information;
Character: Suoh Tamaki
Series: Ouran High School Host Club
Version: Anime - post series [following episode 26]. Note that I will be blurring a few, and I do stress that it is few, facts from the manga into his character here. Mostly, they will facts provided by the manga to fill in gaps not covered in the anime - such as his mothers name and their relationship, an expanded idea of what his relationship with his father is like, and a bit of what happens in his childhood. The only bit of anime canon I am exchanging for manga canon is how he acquired his pet dog. It's a far cuter story.
Age: Seventeen.
Gender: Male.
Appearance:
Tamaki stands at six foot tall, with long, long legs, and though he is thin he is not unhealthily so - his physique is overall very beautiful. His eyes are a light shade of purple, hair short and blond, and teeth well and shiny. As for clothes, it's obvious that he comes from a well-to-do family, with his expensive (fitted, and tailored) uniform from a private academy that is primarily exclusive to the rich.
He is half Japanese and half French, which is said to show through his features, but the art in the series doesn't clearly show how anyone has more Japanese lineage than him. Tamaki has been noted as incredibly attractive, able to use his beauty to seduce, beguile, and enchant at his whim. He is intended to be a highly eye-pleasing character.
Personality:
To say Tamaki is full of himself wouldn't even begin to cover the extent of his narcissism. He is a person that knows how attractive, charming, wonderful, intelligent, and awesome he is, and does not fear flaunting it or bringing it up in casual conversation. Tamaki very likely stands before a mirror for hours on end, practising his puppy eyes to use on Kyouya (not that they work) and any other member of the host club, fixing his hair, or simply admiring himself as he is. He is very sure of himself and often he is overly so to the point of it being annoying.
Tamaki someone that, though full of himself, is genuine to his personality. He is full of so much optimism I often swear he believes the world is made of kittens, roses, and rainbows. He won't put on a face around others, or mask an opinion he has of someone when he is around them - nor will he speak behind someone's back, except for the occasional complaints about the twins being evil (though they very well know what Tamaki's thoughts on them are). This could lead to him letting any number of emotions show through but being that he is an overall good person who tries his hardest to bring smiles to the faces of those around him, Tamaki rarely has issues with this side of his personality.
Though he is honest to himself, Tamaki's persona as a host is a bit different. What he says when he compliments ladies as the "prince" of the club are all things he means. To him, all women are beautiful, and the prospect of seeing them happy is why he started the club. While he is not acting entirely different as a host than he usually does, his nature as a charmer shows more because of the environment, and he will sometimes get a little "in-character" if it is a day with costume. Despite being someone who can charm women, and will occasionally say things that will draw the girls into blushing and squealing, I must stress that Tamaki is not a pervert (that time he was caught blindfolding Haruhi was just a misunderstanding, really).
He likes to have fun, and can be excited by many things. He'll constantly take on challenges from the twins, or look into a new place to go see. Tamaki likes to travel, and can afford it, so often the host club will follow a theme from elsewhere in the world. Another great adventure for him is trying to dabble in the lives of the common, which he has put a great deal of research into. Rich folk live differently than "commoners", and not only is 'commoner coffee' (read: instant coffee) amazing in it's low price, simple formula, and mediocre taste, but it brings him one step closer to understanding Haruhi!
Drama is Tamaki's calling. When Renge comes in and proposes a movie in which he will be a "lonely prince", Tamaki gets very into his role and his acting is surprisingly strong. Concerning his drama outside of acting, Tamaki is a person who overreacts and will be saddened in nearly comical ways. If someone says the wrong thing to him, Tamaki may go off to sit in the corner and sulk, or will fall backwards in slow motion. Despite him being an over dramatic person, whenever he cries it is genuine; there was a point in the show in which everyone was caught with eye drops to make them seem like they were crying, but Tamaki was able to go without, and conjured up tears at will as proof.
Some might call Tamaki delirious, while others could accuse him of idiocy, and neither would be really wrong. He is, in fact, quite dim (despite being second in his class). It took him longer than it should have to realise Haruhi was a girl, and often will do or say some really stupid things; trying to dress up as Haruhi during physical inspection to cover her gender, anyone? He often gets tricked into some truly embarrassing situations. But when push comes to shove he can read people brilliantly and says things that will make people begin to question themselves. Often, he winds up being a positive influence on many people.
