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Kiba
キバ
Profile
Japanese: キバ
Romaji: Kiba
Species: Arctic wolf
Relatives: Unknown
Affiliations: Cheza

Hige
Tsume
Toboe
Blue

Interests: Paradise

• Cheza

Powers:

• Enhanced speed and strength
• Human-guise

Anime debut: Episode 1
Manga debut: Grope 1
Human Characteristics
Gender: Male
Hair color: Dark brown
Eye color: Blue
Animal Characteristics
Fur color: White
Eye color: Yellow
Voiced by
Japanese: Mamoru Miyano
English: Johnny Yong Bosch

Kiba (キバ , Kiba lit."Fang") is the main protagonist of Wolf's Rain and the first character to be introduced. He is destined to find the Lunar Flower and open the way to Paradise. During the pack’s journey to find Paradise, he emerges as their leader, always firm in his belief that they will find a way to reach their destination. His faith in Paradise remains consistent throughout the series, and his belief in its existence is easily the strongest in the pack.

Etymology[]

In Japanese, Kiba's name is spelled with Katakana. The Kanji that would be used for the word "Kiba" would be "牙", meaning "tusk" or "fang".

This name is often given to various anime characters with animal or beast-like qualities. The name especially suits Kiba as he is a white wolf with prominent fangs of the same color.

Appearance[]

Human-guise[]

In Kiba's human form, he appears as a young man with medium-length, tousled brown hair and ice blue eyes. His clothing consists of a white shirt, a grey/black jacket with rolled sleeves, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers. He usually is seen with his hands in the pockets of his jacket and with a serious expression on his face.

True form[]

In Kiba's wolf form, he is an arctic wolf of average build with bright yellow eyes. Throughout the series, he acquires multiple scars of varying shape and size on his body.

Personality[]

At first glance, Kiba seems to be an aloof and distant individual who always keeps his cool. He takes great pride in being a wolf; initially, to an impractical extreme, and dislikes humans for their mass hunting and killing of wolves. Constantly being hunted himself, Kiba is irritated when wolves use their human disguises, feeling as if they have no pride in their species.

Despite having a calm disposition, Kiba has a temper and tends to be impulsive; acting mainly on his instincts or his "heart", instead of his head. As such, his habit of unquestioningly following his intuition puzzles and sometimes frustrates his pack-mates in the earlier stages of their journey. He is shown to say exactly what is on his mind at any given moment, should he feel it needs to be said; often offending those who he directs his comments at.

Kiba's mistrust of humanity early on in the series and natural pride as a wolf makes him reluctant to disguise himself as a human. His perspective on this matter shifts when he meets Hige, who tells him that his "pride won't count for much when he's dead" should Kiba refuse to adopt a human disguise.

Kiba is proven to be very courageous, always willing to save and protect his friends when in danger, usually without regard for his own safety. He becomes especially protective of Cheza, whom he remains utterly devoted to until the end of the series; often risking his life to rescue her from the Nobles and other abductors.

Background[]

As a pup, Kiba’s first pack burned to death in a forest fire caused by Lady Jaguara. He was then raised by a Native American shaman, who told Kiba that "the lunar flowers had sheltered him from the flames, because they knew he would find Paradise." The same man also told Kiba that he had "a great journey ahead of him."

When Kiba begins his quest to find Paradise, he does it in the hope that he will "find a future". It is revealed later in the series that he is the one destined to find and open Paradise.

Plot[]

Anime[]

Kiba first met Tsume when the latter’s gang found the former sheltering under the roots of a large tree. After Tsume warns the other gang members that Kiba is “no dog”, Kiba awakens abruptly and sinks his teeth into the neck of the gang member who had reached their hand out to drag Kiba from under the tree, killing the gang member almost instantly. Although badly injured, Kiba challenges Tsume and the two run off at a break-neck pace; having to end their short encounter a minute later when Gehl intervenes. After his confrontation with Tsume, Kiba wanders the streets of the city and is grazed by a bullet from Quent Yaiden. Now unconscious, he's taken to a government facility where he meets Hige. Kiba tells Hige about Paradise, and he agrees to follow. Having snuck out of government custody, Kiba and Hige peruse the city in human disguise, talking amongst themselves. The two later have a conversation about Paradise, in which Kiba reveals that he came to the city while following the scent of Lunar Flowers in search of Paradise. Intrigued, Hige agrees to follow Kiba on his journey.[1]

The next day, Kiba and Hige wander the city in search of food. While eating, Kiba informs Hige that he will allow himself to be recaptured in an attempt to sneak back into the research facility. When questioned about his motives by Hige, Kiba responds that he is pursuing the scent of flowers coming from within the building. Kiba is recaptured and eventually reunited with Hige, who initially refused to re-enter the facility, but allows himself to also be taken into custody. After hearing Lord Darcia III’s ship outside and becoming overcome with a bad feeling, Kiba awakens and breaks out of his cell with Hige to find the source of the flower scent. They soon encounter Darcia, who is exiting the building after having abducted Cheza. The Flower Maiden screeches helplessly, prompting Kiba to charge at the noble who suggests that he and Kiba may once again meet in Paradise and vanishes with the Flower Maiden before Kiba can make contact.[2]

