There are different types of 'deres out there that can be put into sub-archetypes. But for this post I'll be briefly giving an overview of the four most commonly known and used ones.
Tsundere (tsune)
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| Louise de la Vallière |
"Tsun" meaning to turn away. Tsunderes usually have colored hair, and are socially adept. They are academically stable, and are well off athletically, although this is not absolute (as can be seen from my selection of a tsundere example to the right). The biggest determining trait about a tsundere is their conflicted feelings towards the lover in question. Their face becomes red, they deny anything to do with a romantic relationship when brought up, stutter, and sometimes become physically abusive (in a comical way). Usually such physical abuses are unrealistic and for comical effect, such as kicking their paired character into outer space. Stuttering in denial usually sounds like this:
"I-I-It's not like I like you are anything! I t-thought it would b-b-be a good idea to give you ch-chocolate for being a nice p-person! Stupid! D-Don't get any wrong ideas!"
A good example of a tsundere is Louise de la Vallière from Zero no Tsukaima! (The Familiar of Zero!).
Yandere (yahn)
"Yan" from the word "yanduru", meaning mentally ill. Where tsunderes would be described as (comical) abusive love, yanderes are obsessive love. Often the affection that yanderes show are very sweet and attractive... until the trigger is initiated. Then their affection becomes extreme, and sometimes dangerous. They are extremely jealous lovers, and will even kill should other people interact with their obsession.
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| Yuno's bipolar personalities |
The trigger of change for yanderes are usually when someone other than themselves show affection towards the target character. When this happens, the pupils of the eyes usually disappear, and they have a crazed, absent-minded look. Unless the main character calms them down, the yandere will do something dangerous. It's this bi-polar obsessive behaviour over a person that makes a yandere easy to spot.
I think it's safe to say that the most well known yandere character out there is Gasai Yuno from Mirai Nikki.
Kuudere (koo)
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| Kanade playing the piano as seen in the main theme |
"Kuu" being wordplay on the english word "cool". The title being semi-self-explanatory, a kuudere is a character who typically is calm and collected, and keeps their cool most of the time. It is truly a rarity to see them flustered or show a large range of emotions. Of course, the trigger being the person they are in love with, they usually show attraction and more emotion around the partnered character.
Although she doesn't seem like a dere at first, Tachibana Kanade from Angel Beats! fits the textbook definition of kuudere perfectly.
Dandere (dahn)
"Dan" derived from "danmari", meaning silent. Danderes are not to be confused with kuuderes. Kuuderes are reserved yet socialize on acceptable levels. However, danderes are shy and do not say a lot until the right people come along. As they get comfortable with the right people, they gain confidence and the dere side of the dandere starts to show.
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| The normally shy Hinata defends Naruto |
A lot of times, danderes are portrayed as the antisocial book readers and don't talk to anybody. But that doesn't mean they don't have feelings. Sometimes they can be a loner but have a huge crush on someone. Their only problem is that they are much too shy to initiate a relationship, and need help. As these characters develop, it is common for their confidence level to grow.
Hyuga Hinata from Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden clearly shows the growth of a dandere over a 3 year span.
