Hiei is one of the most interesting characters from Yu Yu Hakusho and in this article we will be looking at Hiei’s character in detail.
Backstory
So, Hiei is a male fire demon. He was born to a race of female ice demons and was considered to be a cursed child. His mother Hina probably made love to a fire demon because of which Hiei was produced.
Now, the female ice demons decided to do away with Hiei because they believed that Hiei would end their community. Ree, an ice demon was forced to throw Hiei off the cliff. However, Hiei survived and was picked up by a group of bandits.
Even as a small kid, Hiei was a very skilled fighter. He found pleasure in killing other demons and would roam around wearing the precious stone hoping that people would challenge him for a duel in order to gain the stone.
Hiei was later abandoned by the bandits too, since they grew weary of his murderous intent. Now, his conditions in the past played a huge role in shaping him as the individual he grew up to be.
Being alone most of the time, he probably struggled with a sense of purpose. He would gaze at his mother’s stone hoping that it would give him a desire to find his mother’s village. As he set out to find the Glacial village, he fought an opponent and during the fight, he ended up loosing the stone.
At that time, he realised the importance of the stone and probably did everything to find it. His search later caused him to approach Shigure for a Jagan implant. Now, the Jagan implant is a very painful operation and the fact that Hiei undertook it is quite commendable.
Hiei went through it probably because he had no choice. After obtaining the Jagan implant, Hiei was able to find the glacial village. After visiting the glacial village, he realized that his mother had committed suicide because her baby Hiei was killed.
Hiei learnt that he had a twin sister Yukina and later goes on to find her. However, Shigure makes him take an oath that he would never tell Yukina that Hiei is her brother. Hiei accepts saying that he never intended to. Throughout the anime, Hiei never tells Yukina that he is her brother.
Personality
Hiei comes off as an arrogant person mainly because of his prowess as a fighter. Since, he has been winning most of his fights, he has little respect for demons weaker than him. He is extremely tactical in fighting his opponents and always has several plans to follow whenever facing an opponent.
He is not really interested in being friends with other people apart from a few like Kurama mainly because he doesn’t associate much with other people. Being alone most of the time probably led to him being this way.
Life lessons from Hiei
Even though, one might think of Hiei as a ruthless assassin, there are certain things that we can learn from him.
Do whatever you can to reach your goal
Hiei goes to extreme lengths to meet his objectives. This is eminent from the fact that he undertook the Jagan operation which was extremely painful. The fact that he went through such an ordeal speaks volumes about his character. He knew getting the Jagan implant was essential for him and this shows us that he was willing to do whatever was right for him to reach his goal.
Obviously, you have to weigh the pros and cons of every decision that you take. You must know what are the things that you will be giving up to obtain your goal. If what you get in return is more than what you are willing to give up, then you should probably go for your goal, otherwise not.
Also, at times you may realise that your goal is not what you are really looking for. During those times, it is absolutely fine to change your path.
Stick to your principles
The fact that Hiei does not tell Yukina about him being her brother because of his oath to Shigure shows that he is a man of principle. He has boundaries and is not willing to cross them. In life, it is important to set limits and have principles.
