Kyo Sohma

Kyo is cursed by the spirit of the Cat, an animal who would have been part of the Chinese Zodiac had the Rat not tricked him into missing the ceremony. An irregular member of the Zodiac, not only is Kyo discriminated against, disrespected, and has a future of confinement, he also has a true form which is a grotesque and foul-smelling monster— which he turns into when his Juzu bead bracelet is removed. He has blamed all of his misfortunes on his greatest enemy, the Rat, Yuki Sohma, and has dedicated his life to defeat him. Charismatic and hot-blooded, if a bit socially awkward, Kyo moves into Shigure Sohma's house with Yuki and Tohru Honda at the beginning of the series. As the story progresses, Kyo falls in love with Tohru, and little by little, his heart heals by finding true love in her. In the process, he finds the courage to live on despite his guilt, misgivings, and hardships. In Fruits Basket Another, he is married to Tohru and is the father of three children, with his oldest son Hajime Sohma acting as one of the main characters.

Kyo is a very handsome teenage boy with a rather tall and muscular build. He has nape-length, bright orange hair with cowlicks sticking out of his head and soft spikes, along with long bangs that hang over his matching orange eyes. His eyes are quite sharp and will occasionally become slit-like. Kyo wears the standard Kaibara High uniform for males, which consists of a blue sweater (white during summertime) with a white color around the collar and edges, and a yellow shirt underneath (white in the anime). Unlike other students, Kyo wears his school uniform unbuttoned without a necktie, since he hates clothes that are tight around the neck. On other occasions, he mainly dresses in loose clothes and V-shirts. He also seems to like colors like red, orange, and yellow, and often wears clothes in such colors. He wears a set of Juzu beads, or Buddhist prayer beads, on his left wrist that are red and white (black and white in the 2001 anime) in color, all the way around and every other turn.

However, thanks to Tohru's influence, who reaches out to him with a patient and genuine understanding instead of force or pity, Kyo gradually grows into a calmer, gentler, and emotionally mature person. Little by little, his heart heals by finding true love in Tohru, and he can, in turn, help Tohru with her self-doubt. Underneath his tough personality, Kyo is very sensitive and vulnerable and cares a great deal about the people he loves. Evident by his interactions with Tohru, Kyo is a very empathizing, affectionate, patient, supportive, and selfless person who openly encourages her happiness, even if he isn't a part of it. He has a soft side that he doesn't like people seeing, and gets embarrassed quickly. He becomes easily flustered when people cry especially people he cares about, but will work through his discomfort to try and help them. He will prioritize their emotional well-being over his own as seen with his interactions with Kagura, Kazuma, and Tohru. He is not very good at expressing his feelings, and therefore occasionally comes off as a tsundere. Kyo is also passionate and determined if he puts his mind to something, most notably martial arts, which he eventually makes his livelihood.

Kyo harbors a strong hatred towards Yuki Sohma, the Rat, in which he is seen to be a very competitive, tough, no-manners, and always-wanting-to-fight boy. At the same time Kyo carries immense self-loathing and guilt, mostly as a result of all the scorn he has received from being exluded from the zodiac as the cat, and what he perceives is his own hand in causing his mother's suicide and the death of Kyoko Honda. As a result his deep hatred towards Yuki is not cemented on the person himself, but on making a scapegoat, a "bad guy" that could make him feel better about himself, serving as a coping mechanism to keep from mentally falling apart. His inclination to ultimately protect himself despite the consequences (i.e. not saving Kyoko Honda to avoid transforming into a cat in public, and subquently forgetting the car accident and direct the blame towards Yuki) adds to his already piled disgust towards himself, which has at times lead to suicidal thoughts.

It is for these reasons, that he feels undeserving of Tohru's love and excessively rejects her when she confesses to him. However, Kyo eventually come to realize how unfair and self-serving his way of thinking was, and properly apologizes to Tohru. He also reconciles with Yuki, even developing a budding friendship with him.[8] Kyo decides to never repeat his past mistakes again and keep living on despite his regrets and guilt. He openly anticipates a bright future and wants to live like a normal person by challenging himself and getting involved with the world around him, something he had never done or wanted before. He also becomes kinder, more sensitive, affectionate, level-headed and laidback, smiles more often, and has much less of a temper, which Tohru describes the way the original Kyo was like, untainted by hatred.