Haruhiro

Haruhiro (ハルヒロ, Haruhiro) is the main character of Hai to Gensō no Grimgar. After the death of Manato, he becomes the leader of his group. Though many initially perceives him as nothing special, he makes fast judgment in dire situations when overseeing a battle and gives quick tactical orders. Despite his tactic mind, he carries an inferiority complex with his fighting abilities and constantly compares himself and his team to stronger parties.

Appearance


Wavy brown hair and brown eyes, he would describe himself as "average". His most distinctive feature are his eyes, which always look tired, even though he isn't actually tired (in the anime version, he doesn't look that tired). Thus, he was given the  Thief name: Old Cat.

Personality
Haruhiro is an awkward person at first, steadily becomes more reliable and outgoing as the story progress. Though he is still awkward with new people as shown with Mary after Manato died. Before Manato's death he had taken on a support role in the group where he tries his best to keep morale up despite their poor earnings.

He's a bit sarcastic and cynical at times, usually with Ranta. This is more of a defence used due to his natural shyness. He took on the role of leader after Manato died despite having no aptitude for it, only doing it in order to survive with his friends. After assuming the role of leader Renji offer's the party one gold piece, a sort of gift since Manato had died. Haru refuses, thinking they should earn the money themselves. Ranta then got more like a 'jerk' a short while after Haru assumed leadership often doing things his own way despite the risk to himself. When Haru confronts him about it Ranta says that he doesn't want to just be one of their friends. He said he does his work as a team member and to leave it at that. Later on when fighting in the mines Ranta says Haru over complicates things and tries too hard to be like Manato.

Before Grimgar
Haruhiro lived in an unnamed town with his childhood friend and neighbor Choko. Unbeknownst to Choko, Haruhiro liked her ever since preschool. Haruhiro often helped her in getting close to her own crush but never admitted his own feelings. He had an older brother he shared a room with.

Level 1
At the start of the series Haruhiro is first seen in Altana tower, along with him was twelve other people apparently having no idea where they are or who they are. Brittany, the commanding leader of Altana Reserve Force, introduced them to Grimgar and gave them an option to join the reserve force for ten silvers. Having no other options, they all accept and Haruhiro formed a party with his fellow recruits: Manato, Moguzo, Yume, Shihoru and Ranta. His teammates chose their respective guilds while he chose the Thief's guild. The group had a slow start, still adapting to their surroundings. They hunt in Damlow and kill 0 - 2 goblins everyday. Eventually they were able to get stronger enough to acquire new skills and buy new equipment. While hunting for goblins, they encounter a plate-armored goblins and a hobgoblin. Overconfident, they engage them and were quickly over-whelmed, they were late to realize this and as they retreated their leader and priest, Manato, got hit and died from blood loss.

His death has a heavy impact on Haruhiro and they spent the next few days grieving. Appointed by Manato himself before his last breath, Haruhiro becomes the new leader. Kikkawa introduces Haruhiro to Mary, a party jumper, as their new priest. Haruhiro and the others weren't used to how Mary operated in battle and this caused a conflict between everyone. The tension was ended when Hayashi told them about Mary's past and they began to accept each other. with an efficient priest on their side now, they were ready to face the plate-armor and hobgoblin. They struggled at first but with their new equipment, skills and a reformed approach in battle they were able to kill the plate-armored group and hobgoblin to avenge Manato.

Level 2
After witnessing Renji's team in action, Haruhiro convinces his team to hunt in the Siren Mines. They spent the next couple days adapting to the new environment until they decided to face Deathspot, the boss of the Siren Mines. In the boss level they unexpectedly encounter Mary's old teammates as zombies. Haruhiro was struggling with his counterpart, Ogg the thief of her old party. Mary helped them through removing the Undying king's Curse and eventually they were able to defeat them.

Haruhiro decided to retreat for now come back again but Deathspot suddenly appeared and scattered them, leaving Ranta by himself. At the upper floors they were finally able to reunite with Ranta and as they were about to rest, Deathspot came in and tried to attack them. Seeing no way out, Haruhiro decided to hold off Deathspot to let the others escape when the Gleaming Line miraculously appeared and showed Haruhiro the final blow to Deathspot. The team rejoiced after the death of Deathspot and obtained its bounty.

Level 3
After their victory over Deathspot, Haruhiro kept looking for the gleaming line only to be distracted. They were informed of a new batch of recruits and along them was Choko, someone he faintly recognizes. Choko's party slept in the same lodging as Haruhiro's. However, they do not recall their friendship, they were able to see flashes of memory of their past. The next day Ranta informed Haruhiro of a Crimson Moon Directive, a campaign invasion to Dead Head for one gold. Initially reluctant himself, Haruhiro managed to convince everyone to join the invasion. When Haruhiro was able to talk to Choko, he was surprised to hear that their party was also in the invasion.

