Kaname Kuran

Kaname Kuran (玖蘭 枢 Kuran Kaname) is one of the main male protagonists of Vampire Knight. He is a pureblood vampire, and had saved Yuki from an attacking vampire when she was five years old. He knew the truth about Yuki's missing past but withheld it from her so that she could live a normal human life. However, due to Rido's presence and the danger he imposed, Kaname unlocked Yuuki's memories of being a pureblood vampire. At that time he also admitted to Zero that he was not Yuki's real brother. Kaname finally reveals to Yuki that he is the ancestor of the Kuran family in Chapter 61, and allows her to drink his blood and revel in his memories. Rido had kidnapped Yuki's real brother, also named Kaname, in order to consume him and gain more power; however, he instead tried to revive Kaname the Ancestor and used the infant as a sacrifice. Kaname bit and drank from Rido due to the thousands of years of starvation as well as to weaken Rido's attack. Then, with the guilt that he had been the reason that Yuki's brother died,he erased his own memories and regressed into the form of an infant so that he could be a replacement child for Haruka and Juuri.

Appearance
His height is 184 cm (6'1") and shares a similar appearance with Haruka and Rido Kuran.

Personality
He is normally a stoic and authoritative individual, but is very kind, warm, and gentle to Yuki. This disposition bothers both Yuki and the Night Class vampires, who do not understand his favouritism towards her. He is very strict and often imposes discipline in a fierce way, yet he is indulgent to Yuki. Kaname has acknowledged to Rido that he has a contrary nature, which leads him to both desiring to lock Yuki up and keep her to himself and alternatively, to watch her protectively while encouraging her to be herself. 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 safety, his greatest fear is losing her. He is very determined to have Yuki live for all of eternity by his side and not only deeply fears losing her because of the ten years she spent as a human, but because of the mysterious loss in his past. He seems to frequently plots things in secret making him rather secretive and mysterious. Kaname sacrifices everything for her, he wanted her to at least stay by his side even if she rejected his sins and later refuses to reject her and declared he would rather die than lose her, to show how deep his love for her is.

Background
Kaname Kuran is the Night Class president, 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 Yuki knows him as her brother. He shares the Chairman's goal of 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.

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. In the fanbook it is stated that he is all powerful. Even his shadow mirror is capable of beating up another pureblood, he can create different shapes that monitor Yuki, such as a wolf or bats.

Plot Summary

 * Main Article: Plot Summary for Kaname Kuran

Kaname informs Zero that he only allows Zero to exist by Yuki's side in order to ensure her safety. He eventually reveals to Yuki that he loves her.

He kills Shizuka Hio, so he could become more powerful to protect Yuki. Kaname offers Yuki the chance to remain by his side, to become his lover and a vampire. He also convinces Zero to drink his blood to stave off insanity, slowing Zero's descent to Level E.

As Rido's presence becomes threatening, Kaname bites Yuki in order to awaken her vampire nature and feeds her his blood to restore her memories as a Kuran and as his 'sister'. He reveals that he is not Yuki's true brother, but the first king and founder of the Kuran family who had been revived by Rido Kuran. As such, Kaname is unable to kill Rido, his "master", he can only injure him. As a child, Juri and Haruka Kuran raised Kaname as Yuki's brother in place of the son that Rido took, and Yuki and Kaname planned to marry when they were children, following the example of Juri and Haruka who were also brother and sister, but still married.

When Rido is revived, Kaname tries to take Yuki to safety, but she refuses. He goes to the Vampire Council and kills all the summoned members, except Asato Ichijo. Following Zero's threat, Kaname keeps from killing Zero to prevent Yuki from hating him. Kaname takes Yuki to their childhood home and vows to take responsibility for. A year later, Kaname has solidified his leadership of Vampire Society. Kaname accepted Yuki's request to stay by his side in spite of her attachment to Zero, he impressed upon her his attachment to her preferring to be killed than losing her. Rido's remnants now haunt Kaname and he admits to facing an internal conflict of his existence.

Kaname the Ancestor

 * Main Article: Kaname the Ancestor

Kaname is the ancestor of the Kurans, one of the founders of the vampire race.

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".
 * The Kuran Ancestor was named "Kaname" and Juri and Haruka named their son "Kaname" too.
 * Kaname is pronounced: Ka-na-mea.

Unanswered questions

 * How did Kaname become Yuki's brother?
 * How did the 'old' Kaname become 'young' Kaname?

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