This article contains mention of suicide, which may be uncomfortable for some readers.
"If I can't have them, no one can" is the motto of yandere archetype characters. The yandere is a dere type that combines "yanderu," meaning sick, and "dere," meaning lovey-dovey. Together, it creates someone so lovesick that they're willing to do absolutely anything to end up with the one they love.
Yandere anime characters are fixated on their love interest. On the outside, they act as if they're kind and sweet characters to everyone, but on the inside, they're willing to go as far as murder if someone gets in their way. Often, yandere characters become fan favorites even though they're incredibly scary.
Updated by Mayra Garcia on August 17th, 2023: When it comes to yandere anime characters, some of them miss the mark by becoming too much of a stereotype. However, others are deeply beloved, such as Yuno Gasai and Shion Sonozaki. This list has been updated with new yandere anime girls that the fandom likes.
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21 Rolo Lamperogue
Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion
Romantic love almost always drives a yandere's actions. However, that isn't the case for all yandere characters, as Rolo Lamperouge from Code Geass is driven by brotherly love. While he masquerades as Lelouch's innocent and kind-hearted little brother, he's a heartless, cold-blooded killer.
While sent to spy on Lelouch for a year, Rolo grows very attached to him and even grows jealous of Lelouch's real sister, Nunnally. This jealousy is part of the reason he ends up killing one of Lelouch's friends, Shirley, after she expresses her desire to help reunite Lelouch with his sister.
20 Kotonoha Katsura
School Days
While the anime community has controversial opinions on whether School Days is worth the watch or not, Kotonoha Katsura is a yandere who takes her love to the extreme. She rivals Sekai Saionji for Makoto Itou's love.The two go back and forth having encounters with Makoto, and he can't decide which girl means more to him.
Each time Makoto spends time with Kotonoha or Sekai, the other steps it up. However, it's Kotonoha who takes things to the extreme every time. School Days definitely includes several incredibly toxic relationships and Kotonoha is often in the middle of them.
19 Misa Amane
Death Note
Misa Amane fits the standard definition of a yandere. In Death Note, she is willing to do anything for her love, Kira. When Light first started killing criminals acting as Kira, he ended up killing the criminals that killed Misa's parents. To thank him, Misa is willing to be Light's tool so that he can create a new world.
Misa had made a deal with Rem, cutting her lifespan to receive Shinigami Eyes. She does it again, cutting her life in half to assist Light in killing L. Death Note 13: How to Read states that Misa took her own life a year after learning of Light's death. This is the ultimate act of love in a yandere's eyes.
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18 Akane Hiyama
Love Tyrant
Akane Hiyama is a yandere from Love Tyrant. Her love interest is Seiji Aino, who has been cursed by Guri's Kiss Note. When two names are written in the Kiss Note, they will become a couple. Seiji will die if he doesn't find a girlfriend, so he sets his sights on Akane.
Akane heard that Guri and Seiji kissed when Guri misspelled Seiji's name in her Kiss Note. Akane enters her yandere mode, trying to kill both, but she stops when Guri pairs her with Seiji in her Kiss Note instead. Seiji is then paired with other girls in the Kiss Note, but Akane will not have any of it.
17 Shuu Tsukiyama
Tokyo Ghoul
Shuu Tsukiyama from Tokyo Ghoul is a fan-favorite male tsundere who gives off the impression that he's an intelligent and charming young man who wants to befriend Kaneki. However, he uses this impression to trick his "prey" and lure them to the Ghoul Restaurant to be eaten.
Shuu becomes captivated by Kaneki's smell and the desire to eat him, especially after he discovers him to be a one-eyed ghoul. He even resorts to kidnapping another person to lure Kaneki into his arms. His machiavellian scheming makes it a truly dangerous yandere.