Family is one of the most important things to Tamaki. For that reason, he created a family within the host club, where he was the father figure that looked after all of them - Haruhi, especially. His strong love for family often shows through his obsession with kotatsu, which he believes every happy family in Japan would have. His relationship with his mother was a strong one, and even with his father's constant teasing he also loves him very much. Despite his grandmother being openly hateful to him, Tamaki also does his best to treat her well, not showing (and thus probably not feeling, due to his truthful nature) any malice where even Hunny will make it known he hates that woman. Whether it be that he was raised to be respectful or that he just happens to care for those people very much, a love for family is something that can't be bypassed when considering Tamaki's personality.
Though Tamaki may seem like he is composed of nothing but positivity, there is a violent side to him. It comes out in one of two situations: first, if he was teased beyond his normal limits (like when the twins put him up to dressing as Haruhi, and started laughing at him for having pulled through). Secondly, if he is protecting someone. He feels a strong protective urge over his friends, and in believing Haruhi has been assaulted he has gone as far enough as throwing someone of yakuza heritage against a wall. Tamaki's anger wasn't even stopped when he believed it was his best friend Kyouya that had done wrong to Haruhi, but Kyouya tossed something in his face and walked out before Tamaki could go too far in misreading the situation.
Another part of his personality I would like to point out is the guilt he feels over certain things, but to elaborate on it here will make it seem terribly repetitive. Atop of that, it is easier to understand with more background to it, so while it can be noted that he can feel guilty, the why of it is expanded on in other sections below this one.
Fears:
Loss is one of the things Tamaki fears the most. General as that term may be, it's the one that fits best. There are two main examples of loss he worries over: that of his mother, and of driving those he loves away.
Though he is the one that moved away from Anne Sophie, he fears never being able to see her again - be it from her health finally giving out (which might have happened had he not accepted to move to Japan), or by his family keeping him from her. He's always wanted to be able to look out for her, even back when he was too young to do anything helpful outside of playing the piano for her.
Another case of his fear of loss is driving out those he loves; Tamaki is a person who easily captivates the world, and becomes used to loving those around him, and having the feelings returned. When he begins to doubt that the people he cares about most enjoy him as he is due to a comment that had been made, Tamaki grows very unsure of himself and backs off in fear of making it worse (even if he's not driving his friends away to begin with and it's all in his head). The choice of action he takes is to leave them so he can't damage what they have further.
Being that he's is a person that grows so attached to people Tamaki also fears anything (be it physical, emotional, etc.) happening to someone he cares about, especially if there's something he thinks he could have done. This is something that I believe will show a lot once he slips inside the house, if anyone around him or familiar to him gets hurt.
Atop of that, I feel another way the house will effect him is by bringing out his worry over negative change; Tamaki tries to keep himself in a world where he and the people around him live happily. When this gets taken away, or he becomes afraid that it might be, he either gets upset and makes an extra effort to put things back how they were - which is what he will do nine times out of ten - or he may run away from the situation as he did when he thought he was on bad terms with his friends. The house will not be a place he recognises as a friendly environment, and once he realises he's rooted there for the stay it won't sit well to him.
On a more comical note, Tamaki is terrified by what can be called the "dark arts". The dark arts refers to the promise of being cursed, cursed dolls, spells, the black magic club in his school, Bereznoff, believing he's been cursed when he only walked into the wrong classroom, evil hand puppets, evil cackling, or any other related material. He may very well think that his appearance at the house is due to having angered Bereznoff.
Weaknesses:
Due to Tamaki's belief in most people being good, he's very easy to manipulate. Often, he won't realise it even when those around him could tell from the very beginning he was being played. It makes him good fun to pull pranks on, however, as Tamaki will buy into most gags or plots easily. He's also the type of person that will jump into things before he thinks it over - this could lead to him jumping out to save friends within the house.
With drama as his calling, Tamaki is quick to sadden or be pained. It's nothing serious - it won't lead into long lasting bouts of depression, but doing something like calling him out on not actually being a prince or pointing out that Haruhi isn't actually related to him in any way might get him sulking in the corner, or falling backwards in slow-mo. Usually he's quick to recover from this, and the only times recovery isn't immediate is when someone starts playing on his guilt.
Though it isn't something important back at home, once at the house and around characters from other series, something that may make him seem weaker in comparison is that he is nothing but human; he's without super abilities, strengths, or cool powers.
