- Gender: Male
- Age: 16
- Hair: Black
- Eyes: Black
- Nationality: Japanese
- From the manga Ranma 1/2, by Rumiko Takahashi
- First Appearance: Chapter 9
A young chef who specialises in the preparation of takoyaki, aka fried battered octopus balls. When they were both fairly young, Hayato challenged Ukyou Kuonji to a martial arts cooking competition, in order to settle which was the superior of their preferred foodstuffs. He lost, partially due to the fact that Ukyou’s large okonomiyakis had a certain tactical advantage over his much smaller takoyaki balls.
Since Hayato had insisted that the loser of the duel wear a silly children’s mask for the rest of their life, Hayato duly donned his silly octopus mask and has continued to wear it until now, always training and waiting for the time he can have his rematch with Ukyou and avenge his humiliating defeat.
Hayato’s training has not been in vain. He is quite skilled in the martial arts, specifically in the usage of takoyaki balls and their preparatory tools for combat. He can dent steel with the takoyaki he throws, and his oversized metal takoyaki skewer is a dangerous weapon that can be used as both a club and a spear. He is impressively strong, perhaps a notch or two below Ranma, but definitely more powerful than Ukyou now.
Underneath the mask, Hayato is quite homely, a fact he doesn’t seem to acknowledge. He is gruff, bad-tempered, and impatient, though not entirely without honour. His companion and seemingly only friend is a small land octopus named Patoratsyu. The octopus is quite intelligent, and capable of pulling off numerous tricks as well as understanding simple commands.