Shortly after, Kiba and Hige are seen trudging through a sewer while looking for food. The pair consumes several rats while discussing the events that just took place. Kiba is concerned by Darcia's knowledge of Paradise and apparent ability to see through their human-guise, but persuaded by Hige to not concern himself with Nobles (of which Kiba seems to have little knowledge). Kiba and Hige emerge from the sewers the next day, upon which they encounter Toboe for the first time. Leara finds the trio and screams, prompting a chase from her father, Quent, and Blue. They escape to the sewers, where Toboe agrees to leave the city with them in search of Paradise. Toboe suggests that they bring Tsume along, and Kiba leads the group to Tsume's hideout after following the scent of Tsume's blood. Reluctantly, the gray wolf agrees to follow them outside of the city after briefly arguing with Kiba.[3]

Pursued by police attempting to arrest Tsume, Kiba leads the newly formed pack out of the city. Tsume later breaks away from the group, followed by an insistent Toboe. That evening, Hige asks Kiba what happened to him before they met, to which Kiba replies that nothing happened before briefly flashing back to his past with the shaman. Some time later, he appears to hear Toboe's screams as the runt and Tsume are pursued by an autonomous robot, and notices a half-buried sign indicating that they're in a dangerous area before setting off after the other two wolves. Kiba appears on the scene before Tsume is about to be killed, leading the robot away before an avalanche is caused by the machine and it is swept away.[4]

Following the scent of Lunar Flowers, Kiba and the pack traverse the coast and come upon an island town where they discover a jaded pack of wolves in human-guise. Hidden on this island lies a decrepit tunnel to which Kiba can trace the source of the scent, though he is discouraged in his quest by the resident wolves who believe Paradise to be a humorous myth. Despite what little promise the town seems to hold and the group's increasing hunger, Kiba insists still that the island holds some clue to finding Paradise, and leads his pack to the local graveyard where they meet an elderly wolf in human-guise who is digging out his own grave. Kiba inquires about the presence of Lunar Flowers in the town, to which the old man responds that a field of them on the island was destroyed and shows the pack the old tunnel in which many wolves have entered, all of them failing to find Paradise. Zali, the leader of the resident pack, calls the old wolf away to work before telling Kiba to leave the town by morning. Insistent on following his instincts to reach Paradise but frustrated by Zali (and Tsume)'s discouraging words, Kiba wanders off into the town where he picks a fight with Zali's packmates and is beaten to the point of collapse. He later appears at the train station where the other main three witness the resident pack being cruelly worked by humans to move cargo, including the old wolf who faints and perishes on the job. Despite his injuries, Kiba is enraged at his sight and attacks Zali for allowing this degrading treatment of his packmates to occur.[5]

Kiba's wounds are treated away from the station by Toboe, while Tsume stands guard and Hige searches for food. Kiba tells Tsume about his encounter with the Lunar Flowers as a pup, which were burned in a wildfire along with the rest of his family. After briefly leaving, Toboe returns to the two and informs them that Hige has been captured by humans. They find Zali in town, who is chastising his packmates for their part in Hige's capture. Appearing to have had some change of heart, Zali is then beaten by his packmates, after which he assists Kiba and the others in rescuing Hige. The older wolf leads the four back to the tunnel in the graveyard, where he sees them off and states that he believes they can reach Paradise.[6]

Kiba's pack exits this tunnel in a lush forest, where Kiba sees Cheza escaping Darcia's closely pursued ship after sensing the wolves' presence. Driven by his instinctual connection to the Flower Maiden, Kiba takes off to find where she landed on the top of a nearby mountain, followed closely by the others. He finds her resting by a pond on the summit, where he and the Flower Maiden meet each other in a warm embrace. Cheza rejoices that they have met each other at last, her reaction to the wolves prompting Darcia's pursuers (among them, Cher Degré) to chase down the pack now that they have Cheza in their company. Despite the pack and maiden being surrounded by soldiers, Cheza manages to lead Kiba and the others away by opening a tunnel in the roots of a tree through which they escape, now with a smile on her face as she runs with the pack.[7]

OVA[]

In the final episode, all except for Lord Darcia IIICheza and Kiba are left in the place where Paradise is said to open. Kiba fights Darcia, but Darcia defeats him and injures Cheza; swallowing some of her poisonous blood in the process.