Strengths/Abilities:
Tamaki is someone who acts upon his heart, and because of that puts his everything into what he does. It makes him strong as a person and attracts people to him. He brings smiles to those around him - whether he is consciously aiming to do so or not (and often he does make an effort to bring even strangers happiness). A nature as good as his is rare and makes him a wonderful friend.
When it comes to having a wonderful intuition, Tamaki can not be topped. He will be able to guess which of the Hitachiin twins is which correctly every time. Really, he can. Or he'd like to think so anyway. It's more of a self proclaimed strength than something Tamaki's actually good at. Somehow, though, whenever the twins have managed to anger him he actually goes to take it out on Hikaru every time instead of the other twin.
Tamaki's got a very strong kick, and enough upper body strength to lift and spin people with ease. He's also very agile - once he flipped over a banister and landed a story below with grace. I would place his physical strength as good for someone lacking super abilities.
Education is important to Tamaki, because despite him often being dim he is second in his class. He knows how to play the piano, and quite beautifully might I add; he's brought other characters in the series to tears when they listened in on him playing. He also is fluent in at least two languages (French, and Japanese) and he will often break out with a few phrases of English, which has been said to be one of his favourite classes, so I would take it that he also is competent in understanding a third.
History:
Tamaki was born in France, the son of two successful people madly in love, Anne Sophie Grantaine and Suoh Yuzuru. His father wasn't allowed to marry the woman he cared for so dearly (having to live by the words of ones familial elders was a downside of being rich), and thus Tamaki stayed with his mother to be raised, because at that point his Grandmother would not acknowledge him as a part of the Suoh family. He went by a different name at this point in his life: René Tamaki Richard Grantaine.
He lived happily there, taking care of his mother best as any child could and stayed in touch with his father. The series doesn't say how, but I believe they exchanged letters, and because of these assumed letters, Tamaki was made to believe that Japan was full of ninja and sushi and that all families regularly sat around kotatsu.
Two things brought his Grandmother to finally speak to him: Anne Sophie getting even sicker, and the need for an heir to the Suoh family. Tamaki was to be exchanged for money so that his mother could be treated, though he would have to lose all contact with the woman that raised him. Despite not wanting to be distanced from his mother, he worried for her and at age fourteen he accepted to go to Japan as Suoh Tamaki, a potential heir. (Note that many written online resources will say he was fifteen when he went to Kapan, but through multiple checks of both the manga and anime series, I've confirmed that he was fourteen.)
His entrance to Japan seemed an awkward disappointment; there were no ninja or traditional Japanese dinner, and all his maids at the second Suoh mansion (as his grandmother did not see him fit to stay at the first) wouldn't speak to him. Later, a puppy approached him - his gift from his father, he was told, that had escaped and come to Tamaki on it's own accord - and the maids admitted to having been awed by his beauty to where they were too nervous to talk at first. The puppy was named Antoinette after the "an" sound she named when she barked, and Tamaki was told that another puppy from the same litter went to his mothers family, in France. From there on he was settled happily.
When he began middle school in his new home, Tamaki met Kyouya, who was supposed to get him used to being there. Immediately, he decided they were friends and proceeded to bombard him with questions about the Japanese culture which lead to them taking trips with one another. While going about the country, Tamaki was a tourist who wanted to attend festivals that didn't happen that time of year, or view monuments that were actually in another part of Japan.
He came off as an idiot and almost everything he did rubbed Kyouya the wrong way. Once Tamaki's maturity began to show through, it came as a surprise - but the timing of it even managed to anger Kyouya further. They once sat down and their conversations went in the direction of them as potential heirs. Tamaki admitted that his Grandmother hated him, and that he was on more of a trial period than actually being considered for heir - but he was okay with it. Kyouya finally snapped and knocked him to the floor, causing a table to flip in the process. Everything he said was something that completely saw through Kyouya, which drove him mad because Tamaki was an idiot.
The situation ended in Tamaki getting to see more of the 'true Kyouya' ("Oh, so that's the face of a bad guy," he said,) than he had before, and the friendship somehow finally became two sided. Months later, Tamaki suggested starting a host club with Kyouya. Due to Tamaki's father being chairman of the Ouran school, it was easy for him to establish the club where it would start on the first day they entered the high school.
Of course, only having two members to a host club wouldn't be enough. Tamaki was a good judge of character - both in choosing people of different interests, but in managing to convince some people who would have otherwise not come to him on their own time. Though some may have been sceptical of the crowd at first, they all meshed together well. Together, they filled in essential stereotypes for the host club - the prince, Tamaki; the cool type, Kyouya; the wild type, Mori; the loli-shota type, Hani; the devil types, Hikaru and Kaoru. When the club started it was a great success, Tamaki being the most popular of all with seventy percent of all the girls coming in asking to see him.
