Best Tsundere Boys in Anime

Move over, Mr Darcy! These tsundere guys blow our fave Pride and Prejudice character out of the water, with their moody exteriors, prideful personas and epic transformations or revelations, and are just as fawned over by anime fans and non anime fans alike. These are some of the most multifaceted characters in anime  and are also those who undergo the biggest transformations in our favourite series'. There's just something about a mean character with a softer side that we can't resist. After all, why do girls love a bad boy so much? Hearts stop, jaws drop and everyone more aside, here is our list of best tsundere boys that everyone fawns over!

Best Tsundere Guys in Anime

21. Uchiha Sasuke From Naruto

Uchiha Sasuke is a toxic character within the anime, intent on winning and revenge, which he will pursue at any cost. He definitely pushes the term tsundere to its limit. His years of seeking vengeance and his actions that followed become increasingly demanding, irrational and isolates him from others, leading him to be branded as an international criminal. After learning the truth of his brother's sacrifice, later proving instrumental in ending the Fourth Shinobi World War, and being happily redeemed by Naruto, Sasuke decides to return to Konoha and dedicate his life to help protect the village and its inhabitants, becoming referred to as the "Supporting Kage" literally meaning: Supporting Shadow.

20. Sakishima Hikari From Nagi no Asu Kara

When we first meet Hikari he is prideful, impulsive and aggressive, deeply judgemental towards people on the surface and almost always looking down on people as inferior to him since first meeting them. He is fiercely loyal, proud and stubborn, refusing to change his views for anyone. As events transpire in the anime, he gradually matures and learns to see things and others in a different way. He starts to reach out to others, instead of shutting them out, pursuing ways in which they can work together.

19. Karneval Gareki From Karneval

A rebellious character in the anime, Gareki is a 15-year-old teen who robs corrupt people's mansions with a band of thieves. He has a troubled upbringing and a rough backstory, which may account for the fact he prefers to distance himself from others and seeks out trouble. Intelligent and practical as we get to know him, he has a tendency to hide his feelings behind a tough exterior and attitude. When Nai first met him, he only distinguished people through three categories: scum, prey, or enemies (to him, Nai was "prey" at their first encounter). However, when shown unexpected warmth from other characters in the anime, we begin to see a softer side to him, which he at first pushes down as far as possible, but we see it come through more and more throughout the anime. It presents him as such a multifaceted character, as no one is one sided and everyone has good and bad sides within them.

18. Yuu Kanda From D. Gray-man

Kanda is a cold, stoic and arrogant person who shows little regard to the lives of those around him, even his fellow Exorcists. He is, more often than not, willing to leave those who slow him down behind, even if it means their death and especially if they are not Exorcists, viewing any field officers (especially Finders) who are not Exorcists expendable pawns who should not be expected to be saved. He is even often seen turning his blade on his own comrades over small things, such as Lavi calling him by his given name, Yu, or Allen Walker simply trying to talk to him. Despite his words, Kanda is frequently rescues those around him, even being kind and putting his own life at risk (like he does with Gozu); although he puts on an act of doing it begrudgingly and openly complaining. However, we must trust his actions over his words. Since returning to the Order after Alma Karma's death, Kanda regrets his behavior for all of those years, blaming himself for Allen's current state and feeling like he cannot die in peace until he repays Allen's kindness.

17. Kyouya Sata From Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji

Kyouya is cold and rude to anyone who seeks to get close to him, possibly caused by his turbulent home life and background, with his parents undergoing a difficult divorce. He treats others with distrust and looks down on them, the character finding themselves on his sour side mainly being Erika, and among many things, he hates Valentines, Christmas and dating. It’s easy to pin him into the himedere category, but we see throughout the anime, him slowly but surely warming to Erika and showing a softer and kinder side towards her.

