Hatori Sohma

is one of the recurring characters of the Fruits Basket series and one of the main protagonists of the Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc.

He is the Dragon of the Chinese Zodiac, one of the oldest members of the Cursed Sohmas and the Sohma family's personal doctor. He is the only known living Sohma family member with the ability to suppress memories of those outsiders who discover the Sohma family secret. Hatori is best friends with Shigure Sohma and Ayame Sohma, and the three make up the Mabudachi Trio, though Hatori is rarely amused by the antics of them.

Hatori was engaged to Kana Sohma, the assistant in his doctor's office. The relationship ended when Akito Sohma attacked Hatori which almost left him blind in his left eye; Kana blamed herself for the incident and felt so guilty about it that Hatori was forced to suppress her memory of their relationship to ease her suffering. After Kana marries someone else, Shigure manipulates Hatori into meeting Kana's best friend, Mayuko Shiraki. They are attracted to one another and end up dating.

In Fruits Basket Another, Hatori is married to Mayuko and the father of Kinu Sohma.

Appearance
Hatori is an adult man with a rather tall stature, and muscular yet slender build. He is mentioned to be very handsome by the people around him, boys and girls alike.

He has straight black hair with a dark blue tint which reaches down to his nape. His bangs are shorter than his hair and parts towards the right side in the form of an "M-style", which partly covers his left eye. He has sharp, purple-colored eyes, and is often seen with somber expressions and curt gestures.

Hatori always dresses professionally and is rarely seen without wearing a suit. His most usual suits are western-themed, and consist of a black vest, which is either short or long-sleeved, with a white collared shirt underneath, a blue tie, along with brown trousers and pair of brown shoes. He occasionally wears his white doctor coat over his outfit.

Personality
Hatori appears as a quiet, serious, and level-headed man who is cool and composed at all times. At first glance, he is mentioned to be rather cold and intimidating, which is why people can misunderstand him. The reason why Hatori didn't want Tohru Honda to involve her with the Sohmas is because he didn't want her to suffer the same heartbreak as Kana did. He has also resigned himself to the fact that the Zodiacs shouldn't love or be loved. However, behind his somber and stern personality, Hatori is deeply gentle and kind, and prioritizes others happiness before his own. Ayame mentions that his kindness is his best trait as it is his worst. This is especially evident by the fact that, even though Hatori is genuinely happy that Kana could find happiness with another man after forgetting him, he refuses to seek his own happiness. He is also genuinely upset at his inability to protect the younger Zodiacs from Akito's wrath, and decides to watch over Tohru and the younger Zodiacs from making the same mistakes he made.

Hatori has a very low opinion of himself because of the people he hurt when doing his job of memory-wiping. He feels incredibly guilty erasing the memories of all of Yuki Sohma's friends when they were younger, and it is also implied that his closeness with Momiji Sohma is a result of his guilt from being the one to wipe his mother's memories. Back in the day, if his father or Akito ordered it, Hatori would unhesitantly erase someone's memories. However, his personal tragedy with his ex-fiancé Kana made Hatori think that all of the pain he inflicted on others is the reason why he doesn't deserve to ever become happy. However, after meeting Mayu again, it appears as though Hatori is ready to let happiness into his life once more.

Even though Hatori is serious at all times and even lacks a sense of humor, he acts as the punchline deliverer whenever he is spending time with Shigure and Ayame, since he is used to their quirky personalities. He also has a few moments of not being completely mature and composed. For example, he tricked Yuki and Kyo into taking a photo of them seemingly smiling together by asking them to fill in the blank: "cheese". But he later playfully gives the camera to Tohru by putting on her head. He also gave Shigure more injections than necessary once because the latter was annoying. He also threatened to tell Shigure's colleagues every embarrassing story he knew about him since he was four if he told Tohru the secret of his zodiac form.

Early Life
Hatori was born into the Sohma Family as the only child of his late parents; his mother passed away from illness when he was in elementary school, and his father died of an unspecified illness while Hatori was in high school. Both of his parents were very strict and his home life wasn't very warm, which is the cause of his stoic personality. At some point, the memory suppression technique was passed to him by his father who held that role before him; a technique which has been handed down in his family for generations.

On the day Akito Sohma was conceived, Hatori had a dream about her and woke up crying. He was able to sense Akito - the God, so he, Shigure, Ayame, and Kureno Sohma all gathered around Akito's mother, Ren Sohma, and reached out to her womb. After it was revealed that Akito was to be raised as a boy, the four boys were told to keep it a secret.