Here begins the timeline of the series, when Haruhi (a student too poor to even afford the uniform) walks through the doors of the host club on accident, breaks the vase, and eventually becomes one of them when Tamaki discovers Haruhi would make a better host than an errand boy. He grows attached to this surprisingly effeminate bo-- oh, wait, Haruhi's a girl? Tamaki knew that. He definitely knew that from the very beginning. Really.
The fight to protect the secret of Haruhi's gender starts, since the members of the club have now become attached to her, Tamaki included. He protects her throughout the length of the series, taking his protectiveness of her to a very strange level when he begins to claim that she is like a daughter to him (and meaning this with all his heart, no less). Tamaki's "father" persona is established, with Kyouya being "mother" and the rest of the club gaining their own titles in this family environment Tamaki has decided on. In the manga they constantly bring up that Tamaki has fallen in love with Haruhi and won't acknowledge it, convincing himself the feelings he has for her off are that of a fathers - because this "family" is so important to him.
Next comes Eclair, a beautiful aristocratic woman from France of whom his Grandmother told him to entertain. Tamaki does everything she asks of him, going upstairs to play the piano even when there is a full room of people below that he'd earlier been hosting. Eclair tells him that she knows the location of his mother, and that Tamaki could go to see her. The price for that was his hand in marriage, and due to a heavy heart in believing his friends weren't satisfied with life in the host club because of a comment made earlier in the day, he accepts.
The announcement is made that he is betrothed and that the host club will be terminated the next day. When he doesn't come into school that next day, the members of the club call his cell phone, which Eclair proceeds to place in a fish tank. It will make parting with them easier, she tells him, and they leave in a car for the airport. He is chased down in a touching scene with Haruhi, and convinced to come back, thanking Eclair as he leaves despite the kind of person she had been to him. Moving as the scene may be, it is further proof that Tamaki acts without thinking. Not only does he jump off a moving car, but also off a bridge - all to have a beautiful moment of rabu rabu with the heroin of the series in his arms.
Sample RP post:
The day was sunny and the wind a pleasant breeze; it really was as shame Tamaki had to be closed in a classroom for most of it. Thankfully, Kyouya had managed to quickly arrange something outside when Tamaki suggested (and it was more of an incessant nagging throughout the day, between classes and during lunch, than a simple suggestion - but Kyouya had caved, either way) that the host club move to the courtyard to better enjoy the weather.
Three days ago, the club was supposed to have been terminated. It was supposed to be a thing of the past, and he was to leave on a plane with a woman he might still technically be engaged to, though he knew Eclair was intelligent enough a lady to understand that the agreement between them had fallen apart. He wondered what the weather was like in France right then; it was early morning, wasn't it? Or maybe late at night. Instead of being with the club right then, sitting on the couch and thinking far too heavily for such a thoughtless day, as he waited for everyone to finish dressing into the days cosplay, he could -- "Tamaki. We're going to be late."
A solid, unimpressed voice cut into his thoughts, and Tamaki shook his head as if to remove the distraction. "Hm? What was that, Mother?"
"Lets go."
Tamaki found himself with his arms full of things that needed to be carried downstairs and even as he followed Kyouya out the tall doors to the third music room, he whined. There was too much in his arms and none of it was balanced (though it was his own fault for ambitiously grabbing the biggest box, which had been meant for Mori who could have handled the load). Kuma-chan was going to fall off the top of it all. He couldn't see where he was walking. "And, I really wanted to be the first to see Haruhi in today's costume! It's going to be so cute."
When two voices chimed that it was too late to be the first from behind him, Tamaki quickly spun on his heel to voice his displeasure at the twins, and found the floor beneath him disappear suddenly as he slipped.
He hit the ground hard, expensive tea cups spilling from the open box, breaking around his stuffed bear. Tamaki stayed there for a moment, eyes closed as he lay there and gained his wits about him. Slowly, he pushed himself up, looking down so he didn't accidentally cut his palm on the glass, only to notice a change in floor tile. Tamaki looked up, expecting the wide windows of the hallway, and finding those too were different.
"Oh. Oh. This... this isn't good, is it?" he asked down to the familiar plush, who just stared back.