16. Sei Handa From Barakamon

Seishuu Handa, also known as Sei Handa, is the main protagonist on both Barakamon and Handa-kun anime and manga. Sei is a 23-year-old calligrapher who is forced to move to the Goto Islands on the western most edge of Japan after causing a scandal by assaulting a respected art critic. He gets so involved in his work that he is willing to resort to violence to defend it, and gets worked up easily. He is shy and socially awkward and shows little kindness or warmth to the students he has been assigned to teach; he is cold and brisk and extremely protective over the work. However, throughout the anime we see him grow more fond of his students and apprentices, as he gradually learns to appreciate the joy of sharing his calligraphy with others and the gift of teaching others. Despite growing more and more fond of his pupils, he still keeps his strict teacher face on, with some really good character traits like his pride and dislike for half-hearted work, making him resort to his angry and cold side, making him a really genuine, realistic and multifaceted all-round tsundere character.

15. Barnaby From Tiger and Bunny

An internally emotionally unstable character on the inside, Barnaby puts on a cold and distant, pompous front to conceal his turbulent feelings and emotions. He is the aloof, attractive upcoming son of a rich company and tries to do everything in his power to make himself look good as a hero. Like Sei's character, it is those who attempt to make friends with him that find themselves on the receiving end of his unsociable behaviour. Through the anime we see him warm up to certain characters and begin to reveal layers of himself to show the turmoil he has been feeling. He doesn’t like Tiger’s personality in the beginning but slowly warms up to him through the course of the anime, even attributing his successes to the teamwork between them.

14. Chiaki Shinichi From Nodame Cantabile

France is very well known for its capital Paris, said to be the city of love. Could this be the catalyst resulting in the changes to Shinichi's personality? Formerly a successful piano genius, Shinichi found himself at rock bottom, as a drunk man lying outside Nodame’s door. A bitter and despairing figure, with a perfectionist view, his harsh exterior begins to melt away when he discover's Nodame's secret talent as an excellent pianist and it is thanks to her and her music that he begins to see the joy and fun and pleasure in music. They end up in Paris, the city of love, and the rest is history.

13. Nara Shikamaru From Naruto

Shikamaru is such an underrated character in terms of character transformation! At first when we meet him he is lazy, not bothering to get involved in anything that may require any sort of effort and unable to see a purpose in anything, his closed mind and antisocial behaviors making it difficult for him to interact with people. As a result, he actively avoids making connections with people and judges others to be not worth the effort. He is completely unbothered and very picky when it comes to any task that needs doing. In the anime we see Shikamaru undergo a rapid maturity after the death of his teacher, Asuma Sarutobi, whose loss forces Shikamaru to recognise that the world is not safe that he cannot be kept protected from it forever. After avenging Asuma, Shikamaru takes it upon himself to do all that he can to make things better for future Konoha generations, especially Asuma's then-unborn daughter, Mirai; such is the Will of Fire. He may still balk at the prospect of the work he must do, but he no longer runs from it, even going so far as to argue in favour of difficult choices if it will guarantee his friends' and village's survival.

12. Vegeta From Dragon Ball Z

Regal, egotistical, and full of pride, Vegeta was once a ruthless, cold-blooded warrior and outright killer, but later abandons his role in the Frieza Force, instead opting to remain and live on Earth. His character evolves from villain, to anti-hero, then to hero through the course of the series, repeatedly fighting alongside the universe's most powerful warriors in order to protect his new home and surpass Goku in power. It’s so sweet to see this side of Vegeta where he isn’t just screaming or fighting, he is the kind of person who will cross galaxies for the people he loves, even if he prefers, and is determined, not to admit it.

11. Edward Elric From Fullmetal Alchemist

A loose cannon character in the anime, he is decidedly stubborn and strong-willed, frequently letting his pettiness and vindictiveness get the better of him and often has to be restrained or reprimanded by Al or whoever else is present. He is somewhat selfish and self-absorbed also rather quick-tempered, resorting more often to steel-fisted violence than calm negotiation to settle disputes. He has a reputation for being foul-mouthed and is an incurably sarcastic cynic, only too happy to bluntly and harshly put down others whenever he doesn't agree with them. However, for those few people who have made an impact on him, Ed shows his deeper nature to be one of marked selflessness, unflinching loyalty, and great compassion. As someone who has had to suffer greatly at such a young age, Edward cannot ignore the true suffering of others and becomes sympathetic upon sensing pain and resolve in people's hearts. We also come to see that he has a guilt complex. He might be a genius alchemist but is definitely not used to expressing his feelings.

