ᴛᴏᴜʀɴɪ !

He's openly bisexual, he flirts with the human girls and his crush on Kaname is known to the entire night class.

It's fuels probably the best conflict with Yuuki that the vampires have. Aido wants to scare off Yuuki because of his crush. (This is also the same reason Ruka disapproves but she more so takes that out on Zero or Kaname himself) The rest of the vampires disapprove because she's human and will lead to Kaname's family no longer being 'purebloods'.

His crush is treated with the same validity as Ruka's, they both want Kaname's affection and they both choose to stay by Kaname's side even if he'll never reciprocate, and they're both doing so out of romantic feelings.

Hanabusa is the only character that gets the chance to question Kaname's authority throughout the entire anime, and I generally think it's the best character arc in the show, even if it does end with Hanabusa re-affirming his belief/feelings in Kaname, because if there wasn't constant idol worship of Kaname every time someone talks about him you might actually think about his actions and realise he's a terrible fucking person.

Point is Hanabusa is openly bisexual and it's not mocked or chided.

You can argue that him collecting stuff that Kaname has broken can come off as homophobic but this is in the same episode where Zero and Yuuki have confiscated literally hundreds of photos of the night class from the humans, so again it seems more like treating Hanabusa's romantic feelings on the same level as everyone elses.

For me personally this was much better queer/lgbt+ representation then most media from the 2010s.

Vampire Knight was legitmately the first show I watched where queer attraction wasn't treated as the butt of a joke every time it was mentioned, where it was okay for that attraction to exist along side the non-queer attraction, and where that attraction wasn't treated as bizarre and deviant, it just was.

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕴𝖉𝖔𝖑 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖓𝖙

In my brain Vilkas is a workaholic. Everyone, including Kodlak, know that the role would swallow him up. Vilkas would probably be a fairly effective Harbinger but there would be none of him left if he was given the role. Also probably a bit of ego? Like at some point Vilkas may have overheard one of the elder members mentioning offhandedly that Kodlak would likely select him as the successor and it became absolute truth to him. Aela, Skjor, Farkas, they're all soft compared to him.

You're so right about Vilkas being delusional. He's incredibly stubborn, thinking that if he can work a little harder things have to go his way. If he pours enough of his time and sanity into something it simply must happen the way he intends, and he tears himself apart trying to make everything happen the way he planned out.

Kodlak likely saw that while Vilkas may be the logical choice to fill the role, the Dragonborn is better suited for it. Their temperament and experience gives them a different perspective. Vilkas sees it as a failing that they haven't spent their life within the walls of Jorrvaskr, living and breathing for their guild, but Kodlak probably saw it as a pro - they are not blinded by allegiance to their shield siblings. They have an empathy for other factions that Vilkas' loyalty does not allow space for.

Vilkas would likely know the answer to any historical question about the Companions. He can recite battle strategies without thought. But the Dragonborn knows when to have mercy for their opponents. They know when to ask for information instead of annihilating every enemy, they aren't driven by revenge as he is. Vilkas does not still his sword, especially when it comes to the Silver Hand.