16 Anna Nishikinomiya
Shimoneta: A Boring World Where The Concept Of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist
Anna Nishikinomiya from Shimoneta is the student council president and enforces the law. Any impurity of any kind has been banned, and civilization must remain chaste. However, even though Anna wants to enforce the law, she also wants Tanukichi Okuma's attention.
Tanukichi joins SOX, a terrorist organization bent on proliferating obscene material in Japan created by Ayame Kanjou, to get closer to Anna, triggering her yandere habits. When other girls try to approach Tanukichi, Anna's yandere tendencies take over.
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15 Akito Sohma
Fruits Basket
Most anime yanderes never grow out of their unhealthy behavior. Akito Sohma from Fruits Basket, however, was forced to grow out of it by the end of the series. Most yanderes are over-the-top and unrealistic, but Akito's behavior is terrifyingly realistic for some viewers.
Abusing zodiac members in the name of love, Akito needed to be the center of attention at all times and got jealous of people like Tohru, who took the Zodiacs' adoration away from her. Rin and Yuki bore the brunt of her abuse for years, so they're unwilling to forgive her. By the end of the series, Akito stabs Tohru and Kureno before realizing the dangerous consequences of her actions.
14 Megumi Shimizu
Shiki
Megumi Shimizu from Shiki hates living in the village and has a major crush on Natsuno Yuuki. She's even seen staring into his window outside his house, hiding in the bushes. When Natsuno appears, loud heartbeat sound effects can be heard, symbolizing the love that Megumi has for him.
After being turned into a vampire, Megumi shows yandere characteristics when she gets excited over Natsuno and kills anyone who gets too close to him. Megumi's reign of terror in the village came to a screeching halt when the villagers finally stabbed her with wooden stakes.
13 Kurumi Tokisaki
Date A Live
Kurumi is the third spirit to appear in Date A Live. Since she first debuted as the antagonist of the series, which earned her the moniker of Saiaku no Seirei, aka the "Worst Spirit," since she hates humans. As the series progresses, Kurumi becomes more neutral toward humanity and eventually, she becomes an ally for humans.
Kurumi uses a sweet girl facade, but she's more violent than she shows. Even though she doesn't value human life, she still believes in justice. For example, she only tortures criminals, and she hates animal abusers -- given this, fans consider her very relatable, even if she's cruel at times. This is why everyone likes her, even if she's a yandere anime girl.
12 Lucy
Elfen Lied
Lucy is a yandere in Elfen Lied. Lucy is a Diclonius girl, as can be seen from the horns on her head. After being shot in the back of the head, Lucy develops a meeker personality known as Nyu. As Nyu, Lucy is passive and innocent, but as Lucy, she is a death machine able to kill anyone with ease.
Lucy is in love with Kouta, Elfen Lied's main male character. The two of them were childhood friends, but she killed Kouta's family out of jealousy after Kouta didn't invite her out to a festival. After reuniting many years later, they struggle to reconcile after the truth comes out. This is one of the most complex storylines of the show.
11 Shion Sonozaki
Higurashi: When They Cry
Shion is one of the twins in the Higurashi: When They Cry series. Due to her identical appearance to Mion, the two constantly pretend to be each other. Shion only has one goal, and that's to avenge her crush, Satoshi Houjoi.
Shion would attack and torture Satoshi's sister, Satoko, because she thought she was responsible for Satoshi's stress. When Satoshi goes missing, Shion reachers her yandere breaking point. No one is safe from Shion as she kills and tortures anyone she thinks could be involved, including members of her own family.
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10 Yuno Gasai
Future Diary
Often referred to as the "Yandere Queen," Yuno Gasai is probably one of the best yandere anime girls. In the death game of Future Diary, contestants have a special diary that they use to help eliminate the competition. Yuki's goal is to end the game without killing anyone, which Yuno helps achieve.
Yuno only cares about Yuki, and she reveals that her diary solely revolves around Yuki and that her only goal is to end up with him. Yuno's infamous yandere face can be seen at the end of the first episode when she swears that she will protect Yuki no matter what.