10. Takumi Usui From Kaichou wa Maid-sama

Takumi has a harsh demeanor, often making cruel jokes, laughing and teasing others. He is restless and impulsive, so Misaki balances him out perfectly. Throughout the anime we see him fall for Misaki and she gives him a whole new purpose in life. Even though Takumi acts tough, he does warm up and protect Misaki from the trio on multiple occasions. 

9. Tomoe From Kamisama Hajimemashita

Abandoned by his former master, Mikage, and left to care for the land god's crumbling shrine alone for the last twenty years, when a powerless young girl named Nanami turns up on the shrine's doorstep bearing the wayward god's mark, Tomoe is furious. He refuses to become her familiar and vanishes, deciding instead to give himself over to a life of sloth, drink, and debauchery. However, in the world "over yonder" things rarely go to plan, and through desperation and cleverness. Tomoe slowly starts to fall in love with Nanami and he always wants her to hold his hand and walk everywhere with him and talk to each other. Through the anime we see that Tomoe is actually a very dedicated and moral yokai who will do anything for the ones he loves but is scared to show them any affection since he believes they will leave him too.

8. Inuyasha from Inuyasha

Having been without love for an extremely long time, Inuyasha's heart is closed to the world. This bitter loner half dog half human yokai is not the protagonist but ended up stealing the show. Unable to fight back as a child, Inuyasha was often forced into hiding whenever he encountered hostile yōkai. Such situations left him frustrated at being powerless to defend himself until he was older. Because of this, he developed a hostile and defensive personality, becoming especially reclusive on the night of the new moon, during which he lost his demon powers and became a mere mortal. His tsundere tendencies are only the beginning of why this series is such a great romance. Although he is crude and cold to Kagome in the beginning, having decided he doesn't like her, it isn't long until he begins to have strong feelings for her, and the rest is history.

7. Jotaro Kujo From JoJo Bizarre Adventure

Notice his actions, not his words. That's definitely something to employ when watching Jotaro in this awesome anime. Jotaro will never tell you he loves you but he will stop you from going into an assassination where he knows you’re going to throw your life away even if he knows he might not come back alive. Jotaro is an example of someone who will take care of you and keep it completely under wraps and if you find it out, he will blame it on someone else but never accept his feelings.

6. Ciel Phantomhive From Black Butler

Accustomed to luxury and a chess prodigy, Ciel is a proud, shrew boy who is used to being lavished with praise and unused to have to give anything back to anyone, ever. Despite his proud nature, we come to see   he is genuinely concerned for the well-being of his loved ones. For instance, he once jumped in front of a bear to guard Elizabeth Midford, and he also attempted to protect her from a horde of Bizarre Dolls. Additionally, he is attentive to the needs of his servants; when he heard that they desired new items, he took them shopping and provided them with necessities. Often, tsundere characters are not jerks that disrespect people, they are people who don’t know how to express their love and affection towards the people they actually care about in words, so instead, seek to cover it with anger or act cold and distant. Ciel has risked he life over and over again for the people that he loves and immediately gets embarrassed as soon as anyone thanks him for his kindness. Ciel is a true tsundere.

5. Yuri Plisetsky From Yuri! On Ice

Yuri is a very ambitious boy and a perfectionist who is determined to become the best of the best in figure skating. Contrary to his beauty and grace on the ice, once Yuri steps out of the rink he becomes foul-mouthed, rude, and dismissive of others, earning him his second nickname, the Russian Punk. To ensure he gets what he wants, Yuri is not above threatening or intimidating his competition. He is short-tempered and very accustomed to yelling. Through the anime we begin to unravel more of Yuri's character and come to understand how highly critical he is towards himself. Yuri is an extremely tsundere character, as he will not risk showing any 'weakness' ever, thus he takes time to warm up to people, but once he does, he is still shy of showing them any warmth so he covered it up with his tsun tsun or angry and cold side.