Kiba and Cheza reunite, but Cheza tells Kiba that the world will freeze over and soon she'll disappear too. She tells him that she's a forged Hanabito and that she can finally become her true form. She tells Kiba that "the world will close up" and that they'll be separated for a while. Because Kiba protected her, the flowers will bloom again in the new world. When Paradise opens in the next world, she tells him they'll meet again and that he should try to find her. She then disintegrates into seeds in front of him.

Kiba lets out a cry of anguish at the loss of his last living companion and begins to walk across the cold, desolate snow-plane; holding a broken and wilted Lunar Flower in his teeth. He walks until he collapses to the ground, knowing that his quest to find Paradise failed. He asks himself why he's so desperate to find it even when he knows there's no such place, and that he can hear someone's voice calling to him, "Search for Paradise."

As he lies dying in the snow, the world freezes over and the snow falling from the sky turns into rain; causing Cheza's seeds to sprout and grow into thousands of Lunar Flowers. The snow melts and morning comes, revealing Paradise. Kiba is the only one to catch a glimpse of Paradise, before falling through the now unfrozen pool of Paradise.

It is not until the last scene of the last episode that Kiba is seen again, walking through town before sprinting off; presumably to once again begin his search for Paradise.

Relationships[]

Cheza[]

Kiba's relationship with Cheza is not a romantic one, despite how it may appear. The relationship is that of a platonic love. As the chosen wolf, Kiba is bound to Cheza by fate. He will protect her at any and all costs.

Hige[]

The relationship between Hige and Kiba is that of a fellow pack member. Hige's lax demeanour and knowledge of Freeze City won Kiba over quickly. Kiba learned how to blend into the crowd with a human-guise and looked to Hige to show him the ways of a city-dwelling wolf.

Tsume[]

Kiba and Tsume's first encounter was a violent one. Though Kiba and Tsume often clash, both with fangs and ideas, they retain a respect for one another as fellow pack members.

Toboe[]

Although Kiba and Toboe are not seen interacting as often as the other pack members, Kiba is proven to regard Toboe with the same level of respect as he does with the others, even though Toboe is the youngest.

Blue[]

Just like Toboe, Kiba holds the same amount of respect for Blue as he does for the other wolves. Even though she was trained to track his kind, he recognizes her wolf-half as another ally.

Lord Darcia III[]

Due to him having abducted Cheza a few times, Kiba views Lord Darcia III as an enemy from the beginning. Most of their encounters involve Kiba trying to reason with Darcia, telling him Paradise won't accept him as a true wolf. He has also been wounded several times by the noble, both by his weapons and his wolf-form.

Mew[]

Having met Mew in the Garden of Eternity, Kiba was at first unsure of Mew. The caracal shows no fear of the white wolf and even tries to persuade him to stay with her. Under the fake paradise' spell, Kiba is slowly lulled into a stagnant state of peace and ignorance.

Quotes[]

  • "They say there's no such place as Paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the earth, there's nothing there. No matter how far you walk, it's always the same road. It just goes on and on... But in spite of that, why am I so driven to find it? A voice calls to me. It says, 'Search for Paradise'."
  • "Why? Why do humans always look to the sky? Why do you try so hard to fly when you don't have any wings? We use what we've been given. We'll run - on our own legs for as long as it takes!"
  • "Possibly. We're all going to die, it's a natural part of life. But if life has no purpose then you're dead already."
  • "Living like a bunch of down and out strays, clinging to this disgusting place. And doing what you do?! How can you call that a life? You're pathetic."
  • "I saw them once before when I was little. I was still just a cub in the region where I was born. They had blossomed all over. White flowers that only bloomed under a full moon. They were lunar flowers. They were all burned to ashes. A fire raged across our land. It burned all the flowers in an instant and all, all of my friends whose escape route was cut off were killed. I was the only one who survived. Why me? Why just me? I don't have a pack anymore. The only place for me now is Paradise."
  • "I don't have anywhere to go back to. The only thing I can do is keep moving forward."

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • He is the first wolf to be seen in both the anime and the manga.
  • Mamoru Miyano felt that Kiba was a "wolf of few words" and that his quiet nature made it hard to know what he might be thinking.  
  • In the end of the manga, Kiba becomes blind in both eyes after a long struggle against Darcia.
  • In the anime, Kiba is captured by Lady Jaguara in order to use him to force open Paradise; however, in the manga, Blue is captured by Lord Darcia III for the same purpose.
  • Unlike the rest of the wolves in Kiba's pack, he is the only one who does not retain a feature from his true form while in his human-guise.
    • The character designer, Toshihiro Kawamoto, wasn't sure how to design Kiba's human form. He once considered making his hair white, but declined it because it would make him appear weak.[8]
  • In the anime, Kiba is the only protagonist not to die during the fight with Darcia; however, he dies of his wounds shortly after.
    • Kiba is also the last of the wolf protagonists to die.
  • Kiba is known to have made several kills during the series, his victims including:
    • Two members of Tsume's gang.
    • Lady Jaguara's guards.

References[]

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