Sohma Family

Numbering well past a hundred and fifty living relatives, the Sohma line resembles an old Japanese clan more than a modern family. Roughly fifty members reside inside the walled main estate, while about a hundred more occupy scattered branch homes beyond it. The bloodline stretches back over a millennium and commands considerable wealth, influence, and business holdings, so much so that Momiji and Hatori note it does not fit today's customs.

Authority rests with a single head who oversees the clan's money, disputes, and affairs. Akira once held that seat, Akito rules in the present, and young Shiki is marked as the eventual successor. Kureno, and later Shigure, serve the head closely as right-hand aides who handle much of the paperwork.

Prestige and custom outrank conscience here. The clan values tradition, money, and standing above right and wrong, which is why the Cat's confinement and the dehumanizing treatment tied to it have gone unchallenged for generations. When Yuki was mistreated by Akito, when Hatsuharu was mocked over the Ox, and when Kyo was frozen out entirely, the family simply looked away, since silence was what every god had wanted.

Secrecy defines them. The maids obey Akito without weighing the morality of her orders, and outsiders or inner members who learn too much have their memories wiped through a technique carried down Hatori's bloodline. The household also splits into two hostile camps around Akito and her mother Ren, who each scheme to force the other out, and the family flatly refuses to bring the police into any of it.

The clan's story begins with the same promise that created the curse. Wanting his happy gatherings to last forever, God bound twelve animals to himself through a spell, and the Cat was left out and branded a traitor. Ever since, each generation has seen twelve Sohmas possessed by those zodiac spirits, alongside one who carries God and one who carries the Cat.

The curse shapes family life at every turn. Relatives who raise a possessed child receive generous stipends and the top posts in Sohma-owned firms, since parents sometimes reject or abandon their cursed offspring. Zodiac children are enrolled in elite schools and steered toward prestigious universities chosen by their elders. Each turn of the year, from New Year's Eve into the following day, the zodiac members gather for a private banquet where the animals of the outgoing and incoming years perform a ceremonial dance together.