Series: Ouran High School Host Club
Version: Anime - post series [following episode 26]. Note that I will be blurring a few, and I do stress that it is few, facts from the manga into his character here. Mostly, they will facts provided by the manga to fill in gaps not covered in the anime - such as his mothers name and their relationship, an expanded idea of what his relationship with his father is like, and a bit of what happens in his childhood. The only bit of anime canon I am exchanging for manga canon is how he acquired his pet dog. It's a far cuter story.
Age: Seventeen.
Gender: Male.
Appearance:
Tamaki stands at six foot tall, with long, long legs, and though he is thin he is not unhealthily so - his physique is overall very beautiful. His eyes are a light shade of purple, hair short and blond, and teeth well and shiny. As for clothes, it's obvious that he comes from a well-to-do family, with his expensive (fitted, and tailored) uniform from a private academy that is primarily exclusive to the rich.
He is half Japanese and half French, which is said to show through his features, but the art in the series doesn't clearly show how anyone has more Japanese lineage than him. Tamaki has been noted as incredibly attractive, able to use his beauty to seduce, beguile, and enchant at his whim. He is intended to be a highly eye-pleasing character.
Personality:
To say Tamaki is full of himself wouldn't even begin to cover the extent of his narcissism. He is a person that knows how attractive, charming, wonderful, intelligent, and awesome he is, and does not fear flaunting it or bringing it up in casual conversation. Tamaki very likely stands before a mirror for hours on end, practising his puppy eyes to use on Kyouya (not that they work) and any other member of the host club, fixing his hair, or simply admiring himself as he is. He is very sure of himself and often he is overly so to the point of it being annoying.
Tamaki someone that, though full of himself, is genuine to his personality. He is full of so much optimism I often swear he believes the world is made of kittens, roses, and rainbows. He won't put on a face around others, or mask an opinion he has of someone when he is around them - nor will he speak behind someone's back, except for the occasional complaints about the twins being evil (though they very well know what Tamaki's thoughts on them are). This could lead to him letting any number of emotions show through but being that he is an overall good person who tries his hardest to bring smiles to the faces of those around him, Tamaki rarely has issues with this side of his personality.
Though he is honest to himself, Tamaki's persona as a host is a bit different. What he says when he compliments ladies as the "prince" of the club are all things he means. To him, all women are beautiful, and the prospect of seeing them happy is why he started the club. While he is not acting entirely different as a host than he usually does, his nature as a charmer shows more because of the environment, and he will sometimes get a little "in-character" if it is a day with costume. Despite being someone who can charm women, and will occasionally say things that will draw the girls into blushing and squealing, I must stress that Tamaki is not a pervert (that time he was caught blindfolding Haruhi was just a misunderstanding, really).
He likes to have fun, and can be excited by many things. He'll constantly take on challenges from the twins, or look into a new place to go see. Tamaki likes to travel, and can afford it, so often the host club will follow a theme from elsewhere in the world. Another great adventure for him is trying to dabble in the lives of the common, which he has put a great deal of research into. Rich folk live differently than "commoners", and not only is 'commoner coffee' (read: instant coffee) amazing in it's low price, simple formula, and mediocre taste, but it brings him one step closer to understanding Haruhi!
Drama is Tamaki's calling. When Renge comes in and proposes a movie in which he will be a "lonely prince", Tamaki gets very into his role and his acting is surprisingly strong. Concerning his drama outside of acting, Tamaki is a person who overreacts and will be saddened in nearly comical ways. If someone says the wrong thing to him, Tamaki may go off to sit in the corner and sulk, or will fall backwards in slow motion. Despite him being an over dramatic person, whenever he cries it is genuine; there was a point in the show in which everyone was caught with eye drops to make them seem like they were crying, but Tamaki was able to go without, and conjured up tears at will as proof.
Some might call Tamaki delirious, while others could accuse him of idiocy, and neither would be really wrong. He is, in fact, quite dim (despite being second in his class). It took him longer than it should have to realise Haruhi was a girl, and often will do or say some really stupid things; trying to dress up as Haruhi during physical inspection to cover her gender, anyone? He often gets tricked into some truly embarrassing situations. But when push comes to shove he can read people brilliantly and says things that will make people begin to question themselves. Often, he winds up being a positive influence on many people.
