腹黒[haraguro]
If he is so amicable and always smiles that everybody else likes him, be careful. He must be hiding the real him under his gorgeous mask. And the real him is so mean, cruel, and clever. But if you happen to find the real him, don’t blame him. Because everybody else trusts him, they wouldn’t listen to you, and to much worse, you end up being blamed by everybody else. And he kindly tries to help you, so people get to like him more and more…Have you seen this type of guy? Yes, he is 腹黒[haraguro].
I thought the closet English was a dark horse, but I was wrong. A dark horse means someone who is not well known and who surprises everyone by winning a competition(Huh, so does Fuji-sempai in Prince of Tennis count?). At any rate, anyone(mostly men) who has such a dark thought should be labelled as a 腹黒, or simply 黒い[kuroi, “dark”]. Speaking of 腹黒 characters, I can think of Koizumi(the Melancholy of Suzumita Haruhi), Kaoru-kun(Evangelion), Azuma Yunoki(Kin-iro no Corda), Arima-kun(His and her circumstance), Yagami Light(Death Note), Lelouch(Code Geass), Shuurei’s father(Saiunkoku monogatari), Musashiboubenkei(Harukanaru toki no naka de 3) and so on. OMG, how many 腹黒 guys could exist in the anime world?
This is kind of similar to ヒール系, but I think 腹黒 is more common than ヒール系, and ヒール系 guys are merely evil such as Atobe-sama though he doesn’t have such a dark thought as far as I know. 腹黒 characters mostly use people for their own. Even if those whom he uses die, he never cares…Besides in BL circles, if this type of guy is 攻め[seme], he should be labelled as a 腹黒攻め[haraguro-seme]. I’ve got to add this on here! Well, the most popular 腹黒攻め is Koizumi when he and Kyon pair up with…
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 
bi said,
November 6, 2007 at 9:31 am
Ooh, this was very interesting!
I thought the 腹黒 characters you mention could be defined ヒール系, but now I know there is a difference!
I have to say I like kuroi characters very much! I think they give good twists to the plot and reaise the tension a lot 😀 (I would be scared at a haraguro-seme, though…. XD)
bangin said,
November 7, 2007 at 3:43 am
Yes, there is always a story behind the kuroi character. Somewhere deep inside him, he has a secret nobody knows..we always see what it is. And of course, it gives a good twist to the plot. How did Arima-kun become a haraguro? Yeah, that is a very deep secret…
Neohybrid_kai said,
November 7, 2007 at 4:09 am
Um, I still don’t get the different. Yagami and Lelouch is quite evil too.
Does this mean that every hiiru-kei is a haraguro but not every haraguro is a hiiru-kei?
Personally I love a character with a dark intention or mind behind their smiling face, lol
Arima is my most favorite male chara from shoujo manga ^_^
bangin said,
November 8, 2007 at 3:49 am
Well, basically these two are almost the same, but I daresay we could tell hiiru-kei character are evil by looking or by the way they are (i.e. Atobe-sama). But haraguro-characters usually smile so that we don’t know the real them until the right time comes.
So, I think Lelouch and Yagami Light could be both, but Koizumi and Arima-kun could be labelled as a haraguro, rather than hiiru-kei.
I like Arima, too. He has a lot of inner secrets…:)
子犬 said,
November 20, 2008 at 7:45 am
I told my mom about this, and she said: “These are the worst!” Ha ha
bangin said,
November 20, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Be aware of haraguro in the real life, there are a lot!
"Haraguro vs. Pure; Allen Debate (sort a...)" Thread - D.Gray-divinityNET said,
February 28, 2009 at 3:13 pm
[…] it looks like it’s not there in your pic? Anyway, Hoshino’s lamenting how Allen is becoming more haraguroi as the series progresses. She says she’s trying really hard to write a pure protagonist, and then […]
CatzCradle said,
June 6, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Hmmm… very interesting! But, isn’t this kinda the same as “yandere” too?
bangin said,
June 7, 2009 at 12:28 am
It’s different. Yandere is to be mental or psychopathetic for love. Haraguro means to be shrewed or calculative to cheat other people or hide the real him/her. Please read the entry yandere, you can search it from the sidebar.
Allen's changes: for good or bad? - D.Gray-divinityNET said,
March 27, 2011 at 5:25 am
[…] it looks like it's not there in your pic? Anyway, Hoshino's lamenting how Allen is becoming more haraguroi as the series progresses. She says she's trying really hard to write a pure protagonist, and then […]
FEH said,
June 7, 2012 at 9:28 pm
I think an appropriate translation would be “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, someone who appears innocent but is actually dangerous.
bangin said,
July 17, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Oh that’s well put. Thank you for your advice.^^
[Drama CD] Yuugen Romantica | Mania Japa said,
February 17, 2015 at 5:07 am
[…] ele está pensando e de onde ele veio, na verdade, apesar da aparência amigável, ele é falso (haraguro). Quando vê alguém ansioso com suas ações, ele sorri. Mas a melhor maneira de vencê-lo é […]
Kenka Banchou Otome | Otome Jikan said,
July 18, 2016 at 4:25 pm
[…] [Age] 16 yo • [Class] Second Year Sakuragumi (Cherry Blossom) • [Personality] Pompous, Haraguro • [Speciality] […]
LilacSora (@Shirubakasai) said,
February 26, 2017 at 8:09 pm
So Mukami Kou is haraguro? .o.
bangin said,
April 17, 2017 at 12:17 pm
You mean that guy from Diabolik Lovers? Yes he is. I might say he is kind of koakuma[小悪魔].
Shoujo Grand Summoning Chapter 16: Isn’t it the MC’s duty to pick up girls? | inconnuesite said,
March 26, 2017 at 8:30 am
[…] but the thing is, as anyone who have watched Hayate the combat butler knows, she’s a haraguro girl (TL: both mandarin and japanese have the same meaning, and since this is describing an anime […]
Anime x Lit Crit: Vampires & Valentines – Toradora! 05 – The Moyatorium said,
June 4, 2018 at 6:21 am
[…] H-haraguro… […]
Shoujo Grand Summon Chapter 16 - LordNovel said,
March 2, 2019 at 6:37 am
[…] siapa pun yang telah menyaksikan Hayate si kepala pelayan, dia adalah gadis haraguro (TL: mandarin dan Jepang memiliki arti yang sama, dan karena ini menggambarkan karakter anime […]