Zero Kiryu

Zero Kiryu (錐生 零, Kiryū Zero) is one of the main protagonists of Vampire Knight and the only Vampire Hunter/Vampire in the entire series. Zero is Yuki's childhood friend and the only other Cross Academy Guardian. As a Vampire Hunter, Zero wields the Bloody Rose as his main weapon, an anti-vampire gun.

Appearance
Zero is a tall, lean-built young man with silver hair and lavender eyes, the latter varying in shade from the manga to anime. Zero is a casual dresser, as his clothes are picked out by Yuki, and is usually wearing his school uniform incorrectly with the vest and red tie exposed from under his black jacket. He also wears five silver earrings,three on his left ear cartilage (top) and two on his right (bottom). Zero bears a tattoo, the Hunter's Seal, on the left side of his neck originally used to suppress his vampire side, and later used to tame him. He has grown muscular and taller as the series progresses.

Zero is considered to be attractive by a few girls from the Day Class although his cold nature scares most of them away. Shizuka Hio even stated after meeting him as an adult that he had become very handsome.

He is also considered to look very similar to The Hooded Woman. But currently both her hair and eye color are unknown so it is difficult to determine whether they both have the same.

Personality
Zero is generally a composed person, though occasionally he can act with coldness and hostility, especially towards Kaname. Zero is a gentle person though appears otherwise. Due to his childhood, he builds barriers around himself rather than opening up to Yuki when they first got to know each other, a trait that is still evident even in the latest chapters of the manga. Yet despite this, he has a kind heart, who longs to protect humans, and will never betray the one he holds dear.



As a child, Zero was a quiet and gentle boy, to the point that Ichiru questioned whether or not he was even capable of being a vampire hunter. However after Shizuka's attack, Zero developed a strong distrust of vampires. Zero is a tsundere character, he sports a scary aura that makes most of the Day Class students wary of him. He can also glare in a way that even Kaname Kuran calls scary. However, his innate nature is to protect humans, and his cold attitude towards those he loves is likely to push them away and keep everyone at a distance. He also happens to be a stickler for details, as he doesn't consider himself as an adopted son of Kaien's family with Yuki, or holds all the details about how vampires and humans can be similar in their own ways. As told by Ichiru to Kaien, Zero's favorite food is vegetable soup, but also enjoys shio ramen.

Following his full awakening as a vampire, Zero harbors a great disgust towards himself because of his inability to control his hunger and reliance on Yuki. His dismal outlook on his future and fear of what he might do causes him to give up and he almost kills himself with his anti-vampire gun, the Bloody Rose, but Yuki arrives just in time to stop him. He would rather ignore his hunger to the point of starvation before going to Yuki for help. He tries to help Yuki resolve her own problems and then impresses upon her that its alright for her to burden and use him because she owns him.

Zero is hostile towards the Night Class vampires when they threaten him, however he adopts his standard tsundere attitude when engaging them one on one, retaining a level of civility. Zero expresses a great deal of anger towards Purebloods because of their mechanisms in his life in particular, and because of this, he extends this hostility toward Yuki as well after she turns into a Pureblood vampire. In spite of this, his sense of duty overrides his issues, ensuring his reliability and trustworthiness.

A gifted hunter, intelligent, athletic, and good-hearted, Zero nevertheless has a difficult time thinking of himself or any other vampire as anything but a monster. He struggles both with his desires for blood and in the latest chapters, his equally strong desire to kill vampires. Because of all this, Zero can be very closed off, as well as being difficult to understand or get close to, especially since he has a habit of not expressing his true feelings. He hides his true feelings behind a “tsundere” personality. He has a lot of attitude, is not at all impressed or easily controlled by higher class vampires, and carries a positively burning hatred of all Purebloods. He often acts as if he doesn’t care about anything in order to hide all the scars and pain inside him that have nowhere to go. When not about his duties or in class, he can frequently be found in the Cross Academy stables with the fiery horse, White Lily, with whom he seems to share a special affinity. He is also quite a good cook.

History
Zero was born to a prestigious Vampire Hunter's family. Zero, along with his identical twin brother, Ichiru, and Kaito Takamiya, was trained as a vampire hunter by Toga Yagari who frequently looked after the twins when Zero's parents were out hunting. Yagari lost an eye protecting Zero, when the still naive Zero made himself vulnerable to an ex-human vampire when his teacher turned wild and tried attacking Zero due to her Level E state. His teacher had ran away from an aristocrat. This was Zero's first lesson on the danger of seemingly innocent vampires, Zero promises Toga Yagari that he will never regret losing his eye to protect Zero.

Four years ago, Zero and Ichiru found Shizuka Hio sitting in a tree, whom Zero immediately recognized as a vampire and told Ichiru to stay away from her. A few days later Shizuka attacked his family. She bit Zero and killed his parents; Zero passed out believing she had killed his brother as well.

After that attack Zero was taken in by Kaien Cross. Yuki approached him carefully and cared for him although he was cold and hostile at times to her. Zero kept his affection for her to himself due to her loving Kaname Kuran. Zero failed to reveal that he was going to turn into a vampire after Yuki revealed she was afraid of all other vampires. Over the next four years, the two became friends and constant companions, sometimes Zero will act as Yuki's "protector".

