Tenma Udai

Udai was confident and mischievous during his school years. Saeko Tanaka remembers him as someone she probably would have gotten along with, while his demeanor on court projected the confidence expected from Karasuno's ace.

His competitive identity was built partly around accepting his physical disadvantage rather than denying it. Udai understood that he could not acquire a tall player's reach, so he concentrated on finding techniques that allowed a shorter attacker to survive against large blocks.

As an adult, he is much less attached to the reputation surrounding the Little Giant. He can acknowledge that later short players surpassed what he accomplished without becoming defensive about it.

Udai developed into a high-level wing spiker despite being considerably shorter than conventional aces. His attacking style depended on jumping ability, timing and especially technical solutions to the blocks created by taller opponents.

According to Ikkei Ukai, Udai initially struggled with being blocked. He eventually learned to target seams between blockers' arms and deliberately use block touches and deflections rather than insisting on beating height directly.

That development transformed him into Karasuno's ace and contributed to the school's national tournament appearance. His number 10 subsequently becomes symbolically associated with Karasuno's tradition of small, explosive attackers.

Udai's image appears at the beginning of the story when a young Shouyou Hinata watches Karasuno competing on television. Seeing a short player succeed against much taller opponents inspires Hinata to begin volleyball.

For much of the series, Udai functions as an ideal Hinata pursues without personally knowing the man behind the nickname. Stories from Karasuno alumni gradually provide a more complete picture of how the Little Giant actually played.

Udai eventually attends Karasuno's national match against Kamomedai and meets Hinata in person. He reveals that he stopped competitive volleyball after high school and later becomes a manga artist. Watching Kourai Hoshiumi and Hinata also leads him to reassess his own former ability and the meaning of being a Little Giant.

Shouyou Hinata is inspired to begin volleyball after seeing Udai play for Karasuno on television, although Udai initially has no knowledge of the boy he influenced.

Ikkei Ukai coached Udai and helped him develop methods of attacking when taller blockers began consistently stopping him.

Saeko Tanaka attended Karasuno during Udai's school years and remembers his personality and reputation.

Akiteru Tsukishima was at Karasuno during Udai's era and later encounters him again.