HiroZero

HiroZero is the het ship between Hiro and Zero Two from the DARLING in the FRANXX fandom.

Canon
Hiro and Zero Two met as kids while they were still in the garden and tried to escape together. Hiro first found Zero Two at the lab, a facility he often frequented due to his 'child genius' status. Zero Two was the specimen of a ghastly, inhumane experiment conducted by Dr. FRANXX to observe her klaxosaur abilities. Hiro was intrigued by her red skin and horns, but even more so by her battle against the adults. Up to that point, he felt he was the only one fighting that battle against authority and was amazed to find someone like him. He felt sorry that she had to go through the suffering and wanted to know more about her, but the adults at the facility brought him back to his dorms. This mystery, however, only made him want to know about her even more.

When Hiro was around nine years old, he found the room in which Zero Two resided and hatched a plan to rescue her. Breaking the glass to free her, Hiro and Zero Two ran away from the garden in the snow. During the time they spent together, Hiro cared for Zero Two, gave her wrappings to substitute socks and even named her. Zero Two got comfortable with him, calling him "darling" and showing him her beloved storybook. Unfortunately, the adults came looking for them, so HiroZero had to flee. While running, Zero Two hurts herself and Hiro bends down to treat her wound. As he kneels before her, Zero Two misinterprets his actions as Hiro wanting to marry her. Hiro smiles and says once they get out of the Garden he'll marry her, moving Zero Two to tears.

Not long after, the adults find them and surround them. Hiro tries to protect Zero Two but gets hit on his head and falls unconscious. Zero Two cries as they are taken away to have their memories erased. While Hiro's memories were successfully erased, Zero Two's weren't. Despite that small hiccup, Hiro was sent back to the Garden and Zero Two was sent back to her room. As such, Zero Two regained her memories after recalling familiar actions, such as the way Hiro referred to himself with the word "boku" and the way he licked her wounds. From then on, Zero Two remembers her darling and vows to reunite with him, no matter what it takes, no matter how many people she needs to use as a stepping stone to get to him.

At the start of the show, HiroZero first meets at the lake in Mistilteinn while Zero Two was skinny-dipping. When he rushes into the water, she jumps out with a fish in her mouth and he is shocked to see a naked girl for the first time. While Zero Two calls Hiro a "pervert" for holding her underwear, he insists he thought she was drowning and she thanks him for jumping in to "save" him. They chat for a bit, then Zero Two decides she has taken a liking towards Hiro and asks him if he will be her "darling". She pushes him into the lake and licks him, commenting he tastes like danger. Her partner and a group of officers come to take her away and Hiro asks what her name is. She replies her code number is 002 but is called Zero Two. The next day, a klaxosaur attacks and Strelizia, piloted by Zero Two, crashes near Hiro. Her partner dies from his injuries and Zero Two is ready to keep fighting despite being injured and Hiro’s protests. He then asks to pilot with her to prove his worthiness as a parasite and Zero Two relents, pulling him inside the cockpit and wanting to get a taste of him because he is now her darling. She kisses him and Strelizia is activated. Afterwards, Zero Two pulls an unconscious Hiro out and announces she has found her darling.

The next day, Zero Two visits Mistilteinn to eat breakfast with Hiro, who doesn’t recall what happened but he is assured by her that he did pilot a FRANXX. Nana takes Zero Two back to the city and warns her to stay away from Squad 13 because they are not equipped to be around a pistil like her. Zero Two, however, ignores this and proceeds to watch Hiro as he trains. For Hiro’s mock battle, Zero Two offers to be his partner but Ichigo asks and Nana prefers Ichigo over Zero Two. However, after a seemingly successful synchronization, his connection with Ichigo falters and she asks what Zero Two did earlier that worked. He brings up the kiss and she proceeds to kiss him but he says he feels nothing. Hiro later tells Goro that he has decided to continue piloting with Zero Two because she is the only one compatible with him and he doesn’t care about the rumors about her regarding her partners never pilot with her more than three times because they die.