Family is one of the most important things to Tamaki. For that reason, he created a family within the host club, where he was the father figure that looked after all of them - Haruhi, especially. His strong love for family often shows through his obsession with kotatsu, which he believes every happy family in Japan would have. His relationship with his mother was a strong one, and even with his father's constant teasing he also loves him very much. Despite his grandmother being openly hateful to him, Tamaki also does his best to treat her well, not showing (and thus probably not feeling, due to his truthful nature) any malice where even Hunny will make it known he hates that woman. Whether it be that he was raised to be respectful or that he just happens to care for those people very much, a love for family is something that can't be bypassed when considering Tamaki's personality.
Though Tamaki may seem like he is composed of nothing but positivity, there is a violent side to him. It comes out in one of two situations: first, if he was teased beyond his normal limits (like when the twins put him up to dressing as Haruhi, and started laughing at him for having pulled through). Secondly, if he is protecting someone. He feels a strong protective urge over his friends, and in believing Haruhi has been assaulted he has gone as far enough as throwing someone of yakuza heritage against a wall. Tamaki's anger wasn't even stopped when he believed it was his best friend Kyouya that had done wrong to Haruhi, but Kyouya tossed something in his face and walked out before Tamaki could go too far in misreading the situation.
Another part of his personality I would like to point out is the guilt he feels over certain things, but to elaborate on it here will make it seem terribly repetitive. Atop of that, it is easier to understand with more background to it, so while it can be noted that he can feel guilty, the why of it is expanded on in other sections below this one.
Fears:
Loss is one of the things Tamaki fears the most. General as that term may be, it's the one that fits best. There are two main examples of loss he worries over: that of his mother, and of driving those he loves away.
Though he is the one that moved away from Anne Sophie, he fears never being able to see her again - be it from her health finally giving out (which might have happened had he not accepted to move to Japan), or by his family keeping him from her. He's always wanted to be able to look out for her, even back when he was too young to do anything helpful outside of playing the piano for her.
Another case of his fear of loss is driving out those he loves; Tamaki is a person who easily captivates the world, and becomes used to loving those around him, and having the feelings returned. When he begins to doubt that the people he cares about most enjoy him as he is due to a comment that had been made, Tamaki grows very unsure of himself and backs off in fear of making it worse (even if he's not driving his friends away to begin with and it's all in his head). The choice of action he takes is to leave them so he can't damage what they have further.
Being that he's is a person that grows so attached to people Tamaki also fears anything (be it physical, emotional, etc.) happening to someone he cares about, especially if there's something he thinks he could have done. This is something that I believe will show a lot once he slips inside the house, if anyone around him or familiar to him gets hurt.
Atop of that, I feel another way the house will effect him is by bringing out his worry over negative change; Tamaki tries to keep himself in a world where he and the people around him live happily. When this gets taken away, or he becomes afraid that it might be, he either gets upset and makes an extra effort to put things back how they were - which is what he will do nine times out of ten - or he may run away from the situation as he did when he thought he was on bad terms with his friends. The house will not be a place he recognises as a friendly environment, and once he realises he's rooted there for the stay it won't sit well to him.
On a more comical note, Tamaki is terrified by what can be called the "dark arts". The dark arts refers to the promise of being cursed, cursed dolls, spells, the black magic club in his school, Bereznoff, believing he's been cursed when he only walked into the wrong classroom, evil hand puppets, evil cackling, or any other related material. He may very well think that his appearance at the house is due to having angered Bereznoff.
Weaknesses:
Due to Tamaki's belief in most people being good, he's very easy to manipulate. Often, he won't realise it even when those around him could tell from the very beginning he was being played. It makes him good fun to pull pranks on, however, as Tamaki will buy into most gags or plots easily. He's also the type of person that will jump into things before he thinks it over - this could lead to him jumping out to save friends within the house.
With drama as his calling, Tamaki is quick to sadden or be pained. It's nothing serious - it won't lead into long lasting bouts of depression, but doing something like calling him out on not actually being a prince or pointing out that Haruhi isn't actually related to him in any way might get him sulking in the corner, or falling backwards in slow-mo. Usually he's quick to recover from this, and the only times recovery isn't immediate is when someone starts playing on his guilt.
Though it isn't something important back at home, once at the house and around characters from other series, something that may make him seem weaker in comparison is that he is nothing but human; he's without super abilities, strengths, or cool powers.
