Alright, so, Iāll start this off by saying I am honestly not an expert on Kakyoin, contrary to popular belief (Iād actually consider myself more of an expert on Jotaroās character, if anything), but Iām going to do my best to give my views on Kakyoinās character, as well as some canon evidence to support it, and hopefully it will help a bit.
If you want a great reference of how to write Kakyoin in fic, go read Sand, sand and more sand on AO3, because itās honestly one of the best depictions of Kak Iāve ever read, and heās quite close to canon.
Kakyoin is pretty snarky. Heās subtle about it, but heās also kind of a shithead. Heās polite most of the time, but it seems to be more of a setting he defaults to when he doesnāt feel entirely comfortable around the people heās with. We have quite a few quips from him as examples of this, such as him laughing at andd mocking Anne during the dark blue moon arc, and saying she couldnāt possibly be the stand user on board, and in the Geb and N'Doul fight where he orders Polnareff to attack the canteen because he ādoesnāt want toā. He also at one point responds to Polnareff saying āthis looks bad!ā with, āwell it most certainly isnāt good.ā
Heās blunt, but this also means that heās honest. He dislikes liars, and prefers that everything is set out before him clearly and plainly as opposed to someone that is clearly dancing around the subject.
He also seems like quite the know-it-all, and likes being right; and heās probably the type to argue with someone even if he knows heās wrong. He seems to genuinely enjoy teaching the crusaders about the culture of all the places they visit on their journey, and he has the ability to retain all of that information to recant to them, as well. It seems to be somewhat of an interest of his.
And then thereās this, of courseā¦
The cherry thing is something that kind of bothers me in fandom and fic. Yes; Kakyoin says that cherries are his favourite fruit. Child Kakyoin has cherries on his shirt (keep in mind that the scene with child kakyoin is added in my DavidPro and is not technically canon). BUT, it doesnāt mean that he has to have everything cherry-related. Itās a seriously overused trait in fandom to the point that it just becomes annoying. Kak can have a coffee without it having to be cherry flavoured. Just remember that he canonically enjoys lots of different foods, and that he doesnāt need to exclusively eat cherries and cherry flavoured things. He probably likes to eat foods from all different cultures.
Video games: There is evidence to suggest that Kakyoin spends a LOT of time playing F-Mega, however, this doesnāt mean that his extreme knowledge of the tracks and mechanics applies to every video game in existence. Heās a teenager, with no friends in the 80ās, of course heās going to spend time playing video games. But back in the 80s, people often only had one or two games, so itās likely that he has simply replayed F-Mega a LOT, to the point of knowing it by heart. I know the levels of Mario 3 extremely well, simply because I played them over and over again as a kid. If you are fixated on a single game for extended periods of time (especially if itās the only game you own), you are of course going to know the game well. Knowing a lot about a single game does not mean that heās obsessed with video games, and does not necessarily mean that heās a shut-in, and never goes outside.
Also keep in mind that he says that heās āpretty good at video gamesā. He doesnāt claim to be great at them, and since weāve already established that Kakyoin is quite blunt, it would be out of character to assume that heās being humble here. He literally means that heās just āpretty goodā at them. No more, no less.
His real-world experience is vast, and itās also mentioned that his parents take him many places on vacation. Heās been to a lot of places, and retains cultural knowledge. Itās not as if heās read it in books: heās actually been to these places before, and he mentions it frequently. This suggests that he gets out quite a bit, and also kind of suggests that maybe he isnāt quite the model student type in school.
Kakyoin doesnāt appear to be the honours student & straight Aās type. He doesnāt think twice about skipping out on his new school to travel to Egypt, and as I said before, his knowledge appears to come more from first-hand experience rather than school studies (and I bet he missed more than a few of his classes due to the trips that he and his parents took). Heās a know-it-all, but it doesnāt mean that he does well in school.
On the other hand, Jotaro IS a model student, despite his delinquent status. Itās more likely that Jotaro would be the one helping Kakyoin with his homework.
(He might disrespect his teachers, but he still gets good grades, and letās not forget that he becomes a marine biologist later in life.)