After training, he finds her sitting alone and stares at her horns, and she calls him a pervert. She takes him to a balcony with a view of the city. Hiro is amazed, as he has never been in the city but Zero Two is indifferent, calling the city lifeless and tells him how they will only become a statistic once they die. She offers to get him out but then says she is kidding. During the squad’s first mission, most of the parasites are surrounded by klaxosaurs and Zero Two and Hiro are denied going to save them. Mitsuru offers to go with Zero Two since Hiro is not an official stamen yet. Hiro reluctantly agrees and Zero Two, dismayed, walks quietly away from him. After the battle, Zero Two declares only Hiro is fit to be her darling and Mitsuru is left gravely injured. While recovering, Mitsuru pleads with Hiro not to ride with her because she will devour him. Hiro doesn’t know what to do and, while bathing, Zero Two surprises him and asks him to run away with her. He stares at her horns and she asks him if he is like the others. A klaxosaur then attacks and Zero Two is taken away. Hiro asks Nana if the partner killing rumors are true, but she does not answer. Despite being afraid, his resolve to continue piloting provokes him to stop Zero Two and asks her to stay because she gives him a reason to fly. She is amused because no one has said such embarrassing things like that to her but she agrees. They then pilot Strelizia together again and help Squad 13 take out the klaxosaur.

Zero Two announces she will be living at Mistilteinn and Hiro shows her around. She is interested when he mentions rain and asks him to make it rain, but he says he can’t. When Goro finds out Hiro has a tumor on his chest as a result of piloting with Zero Two, he asks Hiro to stop but Hiro refuses. Similarly, Ichigo asks Zero Two not to go hard on Hiro or else she will kill him, and Zero Two replies it is Hiro’s decision to ride with her and him dying is no big deal.

Zero Two offers Hiro a choice to not ride with her a third time but he insists he will. During the battle, Hiro succumbs to his illness and almost dies. He has a vision of Zero Two and apologizes to her but she ignores him and walks away. As he wakes up, his resolve to never run away helps him survive and he sees a berserk Zero Two and comforts her as he says he is her partner. They reconnect and land the killing blow on the klaxosaur, later walking out of the cockpit together.

During a trip to the beach, Hiro and Zero Two swim together and she tells him that a kiss is a declaration that a person belongs to you and should be shared with someone special. Everyone notices how happy Hiro has been since he met Zero Two and is revealed the two have been made official partners. During the Boys vs Girls conflict, both take part in it. When Hiro notes it’s getting out of hand, Zero Two decides to spice things up by tricking the boys into walking in on the girls bathing. Following that, she steals their clothes and leads Hiro on a chase throughout the house. He asks her why she did it and she replies she wanted to take part in a human fight.

Over time, Zero Two began acting distant with Hiro and speaking less to him, which concerned him. He asks her to be more open with him because he wants to understand her but she stops him and says they only need to understand each other when they pilot Strelizia. Afterwards, she tells him not to worry because they will be together until they die. Her behavior becomes increasingly disturbing and she even begins refusing to listen to Hiro when she disobeys orders. She reveals she needs to kill more klaxosaurs to become human but he says that’s not possible. As he tries to stop her from losing control, she calls him her fodder and begins strangling him and says she is going to become human so she can find her darling from before. This causes him to connect deeply into her consciousness and recall his forgotten memories.

With tears in his eyes, Hiro mentions this to Zero Two and she begins crying as she realizes Hiro is her long-lost darling and becomes remorseful for her actions. Ichigo bans Zero Two from seeing Hiro after what she did. Zero Two becomes consumed with rage and despair, pleading for her to let her see him. Later, Ichigo is persuaded by the others and finally allows her to see Hiro, on the condition that she is accompanied by the entire squad. When they find Hiro is not in his hospital room, Zero Two thinks they tricked her and attacks them. Hiro later finds his friends hurt and Zero Two strangling Ichigo. He calls her a monster and Zero Two, seeing this as punishment, decides to leave for good. Hiro, however, is despaired at her departure and attempts to stop her before Ichigo stops him and kisses him, and confesses her love to him.

During the siege of the Gran Crevasse, Hiro sees Zero Two pilot Strelizia in stampede mode and becomes concerned as she appears to be losing her sanity. Dr. FRANXX asks Hiro if he finds her more beautiful and proud than anyone like a klaxosaur, and Hiro replies she is a normal girl. He returns to Mistilteinn and finds her room destroyed, along with the mirror he gifted her. He gasps when he sees it in its broken, taped-up state. Hiro wonders why he is hesitating to help her and abruptly rushes into the battle, realising he needs her.

Ichigo reluctantly helps him and she sees his mind is full of nothing but Zero Two. Upon reuniting, Zero Two pushes Hiro away because she is a monster and called him a fodder but he retorts he called her a monster and they are even. He tells her they can see the world together now and kisses her. They reconnect and Zero Two confesses her love to Hiro, and he confesses his love to her.