On the day of the invasion, Brittany explained the details to all reservists and placed Choko's party and Haruhiro's in charge of the ladders, which angered Haruhiro and his teammates. With a little struggle, Haruhiro's and Choko's party were able to place the ladders unto the walls. The main force has failed to breach the front gate and this left the reservist on their own. They were able to charge inside the keep and through the watchtowers successfully and when Haruhiro and his party were on top of one of the watchtowers a massacre had taken place on the first floor.

When they arrived there several dead reservists scattered the floor and Zoran Zeshuu and his orc guard was engaging Renji. Haruhiro's party tried to help but was overwhelmed by Shamans and Zoran's honor guards.

Level 4
Waking up from a dream, Haruhiro finds Moguzo's bed empty and is gloomily reminded of his comrade's death. During the day he is instructed with proceedings of handling Moguzo's belongings and death certificate. Haruhiro takes his party to Damuro to face goblins thinking that an easy, known enemy would be good practice for fighting without a tank. The outing was less than successful as the party couldn't adapt a strategy without someone taking the role of a tank. Haruhiro and the rest of his party decided to spend ten days learning skills to increase their offensive power. During that time Kuzaku, a paladin who is the surviving member of Choko's party, asked and later joined the party to fill the role of a tank. Deciding to change it up, the party heads out to the Lonesome Field Outpost in order to gain experience at the Wonder Hole.

Level 5
Takes place four months after the events of volume 4.

Level 6
After defeating a few cult members, a giant, and a brief bout with Kuzuoka, Team Haruhiro and Tokkis finish their day's earnings and return to their camps. Haruhiro surprisingly receives an invitation from Souma on a large scale operation in Dusk Realm involving many clans. Though reluctant, he accepts the request and has the Tokkis tag along.

Level 8
Upon their return to Grimgar, Haruhiro and the rest find themselves in an unknown territory shrouded in a dense fog. As Haruhiro and Yume scout around the area while the team rest in a cave, the two are discovered by a volunteer soldier named Kurou, one of the many reservists that Souma mentioned back in Darunggar.

In order to rescue Mary and Arara, Haruhiro promises his left eye to Setora in exchange for her help.

Level 9
He finds Shihoru and Tsuga scarcely fending off against a wyvern and decides to fight it in order for them to survive. He is able to damage the wyvern's eyes and escapes with the rest.

Abilities
As a Thief, Haruhiro excels at surprise attacks and distractions. He cannot hold the attention of enemies like a Warrior, but he can play a support role for the Warrior. Taking aggro from the Tank for a long enough amount of time that he can recover. One of Haruhiro's strengths is his analysis ability. By analyzing an opponents movements and actions he can find habits or weak points and exploit them. Unfortunately, he can sometimes get distracted by this while fighting an enemy.


 * Lock-Picking (Pick): One of a Thief's first skills that is simply learning how to pick locks.
 * Hit (Slap): A basic attack that can cause someone to lose their balance or drop their weapon if aimed at their wrists. Like all Thief skills, this works best from behind or by surprise.
 * Stealth Walk (忍び歩き, Sunīkingu): A skill that allows Thieves to be undetected by moving supernaturally silent.
 * Backstab (背面打突, Bakku Sutabu; lit. Back Infliction): A signature skill of Thieves that allows them to stab the back of opponents for massive damage.
 * Swat (蠅叩, Suwatto; lit. Fly Strike): A melee skill that causes opponents to lose their balance and fall to the ground. Less likely to work on especially strong or tough enemies. Particularly effective for parrying attacks in a duel.
 * Widow Maker (蜘蛛殺し, Supaidā; lit. Spider Kill): A grappling technique of balance and agility that involves joint locks to instantly lock oneself onto a target (usually from behind) and then mortally wound them. Even without a weapon, Haruhiro can still gravely injure an enemy by breaking their arm/leg or lethally snap their neck. Haruhiro also uses Widow Maker to immobilize an opponent to have someone else deal the finishing blow.
 * Arrest: A martial art technique utilizing an arm bar with a leg sweep to immobilize an opponent.
 * Assault (強襲, Asaruto): A method that aims to kill. It is a flurry of attacks that does not allow the enemy to respond. It is best used with Dual Wield.
 * Shatter (Kneeshatter): A kicking skill that causes enemies to fall over.
 * Dual Wield (両手構え, Duaru Wīrudo; lit. Two-handed Style): A style of combat requiring ambidexterity. As Haruhiro still uses a dagger with his right (dominant) hand, he wields an iron rod with his left to beat. Haruhiro was initially not used to using his left hand, so Barbara advised him to have both his weapons with him at all times to get used to it.
 * Gleaming Line (光る線, Sen; lit. Glowing Line): A mysterious and secret Thief skill that seems to come and go to all Thieves at random. It is a line of light that reveals a path to an enemy's exposed fatal area. Following the line allows a Thief to instantly kill in one strike. For Haruhiro, it immediately disappears whenever he changes his breathing rate or doesn't catch up to it, thus he follows it with his body already moving in.

