Ren Kiryu (錐生 恋, Kiryū Ren), or Ren Kuran (玖蘭 恋, Kuran Ren), is the only daughter of Yuki Kuran and Zero Kiryu who is a Aristocrat due to her mother being a Pureblood vampire and her father being an ex-human vampire.
Ren appears at the end of Chapter 93 with her older half-sister to give Yuki's final message to Kaname Kuran when he wakes up from his 1000 year slumber.
Appearance[]
Ren appears to be physically a teenager with silver hair like her father Zero Kiryu, although her eyes retain the red hue associated with the Kuran family, unlike her mother and sister who have brown eyes at the base, Ren has lavender eyes like her father. Taking after her father Zero in looks, Ren has a rather gender -neutral appearance. Due to this and her preference in gender-neutral clothing, Ren can easily be mistaken for a male.
As a child, Ren had long hair and she was dressed in dresses by her sister, Ai Kuran. During her days in the Night Class, Ren greatly resembled their mother Yuki Kuran despite her silver hair. By this point, her clothing tastes had started to be less girly, as aside from her Night Class uniform, her pajamas were a shirt and pants.
Ren is shown to be taller than Ai as an adult.
Personality[]
Ren has a calm demeanor and will speak up whenever her sister has difficulty expressing herself. While calm in nature like her father Zero Kiryu, Ren does not appear to have Zero's stoicism as she is shown smiling and joking around with Ai Kuran. However, while she seems to have inherited her playful side from her mother Yuki Kuran, her blunt nature definitely resembles a teenage Zero as she states whatever Ai has difficulty expressing. Ren also inherited the kindness of both her parents, never wishing harm on others. Ren's kindness is best exampled by staying at the Moon Dormitory instead of her home to keep distance from Ai when she craved her sister's blood.
Unlike Ai, Ren knows what a "job" is, even explaining what one generally is; the topic came up when Kaname Kuran considered getting one, until Ren informed him that the Kuran family has wealth and resources. Ren knows about this due to attending Day Class in her childhood. Thanks to this, Ren also has experience cooking, as opposed to her sister. Even as a child, Ren showed a good deal of common sense, as she promised her mother to not reveal her true identity to her classmates or take energy from them in exchange for attending Day Class.
Thanks to Ai doting on her as a child, Ren is very close to her older sister. Even as a child, Ren showed an interest in the role of protector as she would take the role of "knight" when she played dolls with Ai; she spent more time with Zero to learn how to use a gun, because she wanted to protected others with her own. When she got her fangs, Ren stayed away from Ai because she craved her blood (ironically enough) and the very thought of draining her dry scared her; she would dream of it, only worsening her self-hatred, as she had promised to protect her sister. She hates to remember this time in her life, because it was when she felt the most helpless.
Ren was never bothered by other vampires holding a low opinion of her due to her father being both a hunter and a "common" vampire, as opposed to another Pureblood. It only affected her when a vampire would insult her in front of Ai, who would snap ferociously and enter a sort of blood rage at the vampire in question.
Story[]
Ren appears at Kaname Kuran's resting place along with Ai Kuran and their mother Yuki Kuran. She and her sister watch their mother give her life to Kaname to turn him into a human. Ren finished Ai's phrase as she passed as a message from their mother to their "other" father "I want to give to you, whom I love, the world that I saw when I was a human".
Ren was born after the events in the extra chapter Life.
In the extra I Like You, Ren and her sister Ai in the end told Kaname the story of the last thousand years, but Kaname had lost much of his memory that he wasn't responding to anything they were saying. As he laid down on the ground, Ai began saying that she did not want Kaname to live the rest of his life not remembering his past. At this point, Kaname embraces them both and asked them to tell the story of the past millennium once again.
In the fourth extra chapter, Between The End Of Life And Heaven, Ai had told Ren that they weren't supposed to tell Kaname that Yuki "exists inside of him," but Ren did not regret mentioning any of it for she wanted to see Kaname's reaction. Ren then says that even though there was no point in shaking him up, she couldn't help but bait him despite the fact that Kaname has no memories. Ai then proceeds to wrap her arms around Ren's arm and tells her that they don't know what Kaname is thinking or feeling, that Ren wants to understand that by just observing him. Ai mentions that she has heard things about Kaname from Yuki and Zero but she still cannot believe them, to which Ren responds with a "there must be things you don't want to believe." Ai takes note of Kaname listening to them closely when they speak, that once in awhile he'll ask a question and when they answer him, Kaname becomes silent and listens to them again, to which Ren agrees. Ren then says that she is glad that Ai was not disappointed when meeting her father because she was thinking that he might have a disagreeable nature. Ai tells Ren that she herself had been thinking that Ren might dislike Kaname, to which Ren replies with a serious face saying "I'm still not sure.." She states hat all she thought was that Kaname's hand was very gentle. They both then realize that they've been reflecting too much and Ren asks if they should go back and talk to Kaname again. Ai agrees and says she doesn't want to leave him alone either because from what she's heard, Kaname gets lonely very easily.
Relationships[]
Zero Kiryu[]
Zero was Ren's father. As a child, Ren is shown to idolize her father and was constantly chaperoned by Ai Kuran when she went to observe his time at the shooting range. She takes after Zero's coloring through the notable silver hair each Kiryu is known for and she is occasionally shown with lavender eyes in certain artworks. Ren had a loving childhood and was seen being doted on by her father very much making her a daddy's girl. Ren has Zero's blunt nature and has shown occasional sarcasm but it's not quite as cynical as Zero's can be when he's (frequently) annoyed. She is shown to have similar reactions to him when not amused and tired. During the turmoil of the emerging Vampire King, Ren takes it upon herself to pursue becoming a Hunter in order to protect those she loves and to protect Ai from having to intervene in saving Ren again after an accomplice of the Vampire King nearly detonated a bomb located inside a choker placed on Ren's neck.