4. Nifuji Hirotaka From Wotaku Ni Koi Wa Muzukashii

A heavy smoker and a drinker who loves to spend days on end absorbed in his games, Muzukashii Hirotaka in Wotakoi is an antisocial character in the anime, it's fair to say. He is a huge otaku character, but prefers not to communicate with anyone, summoning the energy for short utterances reluctantly when forced to engage. As the story unravels, we see he has a soft spot for Narumi and although he comes off as aloof and a loner, he does really enjoy the company of Narumi being around him. He struggles to express these feelings to her but we see him communicate his affection through actions such as taking care of her stall at the convention when she needs to buy other doujinshis, going to the arcade with her and so many more little ways that he would never be caught doing otherwise.

3. Katsuki Bakugo From Boku no Hero Academia

Bakugou avoids showing any kind of warmth to anyone whatsoever. He is the perfect tsundere, appearing as crass, callous, arrogant and insensitive in the anime, with a superiority complex that means he is aggressive in defending his pride. He keeps his guard high and refuses to let it down to even tolerate the thought of showing love or receiving love to or from anybody, deeming it a weakness. Despite this, Katsuki has a more vulnerable side, having been led to tears due to damaged pride a few times. After the Battle Trial, Katsuki admitted that when he saw Shoto Todoroki's power, he couldn't beat him head on and called out how Momo Yaoyorozu was right about how reckless he was during his fight with Izuku. Katsuki has also shown moments of fear and guilt, the latter due to viewing himself and his own weakness as the cause of All Might losing his remaining power and retiring as a hero.

In truth, Katsuki really cares for Izuku despite how he acts, and wishes for him to continue improving his strength and Quirks, unlike before where he ridiculed Izuku's efforts and told him how he wouldn't amount to anything. His caring and protective side is further proven when he heard that Tomura was targeting One For All, immediately realizing that the villain leader would be going after Izuku and made attempts to keep Tomura away from him. 

2. Zoldyck Killua From Hunter X Hunter

Killua is great at a lot of things... assassination, his Nen abilities, planning and executing those plans, collecting cards, the Hunter Exam… showing and receiving affection is not one of those. Killua hails from the Zoldyck family. They are famous for their job as perfect assassins. This leads him to live a life completely different from other kids, being tortured in various ways, which did not give him a lot of time to explore any kind of familial affection. Killua is a proper tsundere who reprimands Gon any time he tries to tell him Killua is his best friend or laughs it off if Gon shows him any kind of love.

1. Sohma Kyo From Fruits Basket

Dominating the world of Shoujo anime, this anime gives us one of our ultimate tsundere guys in anime, Kyo from the Sohma family! Kyo is a very short-tempered, stubborn, brash, and sharp-tongued person, keeping others well at arms length with his occasionally violent outburts and insensitive, crass remarks. Kyo moves into Shigure Sohma's house with Yuki and Tohru Honda at the beginning of the series. As the story progresses, Kyo falls in love with Tohru, and little by little, his heart heals by finding true love in her. In the process, he finds the courage to live on despite his guilt, misgivings, and hardships. Kyo also has his own feature in our Best Anime Cat Guys list! 

The term tsundere can be used to describe a character who builds up a hard exterior through fear, pride, prejudice or other misgivings, who shies away from any kind of warmth, affection or love in the pretence that indulging in any of the above is a show of weakness. They add extra layers to the anime in that it is so difficult to coax them to let their guard down or to get through to their emotional side. If one can manage it, it is usually incredibly rewarding as we get to see a whole other, softer side to their character in the anime.

If you liked this definitely check out Best Shy Anime Girls, Best Anime Princesses, Best Yandere Guys in Anime and Best Old Man Anime Characters!