Every Captain in Haikyuu!!, Ranked Worst to Best

From calm leaders to terrifying aces, we rank Haikyuu’s top captains and break down how each one shaped their team and their victories.

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SUMMARY

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We all love Haikyuu!! for its story, emotions, the equations between players, what drives these individuals, and more. Usually, discussions about the “best player” dominate social media platforms and have for years. However, a part of the series still remains underrated in some way—the team captains.  

Yes, Kageyama was the prodigy on court and a genius setter that rivalled Oikawa, Hinata filled the empty shoes of the Little Giant, Tsukishima finally found his love for the game, and Yamaguchi discovered his signature move. But what about those who helped shape these boys into memorable players? And this goes for every top high school that entered the Volleyball court and left behind their marks fair and square. 

7. Wakatoshi Ushijima (Shiratorizawa)

“We have no need for a setter who won’t devote himself to his ace.” — Season 2, Episode 1

Ushijima is the textbook ace-captain. He is fierce, a total beast on court, and the entire team strategy revolves around him. Teammates play, move, and jump to ensure that Ushijima gets the perfect opening for his dangerous spikes. His best friend and teammate, Tendo, lived and breathed to make the game fit for Ushijima. Tendo was not only a formidable opponent and player, but he also really cared about his captain.

However, a captain’s role is to make sure that each player on his team improves and makes the best of what they get. Meanwhile, Ushijima was the captain, the ace, and the engine of the Shiratorizawa. Without him, the team would fall apart. Plus, he never really cared for his position as long as he won. The fault lies with the coach for not teaching him the essence of captaincy, and so, Ushijima lies at the bottom of this list.

6. Kotaro Bokuto (Fukurodani)

“But once that moment arrives for you, that’s the moment you’ll be hooked on volleyball.” — Season 2, Episode 8

Bokuto and Akaashi are the two most favorite owls from Fukurodani. Bokuto is the over-enthusiastic, over-zealous captain who is also the ace of the team. You can’t help but be inspired by his gameplay and fall in love with his clumsiness. However, he is less of a captain and more of a prodigy. It’s Akaashi who takes care of the team, formation, and even Bokuto as the vice-captain, but he is always on the clock, fulfilling the role of the captain himself. This doesn’t mean that Bokuto doesn’t care; it’s just that he is really a kid at heart. 

Bokuto loves volleyball and only understands that his one job is to ensure the team wins. Other than that, he fails to wrap his head around any other duties. Later on, he takes Hinata under his wings and teaches him his famous the feint. This makes him a great mentor, but also a very gullible person. And his coach and teammates understand his pure-hearted and childish nature. That’s why Bokuto ranks sixth in terms of captaincy, but definitely ranks in the Top 3 when it comes to the best players in Haikyuu!!

5. Kaname Moniwa (Date Tech)

“We already beat this spiker once! If we can’t beat him again, we don’t deserve to be called the iron wall!” — Season 1, Episode 18

Moniwa is the type of captain whom you wouldn’t think much about. But once you watch him step into the court, you can’t help but respect this little dude. He’s the calm form that handles the intimidating Takanobu Aone, whom everyone fears. Aone is a sweetheart, but a player has to earn his respect with their performance for him to bow before them. And here Moniwa not only manages to tinker with Aone’s temperament but also maintains Date Tech’s famous “Iron Wall” formation on court. 

He is not a shout-from-the-top type, and Moniwa is a master when it comes to switching his team’s formation on-the-go. That’s a skill a person needs to hone over time with rigorous training, and it also requires a captain to know his players like the back of his hand. This further proves how fluent Moniwa was with each of his teammates’ weaknesses and strengths. And in return, the team had complete faith in their captain’s call shots. 