9 Kof*cku
Noragami
In Noragami, Kof*cku's dark side even terrifies the goddess of war, Bishom*on. Kof*cku comes off as a naive young girl, but she's absolutely terrifying and isn't afraid of threatening others to get what she wants. Since she's mischievous and an airhead on the surface, it's especially scary to see her more sinister side.
Daikoku usually keeps her in line, but Kof*cku's dangerous antics have definitely gotten people hurt in the past. Kof*cku isn't a traditional yandere, but she pulls off the typical yandere creepy-cute aesthetic pretty well.
8 Shinkawa Kyouji
Gun Gale Online
Kyouji Shinkawa, aka Spiegel, is the main antagonist in Gun Gale Online, from the Sword Art Online franchise. The son of a hospital director, he resents his father's expectations, so he prefers to stay in the virtual world. Kyouji introduced Asada Shino to Gun Gale Online and then developed emotions for her, but she rejected him.
In retaliation, Kyouji used a paralyzing drug on her, almost killing her with the injection -- since the chemical would stop every muscle in her body, including her heart. Fortunately, Kirigaya Kazuto saved her before things got worse, but Kyouji proved he's a total yandere.
7 Minatsuki Takami
Deadman Wonderland
Minatsuki Takami from Deadman Wonderland became a yandere after her mother chose to save her garden during an earthquake instead of her own daughter. Minatsuki became a cruel, compulsive liar who loves stirring up drama between everyone else. Her true personality is jarring because she seems really shy and reserved at first.
Minatsuki killed her own father. She also enjoys putting her brother through hell and gaslighting him into believing that everything is his fault. Minatsuki knows that she's doing terrible things, but she doesn't care because she loves watching people suffer.
6 Kaede Fuyou
Shuffle!
In the Shuffle! anime, Kaede Fuyou is a kind and sweet girl who suffers trauma from her mother dying. Her childhood friend is Rin Tsuchimi. Kaede wants to hang out with Rin, but she is pushed aside when Rin chooses to spend time with Asa Shigure. Asa and Kaede are friends, but Kaede's relationship with her is strained. The final straw is when Asa and Rin go on a date. Kaede then attacks Asa by slamming her into a wall, causing her to have a heart attack that hospitalizes her.
5 Mizuki
Kamisama Kiss
Mizuki from Kamisama Kiss is a snake yokai. He kidnapped Nanami after finding out she was the Mikage shrine's new land god. Viewers soon discovered that Mizuki was just lonely since his god had long abandoned the shrine, and he sat around for hundreds of years awaiting her return.
Still, it doesn't excuse Mizuki's behavior. Later on, Nanami had to ask him for help in rescuing Tomoe from the Dragon King. Nanami fell unconscious after bargaining for the Dragon King's eye, and Mizuki used the opportunity to kiss her and forcibly become her second familiar.
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4 Yukako Yamagishi
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
Yukako Yamagishi is a Stand user who can freely manipulate her hair. Though she first appears to be sweet and demure, she quickly shows her darker side to her crush and obsession, Koichi Hirose. Yukako Yamagishi is often considered the reason why most yandere are high school girls.
Hirohiko Araki, the creator of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, mentions that her personality was designed to counter the "moe" character archetype that many female characters had. It's for these reasons that many consider Yukako Yamagishi to be the first "official" yandere character.
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2 Satou Matsuzaka
Happy Sugar Life
In Happy Sugar Life, Satou's rough upbringing likely fueled her yandere behavior. She's attached to Shio, a young girl whose mother abandoned her. It is revealed that Satou is keeping Shio locked up, saying it was for her own "protection."Satou is in love with Shio and will do anything for her, including blackmail, murder, and arson. When Shio finds her way outside, no one is safe from Satou. Happy Sugar Life is a deep psychological horror anime with a misleading name, and Satou is definitely one of the anime's most disturbing yanderes.