Hatori grew up alongside Shigure and Ayame, and the three attended elementary, middle- and high school together. During their high school years, Ayame was the student council president, with Hatori acting as his right-hand man and secretary. The three of them were known as the "Mabudachi Trio".

When Hatori was in high school, he was forced to erase the memories of Yuki's friends since one girl had run into a girl while playing, which prompted Yuki's transformation in front of a group of children. Although Yuki protested, as they were his first friends, Hatori had to follow orders. This caused their relationship to become strained, as Yuki lost his trust in Hatori. A few years later, Hatori also erased the memories of Momiji's mother, who had requested him to take away all of her memories of her son. Because of this, Hatori would often take it upon himself to check up on Momiji and invite him for dinner.

Pre-Fruits Basket
Hatori graduated from high school and eventually became a doctor, though he only worked as a personal doctor for the Sohma family. Two years before the start of the series, Hatori met Kana Sohma, who had been appointed as his assistant in his office. Hatori was initially indifferent towards her, but when Kana asked him what snow turned to once it melted, Hatori, thinking she was making fun of him, replied the most obvious answer: water. However, Kana imitated a buzzer and told him that spring is the correct answer. After this, Hatori was drawn to Kana's cheerfulness and described her as a spring that melted the "snow" of his heart. They thereafter quickly fell in love, though Hatori was hesitant to hold her in his arms and let her in into his heart because of his curse.

One day, Hatori transformed into his Zodiac form and Kana realized why he never wanted to get close with people, including her; still, she accepted him in spite of the curse. She promised to always stay by his side, since being with him brought her happiness. Upon hearing this and feeling like he had been saved and forgiven for something for the first time in his life, Hatori broke down in tears.

The two then became a very loving couple, and Kana compares the weeks they spent together to a hundred years of happiness. Hatori was also introduced to Kana's best friend, Mayuko Shiraki, whose family's bookstore Hatori would sometimes visit. Unbeknownst to Hatori, Mayuko fell in love with him at first sight. Hatori and Kana never made their romantic relationship public, but Mayuko knew they were dating, which is why she was silent about her feelings since she didn't want to come between them. It is also known that Hatori, Kana, Ayame, Shigure, and Mayuko would go out to drink sometimes. When Mayuko revealed to Hatori and Kana that she had begun "dating" Shigure, they were both shocked.

After two months of dating, Hatori and Kana begged Akito Sohma to let them marry. However, Akito was enraged and injured Hatori's left eye, which induced a traumatic experience for Kana. To make matters worse, Akito berated Kana for Hatori's injuries and guilt-tripped her into believing that wanting to marry Hatori was a mistake she should have never made since she is incapable of lifting the family curse. Overridden with guilt, Kana was unable to lead a normal life following the incident and became immensely depressed. This eventually led to Hatori erasing Kana's memories of their time together as a couple. Before having her memories erased, Kana apologized to Hatori for not being able to protect him.

Not long after her memories are erased, Kana left the Sohma's main house to further pursue her career. Hatori also followed Akito's suggestion accordingly and abstained from interacting with Kana ever again. Due to losing his beloved, he became distant again and tries to prevent anyone else from being hurt like he was.

First Year Arc
Hatori is first seen visiting Kaibara Municipal High School along with Momiji to examine Yuki, as he had been skipping his routine check-ups. Due to the dress Yuki was made to wear, Hatori had to get him to undress, leading other students to believe that they were a homosexual couple. Only after Yuki clarified that Hatori was a doctor and a member of the Sohma family did the others begin to understand. Hatori also acquaintances himself with Tohru. Later, on the school rooftop, Hatori cunningly takes a picture of Yuki and Kyo at Akito's request and leaves with Momiji. As they leave, Yuki warns Tohru not to be alone with Hatori as he is the doctor who wipes people's memories. However, Tohru is called into the school's office by Hatori to speak with him, where he invites her to the Sohma family estate since he wanted to speak about something important with her.

The next day, Tohru arrives at the Sohma estate where she is greeted by Hatori and Momiji. Hatori advises Tohru to stop associating with the Sohma family lest she becomes burdened by the family curse. When Hatori leaves the room to answer the visiting Shigure, Momiji states that Hatori had to wipe the memory of his relationship with Kana, and doesn't want Tohru to suffer in the same way. Tohru begins crying over how caring Hatori is, and when Hatori comes back with Shigure, he gives back the camera from the school festival and apologizes to Tohru for making her cry. Tohru smiles brightly, putting a smile on Hatori's face as well.