They begin an official relationship and spend all their time together as the squad is left to fend for themselves at Mistilteinn. Zero Two begins rewriting her old picture book and Hiro visits her at night to see her drawings. He comments its a sad story but she says it was her first pretty thing and she wanted to have something beautiful with him when they were children. She moves his bangs and sees he is growing small horns as a result of ingesting her blood when they were little. They kiss and she says she knows what it means to be human. They later attend Kokoro and Mitsuru’s wedding, which is ruined by the 9’s and the couple’s memories are erased. Hiro and Zero Two are angered and decide to finally rebel against Papa, who promises to free all the parasites in exchange for their cooperation in the final battle.

During the first battle, Hiro and Zero Two reaffirm their promise to be together forever. However, the klaxosaur princess forces Hiro to link with and severely injured Zero Two. She kisses Hiro to link with him, much to Zero Two’s dismay and she attempts to save him before the princess takes him and Strelizia. She then loses consciousness after realizing Hiro delayed the self-destruction of Hringhorni. After waking up, she decides to rescue him and finds him close to death, and she kisses him to revive him. They reconnect and fight back against VIRM, who retreat. However, Hiro finds Zero Two in a catatonic state. Over the next few days, he tends to her but she doesn’t respond to him and mysterious injuries begin appearing on her body, and she begins wondering around and stares at the sky. He finds the last page of her picture book is blank and he realizes she did this on purpose because she anticipated they would part ways. He touches her horns with his and discovers she is mentally connected to Strelizia and she is fighting in space. He decides to go to space and rescue her despite the protests of his friends who say it is a suicide mission. In response to Goro’s protest, Hiro says Zero Two kept her end of their promise, so he can’t leave her behind or else he will feel guilty and he is better off dead if Zero Two doesn’t smile at him.

During the galactic battle, Hiro reaches Strelizia and connects with it to enter Zero Two’s consciousness, which is filled with pages from her picture book. She pleads with him to stay from her because she wants him to stay as a human but he says he wants to be with her forever. She says she is a minster and she is fine with being alone but he calls her a liar because that wouldn’t be true if her last page is blank. He asks her to let him stay with her so they can rewrite the story’s ending. He is on one knee with one hand offered out to her and she accepts, and he vows to never let her go, symbolically marrying each other. Strelizia evolves into Strelizia True Apus which is of Zero Two wearing what resembles a wedding dress and the two enter a warp gate with a klaxosaur bomb to end the war with VIRM for good.

Over the next two years of travelling in space, Hiro realizes he is becoming a klaxosaur but tells Zero Two he is not scared because he feels that he is becoming part of her. She also worries that he is getting weak after he rarely falls asleep. Upon reaching the VIRM home planet, their connection is severed and Hiro’s consciousness begins fading while Zero Two is attacked by VIRM. She begs their friends to save him and they realise something is amiss, send their prayers to them. Zero Two tells Hiro that humans are strong and all their lives turned out like this because of Hiro. He says it’s not something to be proud of because he caused them trouble but she says it was because of his desire to live. She says they are bound by a kiss and attracted to each other by nature, and asks him to join her. They reconnect and kiss, and Zero Two says they are the Jian. She says she is blessed to have been born and met everyone, and she loves Hiro, who declares he loves her too. They detonate the bomb and acknowledge they are about to die. However, both are not afraid and believe they will meet on Earth and pick up where they left off as long as their souls exist, and profess their love to each other one last time before the bomb explodes, destroying the planet and killing Hiro and Zero Two. Their souls begin making the long trip back to Earth.

A thousand years later, their souls return to Earth and reincarnate into two children who meet at a cherry blossom tree.

Fanon
It is the most popular ship of the fandom due to it being the central point of the show's plot. It made it to the list of top 10 anime ships. It also rivals with HiroIchi, thought the latter was sunk as of Episode 15.

While HiroZero wasn't an official ship until Episode 15, many of the show's fans shipped them. Some even predicted a previous meeting during their childhood which made them "instantly attracted" to each other, which was confirmed in Episode 13.

Some DARLING fans dislike this ship as they feel their relationship was toxic. Some called out Zero Two for manipulating and using Hiro for the first half of the show. However, many fans will argue that the time they spent together was filled with cutesy moments and that Zero Two truly loved Hiro from the start.

Fandom
DEVIANTART

PIXIV
 * ゼロヒロ tag on pixiv.
 * ヒロゼロ tag on pixiv.
 * ゼロヒロ on pixiv encyclopedia.
 * ヒロゼロ on pixiv encyclopedia.

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