Tsundere? Deredere? List of Japanese personalities

Do you know the Japanese names for those personalities? Tsundere, yandere, kuudere, and dandere are the ones most people meet first, and all four borrow the ending of deredere (デレデレ). If you have watched anime, you have probably encountered a character built on one of them.

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What does Deredere mean?

It has become a big cliché in anime to include characters that represent some of these Japanese personalities, with the most popular being the tsundere girls. The labels grew in Japanese fan talk, especially around galge (romance games) and anime, and then traveled with the shows. The longer list of anime clichés covers the other habits that show up just as often.

All four personalities mentioned are tied to romantic feelings. Deredere (デレデレ) is the lovey-dovey piece the other names are built on. It is ordinary Japanese mimetic language for someone who has gone soft and affectionate, in the same family as the Japanese onomatopoeia you hear outside anime too.

A deredere character is openly warm, cheerful, and kind toward the people around them. The other personalities keep half of that onomatopoeia and mix in a second manner. Viewers still find the mix lovable, even when the second half is sharp or strange.

Some examples of openly lovable deredere characters are Minori Kushieda from Toradora, an energetic, cute, and totally cheerful girl. We can also mention Miyuki Takara from Lucky Star and Haruka Morishima from Amagami.

What does Tsundere mean?

Among the personalities derived from dere, tsundere is the most popular in anime. It refers to a cold, sharp, or difficult person who, deep down, has feelings but cannot express them.

Tsundere joins the mimetic words tsuntsun (ツンツン) and deredere (デレデレ). Tsuntsun is the prickly, standoffish manner, the person who turns away and snaps. Deredere is the lovey-dovey manner. Japanese Wikipedia records an early online use on 29 August 2002, in a post on Ayashii World @Zantei about Ayu Daikūji from the visual novel Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. The poster liked her tsuntsun deredere side. By December 2002, a post on 2channel was already using the short form tsundere.

Oranyan (オラニャン) is a rarer label beside this one. It joins ora-ora, a rough shout, with nyan, a cat's meow, for a man who acts tough in public and softens in private. Among the most famous tsundere characters, we have Taiga from Toradora.

Tsundere got pulled into moe talk. Moe is the warm pull a character exerts. The origin and meaning of moe spells that feeling out, and a tsundere can produce it. I agree that I am attracted to characters who stay on the tsuntsun side.

List of Tsundere Characters

See below a list of popular tsundere characters in anime:

• Misaka Mikoto (To Aru Kagaku no Railgun)
• Aisaka Taiga (Toradora!)
• Serizawa Fumino (Mayoi Neko Overrun!)
• Senjogahara Hitagi (Bakemonogatari)
• Naruko Anjou (Anohana)
• Azunyan (K-ON!)
• Minami Shimada (Baka to Test)
• Katsura Hinagiku (Hayate no Gotoku)
• Asuka Langley (Evangelion)
• Sanzenin Nagi (Hayate no Gotoku)
• Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière (Familiar of Zero)
• Shana (Shakugan no Shana)
• Aria Holmes Kanzaki (Aria the Scarlet Ammo)
• Hiiragi Kagami (Lucky Star)
• Haqua du Rot Herminium (World Only God Knows)
• Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
• Kurisu Makise (Steins; Gate)
• Ayuzawa Misaki (Maid-Sama!)
• Mio Akiyama (K-on!)
• Izumi Akazawa (Another)
• Tsukasa Ayatsuji (Amagami)
• Usami Masamune (Mayo Chiki!)
• Kanna Tanigawa (Waiting in the Summer)
• Yui Kotegawa (To Love-Ru)
• Yui (Angel Beats!)
• Houki Shinonono (IS-Infinite Stratos -)
• Kyou Fujibayashi (Clannad)
• Minko Tsurugi (Hanasaku Iroha)
• Suiseiseki (Rozen Maiden)
• Victorique de Blois (Gosick)
• Mio Isurugi (MM!)
• Minase Iori (Idol Master)
• Rin Tosaka (Fate/stay night)
• Corporal Giroro (Keroro Gunso)
• Airi Sena (Mashiroiro Symphony)
• Funami Yui (YuruYuri)
• Shinku (Rozen Maiden)
• Tainaka Ritsu (K-on!)
• Aoba Tsukishima (Cross Game)
• Suigintou (Rozen Maiden)
• Yuzan Kaibara (Oishinbo)
• Zakuro (Otome Yokai Zakuro)
• Asuna Kagurazaka (Negima!)
• Hiyoko Tamaizumi (We Without Wings)
• Maka Albarn (Soul Eater)
• Kotoko Aihara (Itazura na Kiss)
• Revy (Black Lagoon)
• Ogi Chika (Genshiken)
• Retsu Kaioh (Grappler Baki)
• Haruko Amaya (Maken-ki!)