Plot
Main article: Plot Summary for Zero Kiryu

Powers and Abilities
Zero is a highly talented vampire hunter and possesses the standard abilities to sense vampires from a great distance, accelerated healing and in spite of being a vampire, also able to wield anti-vampire weapons. Since he became a vampire, Zero is able to distinguish Purebloods from other vampires and has gained improved healing abilities. Kaname Kuran explains that after he eats Ichiru he would become the world's strongest hunter. He then explains that he has the blood of Yuki because she was a Pureblood, Kaname and Shizuka as well. After completing the fragment Zero is able to transform his gun, Bloody Rose into its evolved state, where it literally becomes a part of his body. However the cost is using a high amount of his blood. In the manga and anime, Zero had used Bloody Rose to kill Rido.

Zero's Beast Form made its first appearance in chapter 40 after he drank the blood of the dying Ichiru. It's shadow was seen on the wall. In chapter 82, the beast form is released in a new attack from Bloody Rose when Zero fights Kaname shortly after drinking Sara's blood.

Equipment

 * Bloody Rose (gun that he holds behind his school uniform blazer)

Yuki Kuran
Yuki Kuran and Zero Kiryu became childhood friends when Zero was sent to live with Kaien Cross after the murder of his parents by Shizuka. He has romantic feelings for Yuki (this is proven on the 46th night especially on page 24), and despite the fact that she was actually a Pureblood vampire, he continues to care for her. It is even said by Yuki that she must hide a part of her heart regarding him before leaving with Kaname, and that part of her heart belongs to him, implying that she may have feelings for him. Due to the circumstances, they can not be together because she is a Pureblood vampire. She continues to defend him even though their relationship is a bit strained now. However it is shown that Zero still has feelings for Yuki, even kissing her. In chapter 87 at the masquerade dance, Zero dances with Yuki and ends it with a tender kiss. But in chapter 89, Yuki erases Zero's memories for his own sake.

Ichiru Kiryu
(When they were children,when their parents were still alive, and later in the series around the 40th night) 

Ichiru was the younger twin brother of Zero. Since they were twins born to a Vampire Hunter family, Zero and Ichiru were the cursed twins. Before the war with Rido Kuran, Zero ate Ichiru (another meaning for taking in Ichiru Kiryu's blood so they would be one like how they were supposed to be born) So, now Zero has Ichiru's strength and skills inside him.



Shizuka Hio
The Pureblood Shizuka Hio became Zero's master after she bit him the night of the attack on his family. She claims she did it because Zero reminded her of her former lover, a level E that Zero's parents killed. Shizuka meets Zero again 4 years later at Cross Academy while disguised in the body of Maria Kurenai, though Zero recognizes who she really is. During a confrontation with Shizuka, she taunts him about being his master. Despite Zero's hatred of her for killing his parents, taking his brother away, and stealing his humanity, he finds himself unable to go against her commands, just as Shizuka claimed. Watching Yuki being threatened by Shizuka, Zero finally breaks free of her hold and manages to wound her. Shizuka escapes, but Zero is prevented from chasing her by a distraught Yuki, who'd previously realized that Zero had secretly intended to sacrifice his life killing Shizuka. Before allowing him to leave, Yuki makes Zero promise to return after taking care of Shizuka. However, to Zero's shock, by the time he reaches Shizuka, she has already been dealt the final blow by Kaname, who had been secretly waiting in the wings. Despite Kaname's guilt, Zero is blamed for her death by an angry vampire council.

Kaname Kuran


Zero disliked Kaname on sight recognizing him as a vampire and has been his rival ever since. They are only tolerant of each other for the sake of Yuki Kuran, and Kaname can be often seen jealous of Zero when Yuki expresses care for him.

Quotes

 * "They are beasts in human form!" (To Yuki)
 * "I feel like...I'll go mad ...if I'm not hunting vampires during the night." (To Yuki)
 * "They're beasts in human form! How can you trust them? Tell me!" (To Kaien)
 * "Are you going to let me live, Kuran?" (To Kaname)
 * "Drinking blood on school ground is prohibited. Perhaps you were drunk with the sweet smell of blood, Aido." (To Hanabusa)
 * "I am not your adopted son! You may have cared for me, but I did not allow you to ADOPT me!" (To Kaien)
 * "Don't talk about my parents like that!" (To Yagari)
 * " If you go one step ahead of me, I'll make you cry. " (To a Day Class Girl)
 * " Listen up, brats! Get the hell back to your dorms! Why do I have to deal with you running around screaming "Kyaa! Kyaa!" every damn day?! Why?! " (To the Day Class Girls)
 * "You'd probably wish to have your blood drank by Kaname-senpai, right? " ( To Yuki)
 * "You heard it too? The sound of your blood being sucked in by me. After such a hair-raising experience you can't act as if nothing has changed. So don't interfere anymore." (To Yuki) 
 * "Yuki, I...I only desired your blood, Yuki...I want it so much that it's unbearable to the point that unless I drank from you until the very limits of your life, I wouldn't be satisfied...such a disgusting, gluttonous greed...that is...the type of creature I am isn't it...?" (To Yuki)