Hiro

Hiro (full name: Code 016) is the main male protagonist of Darling in the FranXX.

He's a former prodigy child pilot who, as a young boy, showed exceptional promise but later lost his ability to pilot FranXX mechs properly, causing him to fall into a withdrawn, melancholic state by the start of the series. He has distinctive teal/tealish hair with a small red horn-like growth on his head (a common trait among the children raised by APE).

Hiro is kind-hearted, introspective, and carries a deep sense of loneliness and longing for something he can't quite remember. His life changes dramatically when he meets Zero Two, the mysterious and infamous "Partner Killer," with whom he discovers an unprecedented compatibility as a pilot pair.

Throughout the story he grows from someone who feels purposeless to becoming a central figure in the fight for humanity's future, while grappling with questions about identity, memory, connection, and what it truly means to be human.