Strengths/Abilities:
Tamaki is someone who acts upon his heart, and because of that puts his everything into what he does. It makes him strong as a person and attracts people to him. He brings smiles to those around him - whether he is consciously aiming to do so or not (and often he does make an effort to bring even strangers happiness). A nature as good as his is rare and makes him a wonderful friend.
When it comes to having a wonderful intuition, Tamaki can not be topped. He will be able to guess which of the Hitachiin twins is which correctly every time. Really, he can. Or he'd like to think so anyway. It's more of a self proclaimed strength than something Tamaki's actually good at. Somehow, though, whenever the twins have managed to anger him he actually goes to take it out on Hikaru every time instead of the other twin.
Tamaki's got a very strong kick, and enough upper body strength to lift and spin people with ease. He's also very agile - once he flipped over a banister and landed a story below with grace. I would place his physical strength as good for someone lacking super abilities.
Education is important to Tamaki, because despite him often being dim he is second in his class. He knows how to play the piano, and quite beautifully might I add; he's brought other characters in the series to tears when they listened in on him playing. He also is fluent in at least two languages (French, and Japanese) and he will often break out with a few phrases of English, which has been said to be one of his favourite classes, so I would take it that he also is competent in understanding a third.
History:
Tamaki was born in France, the son of two successful people madly in love, Anne Sophie Grantaine and Suoh Yuzuru. His father wasn't allowed to marry the woman he cared for so dearly (having to live by the words of ones familial elders was a downside of being rich), and thus Tamaki stayed with his mother to be raised, because at that point his Grandmother would not acknowledge him as a part of the Suoh family. He went by a different name at this point in his life: René Tamaki Richard Grantaine.
He lived happily there, taking care of his mother best as any child could and stayed in touch with his father. The series doesn't say how, but I believe they exchanged letters, and because of these assumed letters, Tamaki was made to believe that Japan was full of ninja and sushi and that all families regularly sat around kotatsu.
Two things brought his Grandmother to finally speak to him: Anne Sophie getting even sicker, and the need for an heir to the Suoh family. Tamaki was to be exchanged for money so that his mother could be treated, though he would have to lose all contact with the woman that raised him. Despite not wanting to be distanced from his mother, he worried for her and at age fourteen he accepted to go to Japan as Suoh Tamaki, a potential heir. (Note that many written online resources will say he was fifteen when he went to Kapan, but through multiple checks of both the manga and anime series, I've confirmed that he was fourteen.)
His entrance to Japan seemed an awkward disappointment; there were no ninja or traditional Japanese dinner, and all his maids at the second Suoh mansion (as his grandmother did not see him fit to stay at the first) wouldn't speak to him. Later, a puppy approached him - his gift from his father, he was told, that had escaped and come to Tamaki on it's own accord - and the maids admitted to having been awed by his beauty to where they were too nervous to talk at first. The puppy was named Antoinette after the "an" sound she named when she barked, and Tamaki was told that another puppy from the same litter went to his mothers family, in France. From there on he was settled happily.
When he began middle school in his new home, Tamaki met Kyouya, who was supposed to get him used to being there. Immediately, he decided they were friends and proceeded to bombard him with questions about the Japanese culture which lead to them taking trips with one another. While going about the country, Tamaki was a tourist who wanted to attend festivals that didn't happen that time of year, or view monuments that were actually in another part of Japan.
He came off as an idiot and almost everything he did rubbed Kyouya the wrong way. Once Tamaki's maturity began to show through, it came as a surprise - but the timing of it even managed to anger Kyouya further. They once sat down and their conversations went in the direction of them as potential heirs. Tamaki admitted that his Grandmother hated him, and that he was on more of a trial period than actually being considered for heir - but he was okay with it. Kyouya finally snapped and knocked him to the floor, causing a table to flip in the process. Everything he said was something that completely saw through Kyouya, which drove him mad because Tamaki was an idiot.
The situation ended in Tamaki getting to see more of the 'true Kyouya' ("Oh, so that's the face of a bad guy," he said,) than he had before, and the friendship somehow finally became two sided. Months later, Tamaki suggested starting a host club with Kyouya. Due to Tamaki's father being chairman of the Ouran school, it was easy for him to establish the club where it would start on the first day they entered the high school.
Of course, only having two members to a host club wouldn't be enough. Tamaki was a good judge of character - both in choosing people of different interests, but in managing to convince some people who would have otherwise not come to him on their own time. Though some may have been sceptical of the crowd at first, they all meshed together well. Together, they filled in essential stereotypes for the host club - the prince, Tamaki; the cool type, Kyouya; the wild type, Mori; the loli-shota type, Hani; the devil types, Hikaru and Kaoru. When the club started it was a great success, Tamaki being the most popular of all with seventy percent of all the girls coming in asking to see him.