Yuki Kuran[]
Yuki was Ren's mother. While Ren may have her father's coloring, she shares a strong resemblance to her mother during her time at Cross Academy. Ren also trims her hair in a similar bob as her mother's as an adult. Ren is shown to take after her mother when it comes to showing some cutesy moments of interacting with fellow classmates and teasing Ai. Yuki is seen cradling a baby Ren and possibly went along with Ai in dressing Ren up in girly clothing in her childhood. Ren chose to initially start school in the Day Class before her vampire traits emerged causing her to transfer to the Night Class similarly as her mother.
Ai Kuran[]
Ai is Ren's older half-sister who have been inseparable ever since the moment Ren was born. Ai had been looking forward to having a younger sibling and pestered her parents daily to have another child. Upon discovering her mother's pregnancy, Ai is thrilled and spent all her time assisting a pregnant Yuki Kuran. At times, Ai appeared to display some maternal traits and doted on her younger sibling in some instances in a motherly manner. Ai was known for dressing Ren up in girly dresses and kept a constant monitor of her younger sister whenever she left for school. Ai took it upon herself to pose as a guard and secretly hide in the shrubs to watch her sister interact with classmates (Ren always noticed her sister and did not appear perturbed by her sister's daily ritual).
As time went on, Ren's vampire traits emerged causing her thirst for blood to intensify. She was horrified at the thought of harming Ai whom she wished to devour and become "one with her lovely older sister." Ren did not realize that Ai was okay with this and had been waiting for the moment they could provide one another with blood. Ai was not bothered by Ren seeking her out for blood after an accomplice of the Vampire King almost killed Ren. Ai is fiercely protective of Ren and was easily angered whenever the Purebloods or Aristocrats sneered at Ren for what they thought was polluting the Kuran bloodline since she was considered a half-breed. Ai has occasionally lashed out at vampires who mock Ren but is easily calmed when Ren intervenes to stop her. As Ren grew older, the intimacy of the relationship between Ai and herself seems to border near romantic for some readers (the affinity between the two in chapter 32 when Ai bites Ren for the first time). It must be reminded however that biting another, especially of kin, is typically displayed in an intimate light irregardless of platonic or romantic feelings, therefore unable to indicate what relationship these two have other than that of siblings. As of recent chapters, there is no explicit indication that the two are in any romantic relationship.
Ren can be described as someone with a "sister complex" throughout the story, fiercely protective of her sister.
Ichiru Kiryu[]
Ichiru was Ren's uncle and it appears that she isn't aware of his existence. When return home from her training with her father, from she mentioned that Zero Kiryu wouldn't understand her feelings, because he doesn't have a sibling. Zero pretends to agree to her words. He said that she's right about being babysat by her sister, but it's a lot better than hating each other.
Etymology[]
- The name Ren is written with the character which is associated with "romantic love" or "passionate love" (恋, koi).
- Ren's two surname Kiryu and Kuran means:
- Her father's surname Kiryu consists of the characters that means "drill, auger" (錐) (kiri) and "life, living" (生) (yu).
- Her mother's surname Kuran is a combination of the old fashioned way of writing that means "beautiful black jewel, nine" (玖) (ku) and "orchid" (蘭) (ran).
Trivia[]
- In the English release of Memories Volume One, Ren is referred to as 'he', whereas in they are referred to as 'she' in the French release. It was not until chapter eighteen that Ren's gender was revealed to be female. When Ai Kuran introduces Ren to Kaname Kuran in the third extra chapter, she refers to Ren as her kyoudai (キョウダイ), which means "sibling" and is non-gender specific. The official English release mistakenly translated this as "little brother." They later reprinted the volume to change the translation to "sibling." [2]
- In her adult years, Ren is shown to have a gender non-conforming appearance. While her gender was clarified as female in later chapters, Ren has not stated if her gender identity has changed in the future timeline.
- Along with Senri Shiki (Yuki Kuran's cousin), Ren is one of the only known vampires from the Kuran lineage to not be a Pureblood.
- Aoi Yūki voices Ren in the Drama CD which came with volume 4 of Vampire Knight Memories.
References[]
- ↑ Vampire Knight: Memories, chapter 18, pages 23 and 24: Ai refers to Ren as "younger sister" (妹, imouto) and "my younger sister" (私の妹, watashi no imouto).
- ↑ Official Shojo Beat Tumblr: August 9th, 2017.
[]
| Characters |
|---|
| Main Characters |
| Yuki Kuran | Kaname Kuran | Zero Kiryu |
| Vampires |
| Purebloods |
| Haruka Kuran | Juri Kuran | Kaname Kuran | Yuki Kuran | Rido Kuran | The Hooded Woman | Shizuka Hio | Ori | Sara Shirabuki | Isaya Shoto | Shizuku Toma | Hanadagi |
| Aristocrats |
| Hanabusa Aido | Tsukiko Aido | Nagamichi Aido | Asato Ichijo | Takuma Ichijo | Akatsuki Kain | Maria Kurenai | Seiren | Senri Shiki | Ruka Souen | Rima Toya |
| Humans |
| Vampire Hunter's Association |
| Zero Kiryu | Ichiru Kiryu | The Kiryus | Toga Yagari | Kaien Cross | Kaito Takamiya | Jinmu | President | Councillor | Momoyama |
| Day Class |
| Yuki Cross | Nadeshiko Shindo | Sayori Wakaba | Kasumi Kageyama | Ichiru Kiryu |