Shōyō Hinata

Shōyō Hinata (Japanese: 日向 翔陽 Hinata Shōyō) is the main protagonist of the Haikyū!! series by Haruichi Furudate. He is a first-year student at Karasuno High and is one of the volleyball team's middle blockers. Hinata's dream is to become strong enough to spike past tall blockers, just like his idol, the Small Giant, once did. However, since he lacks height to play middle blocker effectively, he specializes in jumping to compensate.

He is voiced by Ayumu Murase in the Japanese version and by Bryson Baugus in the English version.

Appearance
Hinata is 164.2 cm, making him the second shortest person on his team, next to Nishinoya (although this height is typically average for a male Japanese High School student and is also seen in grown men). He has unruly, orange hair and brown eyes. His relatively thin build and short stature often lead him to be mistaken for a junior high (or in some cases even grade school) student. Hinata typically dresses in his Karasuno school uniform with a black jacket and black pants. Beneath his jacket is a beige or tan sweatshirt. In the first episode, he wore the green volleyball uniform from his junior high.

During matches, Hinata wears his volleyball uniform—a navy blue jersey and corresponding shorts with white and orange stripes on the sides. On the back of his jersey is his position number 10 (coincidentally, the same number that was worn by the Small Giant) and his school's name written in kanji. On the court, he wears kneepads and white volleyball shoes with red stripes.

Personality
Hinata has a cheerful and energetic personality. He is easily excited and can be quite loud, a trait second only to Nishinoya and Tanaka. For the most part, Hinata is very simple-minded which sometimes cause him to make rash decisions. However, he is also shown to be quite observant. He is capable of reading social cues and be incredibly empathetic toward others' struggles. As such, he often says just what others need to hear to push themselves in the right direction. He is also noted to be a natural schmoozer, a quality that his teammates occasionally use to win someone over (Nishinoya, for example). His friendly and straightforward personality allows him to befriend even the quietest of people effortlessly, such as Kenma from Nekoma High and Aone from Date Tech High.

However, despite his generally bubbly exterior, Hinata is also shown to have a serious attitude, particularly when it comes to volleyball. His intense love for the sport is demonstrated through his impressive display of tenacity stemming from his constant desire to improve his abilities. As stated by Sugawara, Hinata plays with great fortitude in the face of adversity and thus doesn't give up easily during a match. Hinata can also exhibit a very intimidating expression when people underestimate him. Still, Hinata gets scared easily, especially by larger and stronger opponents. This prompts him to develop the habit of hiding behind his nearest teammate. However, he recovers quickly before confidently challenging their opponents.

In the beginning, Hinata is easily agitated before a match due to his lack of experience. He becomes so nervous that he would have an upset stomach or need to go to the toilet constantly. He also becomes clumsy as he would mess up his spikes or receives. Before Karasuno's first practice match against Aobajōsai High, Hinata is so affected that he mistook Daichi and Kiyoko's attempt to comfort him as more pressure and shortcircuited. He only recovers after royally messing up and driving a serve into the back of Kageyama's head. Over time, Hinata becomes more apt at handling pressure. Although still faint-hearted, Hinata has a considerably less severe reaction and is able to perform well during matches regardless.

Hinata, like Kageyama, does poorly in school since he, too, is preoccupied with volleyball. He once told Sugawara that ever since he'd entered high school, he had never scored in the double digits on any of his tests.

Appearances in other media

 * He appears in the anime crossover fighting video game J-Stars Victory VS as a supporting character. He is also known as "The Sportiest Assist" in the game.
 * He can also be playable in the anime crossover mobile game Jumputi Heroes.