Kyon and the Self
As with any person, Kyon's self-image is exceedingly important to what he is. A lot of his actions in canon, and how I portray him in camp, can actually be explained through his self-image. As we've already discussed his tics, I figured this is the next place to go.
It's interesting to note that Kyon actually had a better self-image as a child than he did as he was getting older. He was always obsessed with the supernatural, a lot like Haruhi is now, when he was younger. A lot of his self-image about the time before he met Haruhi can be found in his fantasies. At first, his fantasies consisted of him suddenly gaining supernatural powers and fighting whatever shows up - at this point, he was the main character. However, as time passed, the fantasies degraded more and more -- before long, he was simply the side-kick around for comedy relief, and then, eventually, it came down to one simple fact - there's no room for such fantasies in the real world in the first place.
Essentially Kyon had not only abandoned the belief in the supernatural, but also the belief that he himself is, was, or could ever be anything special. This is perhaps central to Kyon's psyche: He acknowledges that he is, was not, and will never be the main character of anything, nor have any special powers that protect him. In essence, he concluded that he was little more than an extra.
Of course, Haruhi ultimately changed all that -- no longer was Kyon simply an extra, but someone who was being thrown into a huge amount of chaos over someone he barely knew. Extras don't have to deal with that sort of thing. Thus, the first time he got into trouble, with Asakura trying to kill him, was a lot more traumatic for him, as it essentially voided one of the key components of his psyche, one which had become a staple point for him -- he knew he was going to have a perfectly ordinary life, and that was in its own way ok. He had a vague idea of his future, and knew exactly what to do. All that changed of course, after he was almost killed.
Forced to contend with the fact that there were very real dangers to him due to what he knew, he was forced to change his self-image once more, quite quickly. On one hand, he knew that he would never get any sort of special powers or ways to protect himself -- that was the sort of thing protaganists would get, and as already discussed, he wasn't a protagonist. On the other hand, he knew he wasn't sidekick material either, as he had already abandoned that precept as well. Ultimately, the self-image he projected to himself was that of the "informant". It was his job to soak up the information, put the pieces together, and at the key moment, give the advice that saves the day. That job, he found, suited him perfectly. This essentially was the true beginning of his persona of the "voice of reason". While it's true that he displayed some aspects of being a 'voice of reason' before, it was more or less things he assumed was obvious, that any sane person would point out. It wasn't until afterwards that he fully embraced his existance as the sane one amongst the superhuman.
It's interesting to note though, that his not being the main character has in many ways made him a little selfless when it comes to giving out the information. A notable example in canon is Lost Island Syndrome, wherein while it was technically him that got all the pieces and put them together to find the truth, he intentionally gave them to Haruhi, knowing full well she would take all the credit for it. Sure, he was annoyed that she took all the credit for herself, but he knew that it was going to happen, and did so anyways. Why would he do that, you ask? Because it's not his "place" to solve the big mystery, it's his job to give the advice that lets the main character solve the problem. Kyon isn't the main character, Haruhi is. That simple fact causes a lot of bitterness in him, but it's something he acknowledges as fact.
In camp, he's surrounded by powerful people, and as he's found, being the voice of reason is more liable to get a person killed than anything else. What is an ordinary person with no way to protect himself supposed to do to make themselves useful and thereby relatively safe from the psychopaths in camp? The solution is obvious: By being an undeniable source of information that, unlike others, doesn't seem to try to use it to their own advantage; he just gathers the pieces together and points out the flaws in people's actions and the events. Essentially, he's an informant without excessively demanding, only snarky. This hasn't shown itself to be too useful yet, but he's just started working on it recently.
It's interesting to note that Kyon actually had a better self-image as a child than he did as he was getting older. He was always obsessed with the supernatural, a lot like Haruhi is now, when he was younger. A lot of his self-image about the time before he met Haruhi can be found in his fantasies. At first, his fantasies consisted of him suddenly gaining supernatural powers and fighting whatever shows up - at this point, he was the main character. However, as time passed, the fantasies degraded more and more -- before long, he was simply the side-kick around for comedy relief, and then, eventually, it came down to one simple fact - there's no room for such fantasies in the real world in the first place.
Essentially Kyon had not only abandoned the belief in the supernatural, but also the belief that he himself is, was, or could ever be anything special. This is perhaps central to Kyon's psyche: He acknowledges that he is, was not, and will never be the main character of anything, nor have any special powers that protect him. In essence, he concluded that he was little more than an extra.
Of course, Haruhi ultimately changed all that -- no longer was Kyon simply an extra, but someone who was being thrown into a huge amount of chaos over someone he barely knew. Extras don't have to deal with that sort of thing. Thus, the first time he got into trouble, with Asakura trying to kill him, was a lot more traumatic for him, as it essentially voided one of the key components of his psyche, one which had become a staple point for him -- he knew he was going to have a perfectly ordinary life, and that was in its own way ok. He had a vague idea of his future, and knew exactly what to do. All that changed of course, after he was almost killed.
Forced to contend with the fact that there were very real dangers to him due to what he knew, he was forced to change his self-image once more, quite quickly. On one hand, he knew that he would never get any sort of special powers or ways to protect himself -- that was the sort of thing protaganists would get, and as already discussed, he wasn't a protagonist. On the other hand, he knew he wasn't sidekick material either, as he had already abandoned that precept as well. Ultimately, the self-image he projected to himself was that of the "informant". It was his job to soak up the information, put the pieces together, and at the key moment, give the advice that saves the day. That job, he found, suited him perfectly. This essentially was the true beginning of his persona of the "voice of reason". While it's true that he displayed some aspects of being a 'voice of reason' before, it was more or less things he assumed was obvious, that any sane person would point out. It wasn't until afterwards that he fully embraced his existance as the sane one amongst the superhuman.
It's interesting to note though, that his not being the main character has in many ways made him a little selfless when it comes to giving out the information. A notable example in canon is Lost Island Syndrome, wherein while it was technically him that got all the pieces and put them together to find the truth, he intentionally gave them to Haruhi, knowing full well she would take all the credit for it. Sure, he was annoyed that she took all the credit for herself, but he knew that it was going to happen, and did so anyways. Why would he do that, you ask? Because it's not his "place" to solve the big mystery, it's his job to give the advice that lets the main character solve the problem. Kyon isn't the main character, Haruhi is. That simple fact causes a lot of bitterness in him, but it's something he acknowledges as fact.
In camp, he's surrounded by powerful people, and as he's found, being the voice of reason is more liable to get a person killed than anything else. What is an ordinary person with no way to protect himself supposed to do to make themselves useful and thereby relatively safe from the psychopaths in camp? The solution is obvious: By being an undeniable source of information that, unlike others, doesn't seem to try to use it to their own advantage; he just gathers the pieces together and points out the flaws in people's actions and the events. Essentially, he's an informant without excessively demanding, only snarky. This hasn't shown itself to be too useful yet, but he's just started working on it recently.