What does Yandere mean?

Yandere (ヤンデレ) comes from yanderu (病んでる), the colloquial form of the verb for being unwell, used here in the mental sense, and from deredere. It names someone madly in love, far enough gone to hurt people, including the person they love.

The surface is loving and pleasant, the sort of person who will do anything for the one they want. There is also another term, yangire (ヤンギレ), for someone who turns violent suddenly from a trauma, rather than from that lovesickness.

List of Yandere Characters

See below a list of popular yandere characters in anime:

• Minase Yuka (11 eyes)
• Akazawa Izumi (Another)
• Ogura Yumi (Another)
• Sugiura Takako (Another)
• Himeji Mizuki (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu)
• Kirishima Shouko (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu)
• Hotarubi (Basilisk)
• Kagerou (Basilisk)
• Asakura Miu (Bungaku shoujo)
• Ophelia (Claymore)
• Shiro (Deadman Wonderland)
• Takami Minatsuki (Deadman Wonderland)
• Harima Mika (Durarara)
• Niekawa Haruna (Durarara)
• Yagiri Namie (Durarara)
• Nana (Elfen Lied)
• Lucy (Elfen Lied)
• Mariko (Elfen Lied)
• Matou Sakura (Fate/stay night)
• Phryne (Fractale)
• Kagura (Gintama)
• Harminia (Gosick)
• Elsa DeSica (Gunslinger Girl)
• Yasuri Nanami (Katanagatari)
• Oginome Ringo (Mawaru Penguindrum)
• Will of Abyss (Pandora Hearts)
• Charlotte (Pandora Hearts)
• Shinohara Wakaba (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
• Suigintou (Rozen Maiden)
• Tohno Akiha (Shingetsutan Tsukihime)
• Kiryuu Moeka (Steins;Gate)
• Fuyou Kaede (Shuffle)
• Lambdadelta (Umineko)
• Ushiromiya Rosa (Umineko)
• Ushiromiya Maria (Umineko)
• Nakahara Misaki (NHK)

What does Dandere mean?

Dandere (ダンデレ) refers to people with a calm personality who are super discreet and silent, opening up only to trusted people after a lot of difficulty.

Even so, a dandere shows a sweet, gentle, and romantic side. The dan half comes from danmari (だんまり), silence, someone who speaks little. A dandere stays quiet from shyness. The kuudere below stays quiet from composure.

List of Dandere Characters

See below a list of popular Dandere characters in anime:

• Hinata Hyuga (Naruto)
• Mathilda Alster (Beyblade)
• Haruka Nogizaka (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu)
• Misaki Etou (Dragon Crisis!)
• Mikuru Asahina (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu)
• Shiomiya Shiori (Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai)
• Kotomi Ichinose, Nagisa Furukawa(CLANNAD)
• Shinobu Maehara (Love Hina)
• Sae Nakata (Amagami SS)
• Wendy Marvell (Fairy Tail)
• Aries (Fairy Tail)
• Mizore Shirayuki (Rosario + Vampire)
• Kazane Hiyori (Sora no Otoshimono)
• Mio Kitahara (Ano Natsu de Matteru)
• Itsuwa (To Aru Majutsu no Index)
• Hina Sakai (Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi)
• Yakumo Tsukamoto (School Rumble)
• Aoi Futaba (Asobi ni Iku yo!)
• Mio Akiyama (K-ON!)
• Sawako Kuronuma (Kimi ni Todoke)
• Kiri Komori (Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei)
• Yoshino (Date A Live)
• Historia Reiss (Shingeki no Kyojin)
• Anri Sonohara (Durarara!!)

What does Kuudere mean?

Kuudere (クーデレ) refers to people with a cold, indifferent, and expressionless personality, a person who can seem to lack emotions and resemble a robot. They are discreet and quiet, and sometimes they do not understand their own emotions.

Kuudere joins kūru (クール), the Japanese loan of the English word cool, with deredere. Cool here means calm and composed. In short, it is a character who acts indifferent while being in love.