A few days after new years, Hatori bumps into Tohru while strolling around the town. They converse for a bit, but when the snow begins falling, Tohru falls down causes Hatori to instinctively catch her, turning him into a seahorse. Tohru's reaction to seeing Hatori's zodiac animal, as in not knowing whether to put a seahorse in saltwater or freshwater, makes him realizes that her reaction was the same as Kana's was. Hatori soon wakes up in the cold and Tohru offers to buy him a warm drink. As he wonders why he had dreamt of Kana, he hears her passing by and telling her friends that she is getting married and is deeply in love with her new partner, making Hatori happy that she has moved on. When Tohru comes back, Hatori asks Tohru what happens to snow when melts, to which she simply replies that "spring comes", the same answer Kana gave. Tohru's kindness makes Hatori realize that despite how hard life may be, it will get better.

Second Year Arc
During spring the next year, Shigure brings Hatori, Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo to the Sohmas' lakeside house for a short vacation. Though Hatori deduces that Shigure wants to tease his editor, it is revealed that Shigure wants Hatori to move on from Kana, whose wedding to another man happened very recently. Ayame crashes the vacation the next day, and mentions Kana's wedding and claimed that Mayuko had given him pictures of the wedding. He then asked Hatori if he would like to view them but he declined his offer. This Ayame upset and he advises Hatori that he should not shoulder the burdens of his memories with Kana alone and be left behind while she moves on happily with her life. Shigure also expresses that he hopes that Hatori will find another woman who will make him happy like no other. Hatori thinks it sounds absurd, while the scene is cut to Mayuko gazing at the photo of herself and Kana at her wedding, with a photo of Hatori underneath.

Throughout the year, Hatori is seen spending time in the Sohma's main house with Shigure and sometimes even Ayame, taking care of Akito, and treating Tohru and the other Sohmas if so needed.

During summer vacation, Shigure arranges for Hatori to meet with Kana's best friend, Mayuko, who had always secretly liked him, to their unbeknownst. He visits her family's bookstore in order to retrieve a book Shigure ordered for him, to which Mayu informs him that it will arrive the next day. The next day, Hatori visits again and Mayu quickly drags him out of the store along with her in order to avoid her mother's pestering about her love life. After settling the book matters, Mayu worries about the fact that Hatori doesn't seem to be happy, and Hatori replies that happiness has nothing to do with him. This prompts Mayu to cry hysterically; upset over the fact that Hatori thinks he doesn't deserve happiness. Hatori is taken aback by her crying and explains that he was only tired and wanted a reason to run away from the Sohma estate, but seeing Mayu cry in his stead made him very happy because he can't cry easily nowadays. After clearing some misunderstandings regarding how Shigure had tricked Mayu into believing that Hatori was dating Satsuki Sohma, Hatori invites Mayu for a meal as a thanks and appreciation, all while bearing a bright smile, to which Mayu agrees. Mayu imagines that in the near future, she would cut her hair short, Hatori would begin to call her "Mayu" again, and the two of them would go out on a sunny day together.

After hearing about how Shigure had invited Akito to the Sohma's beach house where Tohru and the younger Sohmas were already having fun, Hatori arrives and reprimands Shigure for both wanting to stir up trouble and for troubling Mayu with his pranks. During the vacation, Hatori is only able to watch conflicts arise and although he tries to encourage Akito to do things like giving Kureno Sohma more freedom, he ultimately gets along with her orders. Hatori thus only yearns to make sure that the Sohmas are fine and that Tohru is happy and not feeling lonely, and later immediately runs in to treat Tohru after she is injured by Akito. He also feels guilty about not being able to protect Tohru and Momiji from Akito's wrath that night. Hatori later leaves the beach earlier than everyone else because of some urgent business back at the Sohma estate, along with Akito and Kureno.

During the annual Sohma banquet on New Year's Eve, Hatori performs his ceremonial dance along with Ayame, much to his embarrassment. Later that night, Yuki is injured by Akito to which Hatori later treats him and apologizes for not interfering. Yuki then apologizes to Hatori for always blaming him when he was younger due to Hatori suppressing the memories of Yuki's first friends, a fact that had unconsciously weighed heavily on Hatori as well. Touched by Yuki's wiseness, Hatori fondly pats Yuki's head and tells him that he is very kind, and that he has no need to apologize. Following the sincere moment between them, Hatori also tells Yuki to never become like his older brother Ayame.

Third Year Arc
When Hatori's curse breaks, he is seen in the Sohma estate, where he quietly cries over having it broken.

Once all the Zodiacs' curse breaks, Hatori is invited to the final banquet of all by Akito. He is seen to be by Akito's side, and when all the Zodiacs are shocked to realize that Akito is woman, she asks Hatori where Shigure to which he replies that he doesn't know. Hatori listens when Akito tries to apologize for everything she has done, and explains that she would now move forward, continue living as a Sohma and the head of the family, and that she would be giving all the Zodiacs their freedom to do whatever they want.