Here begins the timeline of the series, when Haruhi (a student too poor to even afford the uniform) walks through the doors of the host club on accident, breaks the vase, and eventually becomes one of them when Tamaki discovers Haruhi would make a better host than an errand boy. He grows attached to this surprisingly effeminate bo-- oh, wait, Haruhi's a girl? Tamaki knew that. He definitely knew that from the very beginning. Really.
The fight to protect the secret of Haruhi's gender starts, since the members of the club have now become attached to her, Tamaki included. He protects her throughout the length of the series, taking his protectiveness of her to a very strange level when he begins to claim that she is like a daughter to him (and meaning this with all his heart, no less). Tamaki's "father" persona is established, with Kyouya being "mother" and the rest of the club gaining their own titles in this family environment Tamaki has decided on. In the manga they constantly bring up that Tamaki has fallen in love with Haruhi and won't acknowledge it, convincing himself the feelings he has for her off are that of a fathers - because this "family" is so important to him.
Next comes Eclair, a beautiful aristocratic woman from France of whom his Grandmother told him to entertain. Tamaki does everything she asks of him, going upstairs to play the piano even when there is a full room of people below that he'd earlier been hosting. Eclair tells him that she knows the location of his mother, and that Tamaki could go to see her. The price for that was his hand in marriage, and due to a heavy heart in believing his friends weren't satisfied with life in the host club because of a comment made earlier in the day, he accepts.
The announcement is made that he is betrothed and that the host club will be terminated the next day. When he doesn't come into school that next day, the members of the club call his cell phone, which Eclair proceeds to place in a fish tank. It will make parting with them easier, she tells him, and they leave in a car for the airport. He is chased down in a touching scene with Haruhi, and convinced to come back, thanking Eclair as he leaves despite the kind of person she had been to him. Moving as the scene may be, it is further proof that Tamaki acts without thinking. Not only does he jump off a moving car, but also off a bridge - all to have a beautiful moment of rabu rabu with the heroin of the series in his arms.
Sample RP post:
The day was sunny and the wind a pleasant breeze; it really was as shame Tamaki had to be closed in a classroom for most of it. Thankfully, Kyouya had managed to quickly arrange something outside when Tamaki suggested (and it was more of an incessant nagging throughout the day, between classes and during lunch, than a simple suggestion - but Kyouya had caved, either way) that the host club move to the courtyard to better enjoy the weather.
Three days ago, the club was supposed to have been terminated. It was supposed to be a thing of the past, and he was to leave on a plane with a woman he might still technically be engaged to, though he knew Eclair was intelligent enough a lady to understand that the agreement between them had fallen apart. He wondered what the weather was like in France right then; it was early morning, wasn't it? Or maybe late at night. Instead of being with the club right then, sitting on the couch and thinking far too heavily for such a thoughtless day, as he waited for everyone to finish dressing into the days cosplay, he could -- "Tamaki. We're going to be late."
A solid, unimpressed voice cut into his thoughts, and Tamaki shook his head as if to remove the distraction. "Hm? What was that, Mother?"
"Lets go."
Tamaki found himself with his arms full of things that needed to be carried downstairs and even as he followed Kyouya out the tall doors to the third music room, he whined. There was too much in his arms and none of it was balanced (though it was his own fault for ambitiously grabbing the biggest box, which had been meant for Mori who could have handled the load). Kuma-chan was going to fall off the top of it all. He couldn't see where he was walking. "And, I really wanted to be the first to see Haruhi in today's costume! It's going to be so cute."
When two voices chimed that it was too late to be the first from behind him, Tamaki quickly spun on his heel to voice his displeasure at the twins, and found the floor beneath him disappear suddenly as he slipped.
He hit the ground hard, expensive tea cups spilling from the open box, breaking around his stuffed bear. Tamaki stayed there for a moment, eyes closed as he lay there and gained his wits about him. Slowly, he pushed himself up, looking down so he didn't accidentally cut his palm on the glass, only to notice a change in floor tile. Tamaki looked up, expecting the wide windows of the hallway, and finding those too were different.
"Oh. Oh. This... this isn't good, is it?" he asked down to the familiar plush, who just stared back.