Momiji Sohma

For most of the series Momiji reads as a tiny, delicate boy so cute that strangers mistake him for a grade-schooler. Wavy blond hair with unruly bangs frames his face above round, golden light-brown eyes, both traits handed down from his German mother. His early wardrobe leans deliberately girlish, full of frills, cute trims, and accessories; he even wears the girls' school uniform, swapping the skirt for shorts, and turns up with painted nails, earring studs, hats, and a signature rabbit backpack.

Everything shifts once he hits a growth spurt in his second year of high school. He shoots up into a tall, strikingly handsome young man whom classmates barely recognize, switches to the boys' uniform, and lets his hair grow a little longer and messier, though his fondness for cute things never fades.

On the surface Momiji is all sunshine, an energetic, affectionate boy who is rarely without a grin and loves hugging people with almost no regard for personal space, Tohru most of all. Growing up with little supervision beyond Hatori has left him something of a wild child, yet he is unfailingly kind and easy to get along with. Underneath the cheer sits someone surprisingly perceptive and mature, wise past his years, wearing a childlike front to mask the ache of a mother who rejected him and a father who effectively set him aside.

That buried strength shows in his courage: he is one of the few willing to stand against Akito despite fearing her, once taking a blow to the face to shield Tohru. After his growth spurt he turns more self-assured and a touch sly, openly warning Kyo to confess to Tohru before he claims her himself, and once his curse lifts he coolly refuses to let Akito rule his life any longer. Even so, he stays tender enough to forgive her and gently coax her toward visiting Tohru.

Momiji carries the spirit of the Rabbit, the fourth animal of the zodiac, which transforms him whenever a member of the opposite sex embraces him or his body endures serious strain. His birth set the course of his life. Like all cursed Sohmas he arrived two months early, and when his anxious mother first held him he changed into a rabbit in her arms. The shock shattered her; she could no longer bear the sight of him, snapping and calling him a thing rather than a son, and eventually she harmed herself. Convinced she would never heal otherwise, his father arranged for Hatori to wipe every memory of him from her mind. Momiji, who overheard her consent and believes no memory should ever be erased however painful, still agreed for her sake.

From then on he lives alone inside the Sohma estate. His parents later have a daughter, Momo, who grows up never knowing Momiji is her brother; their mother treats him as some other Sohma's child, and their father forbids him from getting close to either of them. His life brightens when he meets Tohru Honda, greeting her in German and startling her with a kiss on the cheek. He grows deeply attached to her, weathering an Akito beating to protect her during a beach trip and drawing comfort from her whenever his family situation weighs on him. When Momo begins to sense their resemblance and asks, through Tohru, for Momiji to be her big brother, he weeps with joy even as he decides he cannot risk his family's fragile peace by agreeing.

In his third year Momiji's curse breaks, the second to do so after Kureno. He finally tells Akito he will no longer live at her side and swears to build his own happiness, then gathers the courage to visit his mother, who gives him her first genuine smile as she sends him off. By the end of the story he has let go of his love for Tohru, wishing her well with Kyo and hoping one day to find a love of his own. In the sequel Fruits Basket Another he has married, fathered a daughter named Mina, and taken over his father's company as a busy traveling businessman, with Momo, now aware he is her brother, working as his assistant.