Epilogue
Towards the end of the series, Hatori has begun dating Mayuko and they are seen on a date in a restaurant. He invites her on an Okinawa vacation, and although she is ecstatic, she is a bit worried about how she will look in a swimsuit. Mayuko's worry about her figure makes Hatori laugh, which embarrasses Mayuko. After they are done eating, they comment on the beautiful weather, which reminds Hatori of the day when Tohru found out about his zodiac form.

The Three Musketeers Arc
Shigure and Ayame invite themselves to Hatori's house several occasions, where conversations regarding different things, including their broken curse, ensue. Ayame even tries getting Akito to join in their "Mabudachi" antics, but no avail.

The trio also breaks the fourth wall comes up with methods of warning fans about the darker contents of the main story.

Fruits Basket Another
At some point, Hatori married Mayuko, having one daughter named Kinu Sohma between them. It is mentioned by Kinu that Hatori and Mayu are still a doctor and teacher respectively, but that she doesn't wish to follow in either of their footsteps. It is also implied that Hatori is a father who constantly worries about his daughter, as Mutsuki Sohma mentions that Hatori would "go crazy" if Kinu continued talking about wanting a job that doesn't require much effort.

The Dragon of the Zodiac
Although Hatori is the Dragon of the Zodiac, he transforms into an eight-centimeter long seahorse rather than an actual dragon. It is explained that in mythology, all dragons start out as seahorses, and only some gain the opportunity to ascend to dragon-hood. Shigure has stated that he believes it to be a sign that the curse is weakening. Hatori is extremely self-conscious about his transformation and uses blackmail to avoid having it revealed to others. The Dragon is the fifth of all zodiac animals.

In Chinese culture, Dragons are strong and independent figures, but they yearn for support and love, which applies to Hatori very well.

When Hatori's curse broke, he was subconsciously aware of it, and only being left with a bittersweet feeling, he began crying. Hatori's curse was the overall eleventh to break.

Trivia

 * According to the official Fruits Basket Character Book:
 * Hatori's name is derived from the fourth month, konohatorizuki or "month of taking leaves [to silkworms]."
 * After Shigure, Hatori is the most avid reader among the Zodiac. Shigure has even used Mayuko's family's secondhand bookstore as a part of a scheme to mend her relationship with the book-loving Hatori.
 * He has a complex about his Zodiac form, which is a seahorse instead of an actual dragon.
 * Hatori doesn't often let himself indulge in basic human needs in front of others, to the point where Kyo is shocked that he actually sleeps.
 * He's not actually attached to wearing suits, but he thinks they are the easiest thing to wear without needing to spend a lot of time deciding on an outfit. He lets his houseworkers pick them out (Kana did it when they were together), but "sooner or later someone is going to to get on his case about it".
 * Mayu's role in Hatori's life during their reunion after two years is described as "the first breath of spring".
 * Hatori wears very expensive designer suits. This becomes evident in the manga, when Shigure borrows a suit from him to attend a parent-teacher conference. Upon returning the suit, Hatori tells him to burn it, Shigure is astounded by his remark and asks if he is really willing to surrender a ¥200,000 (approximately $2,500) suit.
 * Although Hatori's left eye is almost completely blind, he is rarely seen wearing glasses. Despite this disability, he is good at driving.
 * Hatori's car is that of a Western car (driver seat on the left), not traditional Japanese (driver seat on the right).
 * In an author's note, Natsuki Takaya described Hatori as "the best marriage material of the cast."
 * Takaya said in an author's note that since both Hatori and Mayu are tall, they "might look pretty good together as a tall couple".
 * According to Takaya, there is no magic behind Hatori's memory suppression technique and that it is more like hypnosis. This explains why the zodiac members try to avoid those who have been forced to forget about them, since there is always a chance that the memories can come back.
 * Hatori's appearance differs between the manga and the anime adaptions: The manga and 2019 anime depict Hatori with purple eyes. The 2001 anime depicts him with green eyes.
 * The manga does not exactly show how Akito injured Hatori's left eye, only implying that she hit him with something hard enough to severely injure it. In the 2001 anime, he is hurt by Akito by having a flower vase smashed into his eye. In the 2019 anime, she's directly shown shoving him into a mirror-like panel.

Hatori Sohma Hatori Soma Hatori Soma Hatori Soma Hatori Sohma pt-br:Hatori Sohma 相馬羽鳥