4. Shinsuke Kita (Inarizaki)

“I am built upon the small things I do every day, and the end results are no more than a byproduct of that. You gotta do it every day without fail.” — Season 4, Episode 20

Some captains get their position because they are the team’s ace. Then there are some captains who have no significant skills, nothing to flex about, but an iron-clad will that unifies players into an attacking machine. Shinsuke Kita is one such captain. He was one of the benchwarmers, and the “Miya Twins”, Atsumu and Osamu, were Inarizaki’s ace-duo that would often obliterate any team that stood against them. But Kita is different. Despite not being the regular starters, Inarizaki followed him, respected him, and obeyed him. Even their coach.

Kita earned his position by being consistent, disciplined, and the hardest-working person in the room. He may not be an outstanding player like the Miyas, but he had a dangerous knack for reading his opponents’ next move. Especially their captains. Kita would focus on the opponent team’s captain and call shots—even from the bench. In fact, he knew when Atsumu wanted to serve a spike, what Gin thought before blocking, etc. He ranks fourth on this list because he absolutely earned his captaincy with blood, sweat, and tears. 

3. Toru Oikawa (Aoba Johsai / Seijoh)

“Talent is something you make bloom. Instinct is something you polish!” — Season 2, Episode 24

Oikawa is the reason why people believe that hard work can beat talent. He was arrogant, flashy, the ace, and self-obsessed, but no one loved Volleyball more than he did. Iwaizumi was the roof that sheltered Seijoh and even their ace card, but it was Oikawa’s captaincy that bloomed his team as one of the Top 4 high schools in Japan. Even Ushijima of Shiratorizawa told Hinata and Kageyama that Oikawa is one of those rare players who bring out the best in every teammate. 

Oikawa’s playstyle is not confined to his own position, but as a setter, he understood the angle and speed that was required so that his teammate could hit the ball perfectly. He didn’t ask his team to cope up with him; he walked towards them and set the ball so that every player on his team could do their best. And that’s what made Aoba one of the most formidable and fearsome teams. As a player and a captain, Oikawa is a class apart, and that’s why Shiratorizawa tried to scout, but failed to Aoba. 

2. Tetsuro Kuroo (Nekoma)

“That unsteady shrimp you guys are talking about is the backbone of Nekoma. He’s our brain and our heart.” — Season 1, Episode 11

Kuroo ranks second on this list and is higher than Oikawa for one reason: his strategic and tactical mind. In this, no other player in Haikyuu!! comes even remotely close to him. It was Kuroo’s idea that made Nekoma’s coach come up with a plan that would require Kenma to move as little as possible on the court. So that Kenma could use his optimal intelligence as a setter without physically exhausting himself, while Nekoma would fill in for his lack of physical movement on court. 

Kuroo studies his opponents with awe but is confident, calculating, and charming. He later becomes Tsukishima’s mentor and teaches him several things alongside Bokuto and Akaashi. But that’s not why he became a captain. Yes, he’s a tremendous middle blocker and is a monster on court, but he earned his position because he built strategies that would benefit the next few generations of Nekoma even if he’s not around. 

1. Daichi Sawamura (Karasuno)

“Even if we’re not confident that we’ll win, even if others tell us we don’t stand a chance, we must never tell ourselves that.” — Season 1, Episode 16

Daichi sits at No. 1 because he embodies the unsung, indispensable parts of leadership that Haikyuu!! celebrates most. He’s Karasuno’s captain and a starting wing spiker who acts as the team’s emotional governor. He’s the type to go to a temple and pray for the team’s win; he was there when Karasuno was disbanding the volleyball team due to a lack of players and victories. Daichi knew he didn’t have any fancy plays to show, so he became a solid foundation for Hinata and Kageyama to stand on top of him and defeat every team.  

Haikyuu!! may have given us the ace spiker-setter duo of Karasuno (Hinata and Kageyama), but it was Daichi’s steadiness that built the team. Daichi understood Hinata’s potential, Kageyama’s talent, Nishinoya’s photographic memory, Tanaka’s determination, and Asahi’s build, and he polished each one of them. And in the end, Daichi left that polished team of gems in the careful hands of Ennoshita, who then left it in Yamaguchi’s care.

Tell us in the comments below who you think is the best captain in Haikyuu!!.

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