Who Are The Best Classroom Of The Elite Characters To Root For?

If you want a guide to who to cheer for in 'Classroom of the Elite', here’s my enthusiastic, slightly biased take. This show thrives on moral grayness and tactical maneuvers, so the best characters to root for are often the ones who quietly subvert expectations, grow emotionally, or act with a kind of principled stubbornness. I tend to gravitate toward characters whose inner lives are more complicated than their first impressions, because those arcs make every victory feel earned rather than manufactured.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji is the obvious centerpiece of my rooting interest. He’s inscrutable on the surface, but that very calmness is what makes his rare moments of action and protection so satisfying. I love how the series teases his past without spoon-feeding it, and cheering for him feels like backing a schemer who actually cares about a very small circle of people. He’s not flashy, and that’s exactly why I root for him — because his subtle manipulations and cold logic are used in ways that sometimes actually help others, even if he pretends not to care. Watching him pick apart systems is oddly cathartic and intellectually fun.

Suzune Horikita is another favorite. Her bluntness and social awkwardness are so relatable, and her desire to be acknowledged for competence rather than popularity makes her a compelling underdog. I love her growth from someone obsessed with climbing ranks to someone who understands the value of allies and empathy. Rooting for Horikita means hoping someone sharp and awkward gets a chance to be seen for more than their academic ability — and when she softens, it doesn’t feel like a betrayal of who she is, it feels earned.

Kikyo Kushida and Kei Karuizawa represent two very different but equally interesting reasons to cheer. Kushida’s duality — dazzling friendliness overlaying something more complex — makes her unpredictable and fascinating; you want to root for her because part of you hopes her kindness is real, and part of you worries about the secrets beneath. Kei’s arc is pure reward: she starts fractured and defensive, and the way she opens up and grows stronger (even in small, realistic steps) is wonderfully satisfying. Honami Ichinose deserves a shout-out too: she’s the graceful, moral foil whose competence and kindness make the world feel less cold, and characters like Yosuke Hirata, who lead by principle rather than manipulation, are the moral anchors I find myself rooting for against the schemers.

At the end of the day, I root for characters who surprise me, who refuse to be reduced to a trope, and who find small, human ways to win in a system designed to strip them down. Whether it’s Ayanokoji’s quiet engineering of outcomes, Horikita’s stubborn self-improvement, Kushida’s complicated warmth, or Kei’s steady growth, those are the people I want to see get a moment of genuine triumph. Honestly, watching them navigate the school’s brutal logic is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, and cheering for them never gets old.