The world of anime is home to characters of all kinds of characters, from noble, selfless superheroes to gritty seinen antiheroes and kind-hearted romance protagonists. The industry also has some unofficial but popular terms for characters who fit a certain personality type, and that includes a handful of -dere personalities as well.
Tsunderes are arguably the most common and popular type -- hotheads who get charmingly flustered and defensive whenever their love interest shows up. Then there's the kuudere archetype, describing someone who is cool, aloof and detached on the outside but warm and caring on the inside. This often describes anime boys who try to play it cool with their love interests, but plenty of anime girls are like that too, and some of them have a reputation for being secretly kind-hearted ice queens. Five particular kuudere girls really set the tone for how this archetype works in anime.
Rei Ayanami Is The Classic Kuudere Ice Queen In Neon Genesis Evangelion
The famous 1990s mecha anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is home to two early examples of the -dere types. The fierce redhead Asuka Langley is a classic tsundere, while her annoyingly calm and cool teammate Rei Ayanami is a perfect example of a kuudere anime girl. Rei was chosen early in the story as the First Child to be the ideal EVA mech pilot, and Gendo Ikari meant her to be more like an obedient robot and tool than anything.
Rei may be an emotionally detached and level-headed young pilot, but soon enough, this kuudere girl developed genuine warm feelings for her new friends Asuka and Shinji, even if she tends to keep those kind sentiments hidden most of the time. After a point, Rei was ready and willing to sacrifice her life for the sake of her friends as a true heroic kuudere.
Violet Evergarden Has Cold Metal Arms But A Warm Heart
Another beloved kuudere anime girl is the blonde Violet Evergarden, the namesake heroine of the Violet Evergarden anime series, based on the original light novel series of the same name. Violet survived a dreadful war to become an Auto Memory Doll, an employee of the CH Postal Company who writes letters for clients who cannot easily write their own. Violet lost both her arms during a battle in that war, and she now has mechanical limbs with nimble fingers to operate a typewriter.
Violet maintains a cool and professional facade during her work as a Doll and even delivers some letters in person, which means she may come face-to-face with highly emotional customers. There was an instance when a client's loved one was reported dead, and Violet shed many tears as a sympathetic kuudere as she reported the news. She plays it cool, but it's her arms that are made of cold metal, not her heart.
Angel/Kanade Tachibana Captured Yuzuru's Heart
The anime protagonist Yuzuru awoke on the grounds of a rather strange school one evening, and he had no idea what was going on. This school is purgatory -- a supernatural realm home to the spirits of wayward teens like Yuzuru who have unresolved issues, and that includes the white-haired girl initially known only as Angel.
The student organization called SSS is determined to destroy the disciplinarian Angel, but as Yuzuru later learns, Angel is actually a benevolent kuudere girl who just wants to help her fellow students overcome their personal issues and move on to the afterlife. She and Yuzuru soon become close, and when the students move on to the afterlife, Yuzuru sheds many tears as his kuudere lover Angel vanishes before his eyes. It was sweet while it lasted.
Mikasa Ackerman Fights For What's Right
In some instances of Attack on Titan's story, the scarf-wearing soldier Mikasa Ackerman acted more like a tsundere or even a possessive yandere depending on the circumstances, but as a whole, she is a kuudere at heart. Mikasa is naturally reserved and calm, but her cool exterior hides an emotionally vibrant and often troubled heart. Like Eren and Armin, Mikasa has been through a lot, and she has pledged her personal fealty to Eren to repay him for saving her in their childhood.
As a soldier, Mikasa is professional, aloof and deadly, like Captain Levi himself, except Mikasa has a heart of gold rather than the cold antihero heart that Levi does. And Mikasa was positively heartbroken when Eren became a brutal villain and stated that he had always hated her.
Akira Tachibana Healed Her Soul With Quiet Love
The oft-overlooked seinen romance anime After the Rain is thematically much deeper than its one-sided main romance would suggest. The kuudere heroine is Akira Tachibana, a high schooler whose ankle injury prevents her from pursuing her passion: running free like the wind. There are moody storm clouds in her life as she works quietly as a waitress in a family restaurant, but when she develops an innocent crush on her middle-aged manager Mr. Kondo, things begin to change.
Mr. Kondo and Akira grow closer as friends, and they each realize that only through this friendship, along with Akira's one-sided infatuation with him, can they heal one another. They inspire each other to pursue their forgotten hobbies once again, with Akira motivated to resume track despite the risks and Mr. Kondo reigniting his passion for literature.