Kakyoinās profile also mentions that he āappears very effeminiteā. This is another thing that is often misinterpreted. His appearence may be somewhat feminine, and he takes pride in how he looks, but his personality and mannerisms are not inherently feminine.
He hates being forced into submission, and this is the reason why he despises Dio so much. Dio took advantage of his vulnerability and the fact that Kak didnāt have any friends to use him as his pawn. He drew Kak in, made him feel wanted, needed, and then took control of his mind and body.
āHe appears to be very effeminate. In reality, he despises submitting to people or sucking up to them.ā - Taken directly from his canon personality description.
Another thing that people seem to miss is the fact that heās extremely sadistic. He says himself that Heirophant āloves nothing more than to rip things to shredsā and that it might ādrive him mad with joyā. He likes being in control of the situation, remember. He probably hates losing fights, as well (especially since he could be considered a weakling for losing).
Kakyoin also seems to like Baseball, judging by his profile naming a favourite team, and sumo, as we all know from his exchange with Jotaro.
One of the things that fandom does definitely get right, is Kakyoin being the mother hen of the group. Heās taken on the role of the responsible one, because Joseph isā¦ far from being an adult. Heās strategic and thinks everything out logically, and so is the mature one of the group, especially after Avdolās ādeathā. He appears to be content to follow Joseph, but when itās needed, he steps up and becomes the leader in his place. This is seen when Jotaro, Joseph and Polnareff start physically fighting random men that they suspect are the one in the Wheel of Fortune car, to which he says that, āthis is not a good idea,ā and that itās, āgetting out of handā. Itās also seen in the tower of grey fight where he mentions that itās better that he fights on the plane, because heās the least destructive of the bunch (even though heās capable of blasting holes into clock towers, apparently his emerald splash isnāt destructive; okay Kakā¦).
Heās also fiercely protective of his friends, and extremely loyal as well. Kakyoin isnāt the type to abandon his friends in any circumstance.
Heās a CASANOVA. While Jotaro draws more unwanted attention from girls due to his bad boy faƧade, Kakyoin is slick and smooth with them, so much so that they notice him more over Jotaro. Heās quick to diffuse the situation when Jotaro pushes the girls aside (again, in the tower of grey arc), and itās justā¦ yes.
Just look at this. You can bet your ass heās not the type to blush and stutter as heās confessing. Straight up grabbing the girl and apologizing for Jotaro. Smooth as butter.
Here are some other scenes that might be able to explain his character a bit better as well:
Mouthing off to Joseph- Jotaro approves.
This line is wonderful. (Again, to Joseph? Itās almost like they have this kind of rivalry going on, haha)
Some really good insight to his character and motivations (And one of my favourite Jotakak moments).
The anime kind of makes this out to be a sort of āKakyoin mocking Polnareffā scene, but in the manga he seems like heās just stating what he heard. Pretty matter-of-fact about the whole situation.
I believe that this is the first moment that Kakyoin really realizes that he and any of his companions can die at any moment. Avdol has been shot, and heās in complete shock. This is a normal teenager thatās now painfully aware of the danger heās putting himself in to help out Jotaro and Joseph. Sure, he realized that he would be involved in fights, and a little blood would be shed for the greater good, but I donāt think he had realized up to this point that he might actually die.
And hereās Kakyoinās character bio.
Itās also notable that he didnāt tell his parents where he was going prior to leaving. This doesnāt necessarily mean that heās in bad standing with his parents (especially since his dying thoughts were of them), and could possibly be because he didnāt want to worry them, or something of the sort, but the fact remains that he didnāt tell them beforehand. Take from this what you will.
So yeah, this is what I get from Kakyoin. Heās kind, loyal to a fault, and deeply in love with Jotaroā and heās a pretty complex character to write. Donāt feel like you need to take all of this into account, because itās hard to keep his entire character intact with fanfiction. A lot of his personality comes across in facial expressions, so itās sometimes difficult to translate that into non-visual media. Just refer back to canon if you arenāt sure of something, and you should be fine. Good luck!
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