was once Yagari's fiancée. Ichiru, who is very sickly and lacking Zero's abilities, harbours feelings of resentment and jealousy towards Zero and their parents, which is heightened after overhearing a conversation between their parents about Ichiru's future as a Hunter.

When Rido Kuran puts the name of Shizuka Hio's ex-human lover on the execution list, the Kiryu parents are given the task to eliminate him. Kaname Kuran aids in Shizuka's escape, allowing her in her grief to take revenge on the family, with a resentful Ichiru as her accomplice. Shizuka massacres the Kiryu family, bites Zero and leaves with Ichiru as her faithful servant. Shocked by his betrayal, Zero later declares that Ichiru was killed by Shizuka. Although he is able to suppress it for a few years, Shizuka biting him as a Pureblood vampire would later result in Zero turning into a vampire himself.

After the murder of his family, Zero is placed in the care of Kaien Cross, where Zero meets his adoptive daughter, Yuki Cross. Although now filled with a burning hatred for vampires and a hostility towards all he comes across, Zero eventually warms up to Yuki and allows her to tend to him.

Legacy Following the Series
After Ichiru dies, Zero consumes him, allowing the twins to become one and giving Zero the full powers he had lacked before. Ichiru's fragment is shown inside Zero when Yuki drinks his blood, and Zero is seen at some point visiting the Kiryu gravesite and resting on Ichiru's grave, where he hallucinates an embodiment of Ichiru.

At some point during the thousand years that Kaname is in a slumber, Yuki and Zero have a child together. This child, Ren Kiryu, is the last living Kiryu.

Name

 * Kiryu (錐生) consists of the characters for auger (錐, kiri) and life (生, nama).