List of Kuudere Characters

See below a list of popular Kuudere characters in anime:

• C.C (Code Geass)
• Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)
• Raiden (the Metal Gear series)
• Naoto Shirogane (Persona 4)
• Presea Combatir (Tales of Symphonia)
• Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
• Sesshōmaru (Inuyasha)
• Shiki Ryougi (Kara no Kyoukai)
• Koneko Toujou (HighSchool DxD)
• Yayoi Kunizuka (Psycho-Pass)
• Origami Tobiichi (Date A Live)
• Carla (Fairy Tail)
• Byakuya Kuchiki (Bleach)
• Tabitha (Zero No Tsukaima)
• Sailor Pluto (Sailor Moon)
• Fate Testarossa (Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha)
• Baba (Ojamajo Doremi)
• Ikaros (Heaven's Lost Property)
• Ange Ushiromiya (Umineko: When they Cry)
• Freudia Neuwahl (Rosenkreuzstilette)
• Mara Jade Skywalker (Star Wars: Expanded Universe)
• Setsuna Higashi (Fresh Pretty Cure)
• Raven (Teen Titans)
• Yuri Tsukikage (HeartCatch Pretty Cure)
• Alice Shiratori (Moetan)
• Aisa Himegami (To aru majutsu no Index)
• Piccolo (Dragon Ball Z)

Other types of deredere

Kamidere: a person who likes to be treated like a deity, above everything and above everyone. They tend to believe they are the most perfect and infallible and should receive special attention and priority.

Himedere: girls who like to command and govern others. The word comes from hime (姫), princess. They are often written as daughters of wealthy people, and many of them carry a bit of a tsundere personality.

Undere (ウンデレ): a friendly person who agrees with everything, and often answers with un (うん), a casual yes, or with sō da yo ne (そーだよね), that's right.

Coo-dere (クーデレ): another romanization of kuudere, cool joined to dere. In The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the quiet, flat presence is Yuki Nagato. Haruhi herself is energetic and runs the club.

List of personalities in Japanese

Now we will share a list of general personalities in Japanese, separate from the dere types. Some rows are already full phrases, and some are adjectives you still have to connect to a person. Look the word up before you use it about someone.

A na-adjective takes na hito (な人): a person who is that way. An i-adjective connects by itself, as in yasashii hito (優しい人), a kind person. No aru (のある) says the person has that quality.

Japanese	Romaji	English
大望のある	taimou no aru	ambitious
自信のある	jishin no aru	self-confident
冒険者	boukensha	adventurous
ビール腹のある人	biiru bara no aru hito	beer belly
カリスマ性のある	karisumasei no aru	charismatic
情け深い	nasakebukai	compassionate
創造力のある	souzouryoku no aru	creative
好奇心の強い	koukishin no tsuyoi	curious
決断力のある	ketsudanryoku no aru	decisive
のんびりした人	nonbiri shita hito	laid-back
マリファナを吸う人	marifana wo suu hito	marijuana smoker
想像力のある	souzouryoku no aru	imaginative
賢い	kashikoi	intelligent
頭がいい	atama ga ii	smart
内向的	naikouteki	introverted
直観力のある	chokkanryoku no aru	intuitive
忙しい	isogashii	busy
論理的思考のある人	ronritekishikou no aru hito	logical thinker
頭の回転がいい	atama no kaiten ga ii	quick thinker
性格	seikaku	personality
洞察力のある	dousatsuryoku no aru	insightful
怠け者	namakemono	lazy
カウチポテト	kauchi poteto	couch potato
世間離れた	sekenbanareta	unworldly
控えめ	hikaeme	reserved
お金持ち	okanemochi	rich
厳しい	kibishii	strict
直接に言う人	chokusetsu ni iu hito	blunt
おしゃべり	oshaberi	talkative
才能のある	sainou no aru	talented
人見知り	hitomishiri	shy around strangers
優しい	yasashii	kind
勤勉家	kinbenka	hardworking
天才	tensai	genius
革新者	kakushinsha	innovator
天性の指導者	tensei no shidousha	natural leader
孝行娘	koukou musume	filial daughter
利他的	ritateki	altruistic
友好的	yuukouteki	friendly
分析的	bunsekiteki	analytical
情熱的	jounetsuteki	passionate
傲慢	gouman	arrogant
綺麗	kirei	beautiful
精力家	seiryokka	full of energy
献身的	kenshinteki	dedicated
迫力にあふれる人	hakuryoku ni afureru hito	full of intensity
おしゃれ	oshare	stylish
天然の人	tennen no hito	harmlessly airheaded
元気	genki	energetic
変わり者	kawarimono	eccentric
外向的	gaikouteki	extroverted
流行に敏感	ryuukou ni binkan	trendy
感じやすい人	kanjiyasui hito	sensitive
憂鬱	yuuutsu	gloomy
頑固	ganko	stubborn

Use the dere sections when you are talking about a character, and the table when you are talking about a person. The table mixes traits with a few states that are not personalities, so the dictionary form still matters before you say the word to someone.