Miyo Takano

Miyo Takano is the main antagonist of ''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. ''She is a nurse and the mastermind of the events that happened in the first six arcs. She was one of the victims of the curse in 1983, and according to the police was found to have been burned to death in a canister in the mountains. However, the autopsy later revealed that she had died twenty-four hours before the Watanagushi festival had even occurred. During Tatarigoroshi-hen, she shows up to give Keiichi a ride after he finishes his business with Satoko's uncle, and the revelation of her 'death' prior to this incident throws him badly. She has somewhat long, blonde hair, and eyes that are distinctively more droopy than other characters, making her easy to distinguish (She somehow resembles Rena in her thirties in Higurashi Kai EP01). She is very popular at the Irie Clinic where she works. She is very interested in the history and mythology of Hinamizawa, and in one story arc gives Rena her research on the matter prior to her own death. Her personality is quite twisted, as she seems to derive pleasure from frightening people with tales of Hinamizawa's past. She also sees people as guinea pigs for her research, and only truly cares for her grandfather and his friends. She is infamous for being an occult maniac, almost to the point of being considered a joke, as Mion mentions to Keiichi that Takano tells a different interpretation of Hinamizawa's mythology to every person(the version she once told Satoko supposedly claimed that Oyashiro-sama originated from sea creatures). She has many scrapbooks containing all her different theories about Oyashiro-sama's curse, and she sometimes lends them to people for fun, such as Shion and Rena. The one she gives Rena, file 34, contains the theory about parasites controlling people's minds, and seems to be loosely based on the Hinamizawa syndrome theory, making it the theory closest to the actual truth(save for the part about aliens). She also talks in a very condescending and patronizing manner, sometimes causing people to hate her. Takano also has an obsession with attaining the level of Godhood. She first adopted the notion of becoming a God as a child, when Hifumi, not long after rescuing her from the orphanage, tells her about the story of Jesus's resurrection. He tells her that it was not Jesus's physical body that was resurrected, but the belief in his teachings. Hifumi believed that one becomes a God when they make a great achievement that puts their name in history, so that even when they die, they will be immortalized in a sense. He then expresses his desire to become a God himself, by proving the existence of Hinamizawa syndrome and making a name for himself in the scientific community. When he dies, Miyo takes it upon herself to carry on his research and have it recognized by the world. Her ultimate goal is to become a God along with Hifumi, so that they can be together for all eternity.

Later in the series it is revealed that her death, in each case, was faked to throw off suspicion and allow her to act more freely on her true plans. The reasons behind her actions are revealed in the second season as the show delves into her past. She was born Tanashi Miyoko, but her parents died in an unfortunate bus accident when she was quite young, so the government had her sent to an orphanage. She and other children were abused repeatedly there, and eventually try to escape. They are pursued, largely because the orphanage gets government money based on the number of children they house. She evades capture long enough to call Hifumi Takano's (her father's former professor) number for help as her father had instructed some time before his death. She is re-captured, but is eventually rescued and adopted by Hifumi.

Hifumi becomes a sort of grandfather for her, and she cares deeply for him. Hifumi was the one who started Miyo on the path of medicine with his study of Hinamizawa Syndrome. When Hifumi died, having been humiliated and discredited by his superiors, Miyo decided to carry on his studies in order to prove his theories, and, in doing so, was perfectly content to make the entire village go mad with paranoia by killing the Queen Carrier, and then ordering the annihilation of the villagers as well. She is literally obsessed with proving the theories he spent his life on and making a name for both of them.

She has control over an elite squad of soldiers called the Yamainu, provided to her by the "Tokyo group", who carry out much of her dirty work, although she does not hesitate to do some of it herself. In many cases she has been personally responsible for the death of the Queen Carrier and of her lover Tomitake Jirou.