Your Guide To Dere Types In Anime and Manga
From the lovable dork to the obsession-driven wanna-be lover, anime and manga characters are as diverse as they can possibly be.
Some we enjoy seeing on the screen, while some are enough to drive us up the wall.
And some have core traits that resemble those you have seen before in another character. Or perhaps in yourself.
Are you wondering what dere fits your personality?
Let’s look at the different dere types, what they mean to the anime world, and what they could mean to you.
What Is Dere?
We’re not the first to cover this topic and, most certainly, we’re not the last ones, provided Apocalypse doesn’t wipe us all tomorrow.
But since you landed here, here’s our take on dere types.
Dere is a Japanese word, short for ‘dere dere’, which means ‘love struck’ or ‘lovey dovey’. But for us, dere is the personality essence—something that smart people would call ‘archetypes’—of a character in anime or manga.
Basically, each dere has a specific personality, traits of its own, and, most importantly, a distinct way of reacting when in love.
Since all of us react differently to being in love, it makes sense that dere types come in big numbers.
Some dere types are more popular than others. This means that they end up on our screens pretty often.
The five most popular dere types are: deredere, tsundere, yandere, kuudere, and dandere.
Now, let’s inspect closely each of these types.
The Five Most Popular Dere Types in Anime and Manga
Deredere Characters.
In an anime, if the main character is energetic and pleasant, then there is a big chance that that character is a deredere.
Usually, you can tell what characters are deredere by how nice and emotionally stable they prove to be. They socialize gracefully and treat others kindly. Yet, they are especially caring for their loved ones.
In opposition to most dere types, deredere is not usually shy and communicates directly to their love interests. And they tend to express their feelings in a very healthy way.
We have seen other less popular dere types similar to deredere.
Oujodere has the same basic characteristics as deredere. The difference is that oujodere is a collected, ladylike figure on the outside, while on the inside they are utterly sweet.
Then there is megadere, the type of character that bursts with loving energy.
They’re not the ones to beat around the bush about how they feel. As your typical fangirl or fanboy, they are frank and shower their partner with love.
Tsundere.
Temperamental by default, the tsundere characters perspire standoffishness. They seem to be lacking emotion.
However, don’t get fooled by the icy exterior. While they need some time to sort out their… stuff, tsundere can develop feelings of love and actually act on them—this means that they do things for their ‘baka’ (meaning ‘idiot’), but won’t ever admit to it.
Tsundere is essentially shy and embarrassed to confess their feelings, so they do their best to hide them deep down.
Yandere.
Yandere characters are the nightmare you wouldn’t wish for your biggest nemesis. This character type rests on deception. It is the pure definition of instability and obsession.
Yandere is sweet on the outside. Before falling in love, they seem normal, they blend in very well.
But meeting their love interest turns them into pretty scary characters that would go as far as kidnapping or murdering someone, just to protect the one they love.
Should the love interest of a yandere treat them unfairly, cheat on them or simply show interest in someone else, there’s no telling what they’ll do.
Dandere.
Dandere characters are overflowing with sensitivity. Terms that describe their personality type are shyness, anxiousness, and loneliness.
Their insecurity and fear of triggering conflict are the reason for their quiet nature. This usually makes them borderline asocial.
Conversely, when they spend time with the right people, they become chatty and find their forever missing courage to open up.
While aloneness and quietude are the common ground of both dandere and kuudere, they pertain to different archetypes because of their divergent motivations.
So, let’s hit it with a fifth popular dere type.
Kuudere.
He will never lose his temper… like, NEVER.
He will always be calm and collected in his silence, unlike dandere, who lives in fear.
Essentially, kuudere characters are humorless, highly intelligent, moving ice blocks that eventually melt due to their feelings for their love interests.
A kuudere is not quick to show emotions.
They won’t say a word about how they feel.
And will act like they couldn’t care less about the people around them.
But they will let their affection surface through big gestures of love.
Pretty similar to this type of dere is shundere, whose central trait would be sadness. A shundere can be depressed, whiny, straightforward about his sadness, or concealing it from others.
Some of the Less Popular Dere Types
Bakadere.
Bakadere is one of the archetypes that overlaps other dere types.
Apparently only existing to annoy the main character, Bakadere is clumsy and pretty stupid. Even so, they are lovable fools.
Bakadere embodies the innocence and carefree personality of a child. Their ingenuous behavior is, however, the reason why other characters treat them like dummies and take advantage of them.
Nyandere.
This type of character is so obsessed with cats that its archetype contains the sound ‘meow’ (‘nyan’ in Japanese) in it.
The immense love that nyandere has for cats turns them into a cat-person and makes them look like a kitten, by growing fangs and cat-like ears.
But mostly, a nyandere can act normal most of the time, but at the sight of another feline, they reveal their dere.
Sadodere.
The love interest of a sadodere is an unlucky fella.
That is because sadodere is so unsympathetic and psychotic that they take pleasure from manipulating, humiliating, and tormenting the one they love—supposedly love.
In short, they are sadistic.
Other dere types, resembling this one, are masodere—enjoying their own pain— and sadomasodere—relishing the suffering of others and of oneself.
Hiyakasudere.
This type of character has one thing in common with sadodere: they enjoy a good tease on their love interest. However, they don’t hurt or manipulate others.
You see, hiyakasudere is more playful and flirtatious, and uses the teasing as a way to get noticed by their crush.
In this sense, they resemble tsundere as well, although they are not as angry and irritable.
Himedere.
This character has such a big ego that they want to be treated like royalty, especially by their love interest.
Usually, it is revealed to the audience that the arrogance and self-centeredness of a himedere are caused by a hurtful past, in which they have been abandoned or betrayed.
In fact, himedere is a lot similar to tsundere in their ways of being mean to their crush. What separates them is the superiority complex that characterizes himedere.
And ouijidere, too.
Oujidere.
Oujidere is, basically, the male version of himedere. And that’s it.
Kamidere.
Kamidere, hamidere, and oujidere would easily fit in the same category of characters.
Their arrogance and pride see no limits, but what makes kamidere a character of its own is that his egotistical nature makes him believe he is a god.
They speak their minds freely and demand recognition and respect.
Some versions of this character would display pride as a central trait, but would respect the others. And that makes kamidere likable.
Some other versions of kamidere are simply narcissistic and have no redeeming quality. They know about their human and ‘totally-not-divine’ nature, yet they are as superior as they can get.
Darudere.
Darudere characters would prefer to do nothing ever again.
And they would if their crushes wouldn’t ask them to do stuff. The thing with darudere is that they stop being lazy when the person they like needs them.
A darudere, even though they would complain the whole time, would do anything for their crush.
Undere.
The characters that fall under this category are at the complete disposal of their love interest.
Fearing abandonment, they latch to their partner. Usually, the partner of an undere would play them like a fiddle, because an undere is utterly incapable of saying no.
The ‘yes-dere’ would do anything their partner commands, no matter the consequences.
Yottadere.
And, finally, the last one on our list is Yottadere, the less popular category of characters that more often than not have a drink in their hand.
While other attributes of their personality may vary, a Yottadere always changes their behavior around the person they like.
They either sober up, or they drink even more as a reaction to their newfound feelings of affection.
So, What Dere Type Fits Your Personality?
Now it’s time to return to our initial question.
Which description made you think to yourself, “Hmm… this sounds a lot like someone I know”?
Are you really shy and only open up to the right people? Or are you a deredere, communicating your feelings straightforwardly? Or, perhaps, you are a kuudere, keeping your emotions to yourself for as much as possible?
Let us know your answer in the comment section.