Hinata Shoyo

appearance

Upon entering the first-year of high school, Hinata stood at 162.8 cm and grew to 164.2 cm halfway through the school year. He is the second shortest person on the Karasuno volleyball team, next to Nishinoya. 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 Yukigaoka Junior High. During matches, Hinata wears his volleyball uniform—a black 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 accents. Post-timeskip, Hinata was shown to have grown his hair out a bit during his third year but cut it around the time he went to Brazil. Hinata has undergone intensive training in Brazil. As a result of playing on the beach and following a strict diet and health regimen, Hinata has grown to 172 cm and developed a lean but muscular body.

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 simpleminded which sometimes causes him to make rash decisions. However, he is also shown to be quite observant. He is capable of reading social cues and can 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 such as when Nishinoya agreed to help with Hinata's receives after being flattered by the first-year. 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.[7] Hinata can also exhibit a very intimidating expression when people underestimate him or speak poorly of his team. 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 Aoba Johsai High, Hinata is so affected that he mistook Daichi.

personality

and Kiyoko's attempt to comfort him as more pressure and short-circuited.[8] 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 the pressure. Although still faint-hearted, Hinata has a considerably less severe reaction and can 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.[9] However, when given the necessary motivation and guidance, he devotes himself to his schoolwork in order to bring his grades up. Such a time this is seen is when he was at risk of not being able to attend the Tokyo training camp due to low grades and is shown to have improved his scores thanks to serious study time and help from Yachi and his team

Background

young Hinata passed by an electronics store while riding his bike. He stopped upon hearing the name "Small Giant" from the big screen TV at the storefront.[1] On display was Karasuno High's volleyball match during the Spring Tournament. Like Hinata, the Small Giant lacked height, yet he prevailed against blockers 20 cm taller than him. Hinata was mesmerized by this figure clad in Karasuno's black uniform and is inspired to do the same. He joined the volleyball club upon entering Yukigaoka Junior High but found himself to be the only member. However, Hinata refused to give up and would practice by himself at the corner of the gymnasium, off to one side of the sports ground, or in the hallways. In his third-year, three first-years joined the volleyball club. Despite having new members, Hinata still lacked enough players to form a team so he asked his friends Izumi and Kōji, who were from the basketball and soccer club respectively, to help out. They joined Hinata's team and soon attended their first volleyball tournament. It turned out that Yukigaoka's first opponent would be Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, the tournament favorite. While everyone thought that Yukigaoka would lose, Hinata remained convinced otherwise. Upon seeing their opponent, Hinata grew nervous right before the match and ran to the bathroom. Afterward, he overheard some second-years from Kitagawa Daiichi insulting his team. He defiantly talked back only to be ridiculed for his size. Just then, Tobio Kageyama, Kitagawa's "King of the Court", appeared to berate his teammates for looking down on their opponents. His tirades didn't end there as he turned to Hinata. Kageyama insulted Hinata's lack of height and his foolish determination to win despite it. In response, Hinata proclaimed he can jump and will win every match. Hinata and Kageyama's final confrontation Hinata announces that he will defeat Kageyama one day. When the match started, Hinata jumped high for a spike but found his spike easily.