Trapped in a Dating Sim is a charming new isekai anime title in the Spring 2022 lineup, starring the roguish protagonist Leon Fou Bartfort. He awoke one day in his sister's favorite otome game after he fell down the stairs and hit his head, but his new life is anything but easy. Leon is a "mob" character, a background nobody. He's really starting from the bottom.

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Leon Bartfort is a witty, resourceful isekai underdog who will say or do whatever he must to survive as a minor noble's thirdborn son, but that won't keep him down. Leon is a brave, smart hero who has come a long way since getting reincarnated, and one way or another, he should remind anime fans of similar characters in other series, isekai or not.

10 Naofumi Iwatani Is A Fellow Isekai Underdog (The Rising Of The Shield Hero)

Naofumi hopeful smile in Rising of the Shield Hero

Some isekai heroes are hilariously OP when they begin their adventures, with the slime Rimuru Tempest and the skeleton wizard Ainz Ooal Gown being major examples. Leon, though, has more in common with isekai heroes who start from zero, and that describes Naofumi Iwatani the Shield Hero.

Naofumi has more magic than Leon does, but his adventure was anything but easy. He was hated as the "Shield devil" for months, and no one would trust or help him aside from the members of his new party. Naofumi, like Leon, is a practical and no-nonsense hero who can only rely on a few true friends to survive.

9 Senku Ishigami Immediately Got To Work (Dr. Stone)

Senku holding test tubes in Dr. Stone anime

The teen scientist Senku Ishigami is another isekai underdog who started with very little except his own wits and a clear goal in mind. Senku has loftier goals and probably a higher IQ than Leon Bartfort, but these two boys still have plenty in common, especially in terms of their story arcs.

Senku, like Leon, mainly sees other people as potential allies or partners rather than bosom buddies, but he's not exactly a jerk about it. Senku and Leon slowly and cautiously make new friends in their stories while also making resourceful use of everything around them. And they're both so smug and cocky about it.

8 Iruma Suzuki Doesn't Fit In, Either (Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!)

Iruma suzuki is smiling happily

Personality-wise, the kind isekai hero Iruma Suzuki is rather different than Leon Bartfort, but their character arcs have remarkable overlap otherwise, including how they are both isekai underdogs who got enrolled at a predatory, "might makes right" school. In Iruma's case, that school is Babyls, an all-demon academy.

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Iruma and Leon are surrounded by much stronger students, and while they both aim to lay low in those schools, they end up being the center of attention anyway. Leon keeps making waves by openly defying prince Julius, for example, and Iruma is an accidental hero in his own right. They also both have a himedere friend, Angelica Redgrave and Azazel Ameri.

7 Soma Yukihira Upsets The Status Quo (Food Wars!)

Soma serves up a bowl of food

Soma Yukihira is a skilled and unconventional student chef in Food Wars!, and he's also a chaotic good sort of person who is happy to break the rules to help a friend in need. Just like Leon Bartfort, Soma attends an elite school where the strong prey on the weak, and both protagonists are ready to fight back.

Leon has a passion for hosting tea parties, which is roughly similar to Soma's passion for cooking. In addition, these anime heroes are cocky but kind boys who don't mind making a ruckus to protect a friend in need, such as Megumi Tadokoro or Olivia. Friends are more important than strict school rules.

6 Kazuma Sato Is A Total Rogue (Konosuba)

Aqua giggling as Kazuma looks annoyed in KonoSuba.

The sleazy antihero Kazuma Sato is, like most aspects of Konosuba, a hilarious parody of the entire isekai subgenre, but even so, he and Leon have a lot in common. Both boys are sharp-tongued rogues who make their own rules, and they hold very little sacred aside from the bonds of true friendship.

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Kazuma and Leon tend to rub people the wrong way and make enemies, but they also know how to make friends and form a small squad. Kazuma earned the sincere friendship of Megumin the explosion witch, for example, and Leon soon befriended both Olivia and Angelica as friends when no one else wanted to be his ally.

5 Yuji Itadori Will Fight The Power (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Yuji Itadori holding up a hand revealing Sukuna's mouth with the tongue out

It's true that shonen hero Yuji Itadori is goofier and more relaxed than Leon Bartfort, but these two anime heroes have more in common than they might realize. Once again, Leon can be directly compared to an underdog hero who must face tough enemies and widespread mistrust to survive. The conservative sorcerer elders actually want Leon dead, in fact.

Yuji and Leon both have plenty to prove in the face of all this doubt, but they won't let it corrupt who they are. Both anime heroes are fighting strict traditions and rigid societal norms for survival. The same is also true of Olivia, Nobara Kugisaki, and most of all, Maki Zenin. All five of them are eager to fight the power and shatter those stuffy old traditions.

4 Katarina Claes Must Fight Classism & Bullies (My Next Life As A Villainess)

Katarina Claes smiling in My Next Life as a Villainess

The otome heroine Katarina Claes is much sillier than Leon Bartfort, but they do have a lot in common, such as how they both got reborn in an otome game, but not as the original heroine. They both befriended the original heroines, Maria Campbell and Olivia, and shielded them from bullies and classism.

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Katarina and Leon both make good use of social networking to recruit vital allies, and they are quick to defy the strict, class-based social norms that surround them. Leon is a thirdborn son who gleefully spites upper-class teens his age, and Katarina will gladly befriend lower-class characters like Maria with zero prejudice.

3 Izuku Midoriya Works Hard To Fit In (My Hero Academia)

Deku using One For All in My Hero Academia.

The trainee hero Izuku Midoriya has a much more charming and wholesome personality than Leon Bartfort does, though they'd get along just fine if they ever met. And most importantly, each understands what the other is going through since they were both born "inferior" in the eyes of society.

Izuku and Leon both attend elite schools where the strong thrive, and the weak are desperate, and both characters make sure to form wholesome, meaningful friendships regardless of how strong or high-class those friends are. Izuku befriending Ochaco isn't much different than Leon bonding with Olivia, for example.

2 Avatar Korra Came From Nowhere & Shook Things Up (The Legend Of Korra)

Korra bending all four elements in The Legend of Korra.

Avatar Korra was born special as the Avatar, but not everyone appreciated that fact. She was raised in obscurity in the Southern Water Tribe until she exploded onto the scene in Republic City as a chaotic good hero who cherishes her friends. And she's got a problem with authority.

Avatar State aside, all that describes Leon Bartfort well, being raised in a rural estate until he arrived in that school as a good-hearted troublemaker who questioned all rules, norms and authority figures. He and Korra won't let stuffy old traditions or rules hold them back.

1 Kirito Is A Powerful Self-Insert (Sword Art Online)

kirito fighting sword art online

The isekai hero Kirito is widely recognized as a self-insert character, a generic young man who says and does what most typical Sword Art Online fans might do. That doesn't make for a truly memorable character, but it does serve Sword Art Online's needs, and Leon Bartfort is roughly similar.

Leon is also a self-insert, but with a more vivid personality and more sci-fi elements, such as his giant Armor robot. He and Kirito both found themselves in game worlds where survival is key, and they both have a cherished female friend by their side in Asuna Yuuki and Olivia.