Volume 1

 * At the end of his Thief training, Haruhiro was given: an old thief cloak, a used dagger, a used set of thief tools, and a second-hand pair of thief boots.
 * Bought a used pair of cloth underwear and a used durable looking hemp bag for a total of 55 coppers.
 * He later buys a second hand leather chest protector, belly band, hand and leg armor.

Volume 4

 * He purchases a new dagger and a sap.

Mary
While at first Haruhiro is put off by Mary, he makes an effort to try to get to know her better and urges the group to befriend her and include her in the group. Since the group has bonded, Mary has always been most fond of Haruhiro. In return, Haruhiro also opened up to her. They eventually look out for each other and talk about things and problems they have never mentioned to anyone besides themselves. After Haruhiro defeated Death Spot and woke up in bed after the fight, Mary cries for him and shows more affection for him. He does harbor feelings for Mary, but believes that being just comrades would better help their relationship and the group's.

Yume
Haruhiro is on very good terms with Yume. Though he does find Yume physically attractive, he does respect her as a fellow partner. After Manato's death, they open up to each other and become close. They are also very good in battle as a pair and are usually working together. He sees Yume as the 'healer' of the team since her upbeat and social personality creates an animating atmosphere around her.

Ranta
He has a close relationship with Ranta, though they often banter with each other with Haruhiro as the tsukkomi  and Ranta as the bokkei . On multiple occasions Haruhiro tries to stop Ranta from doing things that are stupid, it shows that even though they do occasionally insult each other he really does care for Ranta. After Haru assumes leadership Ranta get's more difficult to be around driving a wedge in their relationship. Their understanding of each other strengthens during their exploration in the kobold mines when Ranta decides to stay behind to gain attention of the kobolds. Haruhiro chooses Ranta take over the party for him much like how Manato made Haruhiro take over the party when he died. Their perception of each other creates close coordination during fights.

Shihoru
Prior to Manato's death, Haruhiro hardly had any interaction with Shihoru as both were too shy to talk to each other. However, after Manato's death Haruhiro has opened up more to her and Yume in attempt to become a leader, and finally pays attention to their fighting styles and trying to learn more about them.

Manato
Haruhiro seemed to look up to Manato during their brief time together, seemingly looking upon him as an elder brother figure. On multiple occasions Haruhiro sought to broach difficult subjects with Manato only to flinch at the final moment and say something else. Haruhiro attempted to protect Manato during a scavenging mission and took an arrow from a Goblin meant for Manato. However just as they escaped the ruins an arrow took Manato in the back and he bled to death before he could be taken to the Chapel. Haruhiro feels responsible for this, as shown by his insistence at paying for the funeral costs and being the one to disperse Manato's ashes. Manato's final words to Haruhiro are 'Counting on you'.

Moguzo
Haruhiro was on good terms with Moguzo, and knows that he fulfills a key role in their group as a Warrior. He even went so far as to suggesting that everyone help buy a helmet for Moguzo when he noticed that he was very protective of his head during battle. He also enjoys Moguzo's cooking and is often seen drinking with him at the pub and shopping at the market with everyone else in his free time.

Kuzaku
A new reservist after Haruhiro's generation who was in the same party as Choko. He is the only surviving member of his party after the Twin Snake campaign. Afterwards, he joins Haruhiro's party to fill in the role of being the party's tank.

Choko
A new reservist recruit after Haruhiro's generation whom he knew from his previous life. He develops an immediate interest in her and even follows her group in joining the Twin Snake campaign. Witnessing her death at Dead Head created a brief flashback of their previous life as childhood friends.

Renji
Although Renji and Haruhiro meet each other very scarcely, Renji seems to have a respectable acknowledgement of Haruhiro. As after Manato's death, Renji appears before Haruhiro in a bar and drops him a gold coin to compensate for his party's loss. Haruhiro, unable to accept the offer, firmly returns it and the two depart after minimal talk. The next time they meet after Haruhiro slays Deathspot, Renji returns to the same bar and apologizes for what he did previously. Haruhiro says not to apologize as he admits he simply was unable to accept Manato's death and thanks Renji.

Souma
Haruhiro's clan leader.

Mimori
Mimori has feelings for Haruhiro and confesses to him after both groups return from Dusk Realm though he rejects her.

Setora
Haruhiro initially offers his left eye to her in exchange for her help in Mary's rescue. His boldness in the proposal spawns Setora's interest in him and requests Haruhiro to be her lover. Her appearance reminds him of Choko.

Gallery
See Haruhiro/Image gallery

Quotes

 * "I felt like I had a lot of things I wanted to ask Manato."
 * "We're not gonna die... Like hell any one of us will."
 * It's a battle of life or death, and I'm still alive. So I'm not going to give up, and I'll keep living. I'll keep living until I die.

Trivia
Who do you want Haruhiro to end up with? Yume Shihoru Mary Others
 * Haruhiro has shown to have conversations with Manato, his team's first Priest who had died. This shows he has mental difficulties either inherent or brought on by emotional trauma.
 * Haruhiro finally accepts his feelings for Mary but decides to be only comrades as this option is best for their future and the team's.