Tsundere.
Yandere.
Kuudere.
Dandere.
Long ago, the four ‘dere’ types lived together in peace and harmony… Until the ‘Himedere’ decided to attack.
Everyone, by now, thanks to the lockdown, knows the ‘dere types’. They’re ways that a character shows affection towards their love interest. They’re formed by a simple equation.
‘Dere’ type = ‘How the character towards others’ + ‘dere’
What is Himedere?
A new type of ‘dere’ has slowly been on the rise in the shadows unbeknownst to anyone. Creeping up in its popularity is the new character archetype, ‘Himedere’.
‘Hime’ is the Japanese word for ‘Princess’.
These characters, whether they are actually royalty or not, do enjoy a status like royalty and are characterized by stereotypical princess characteristics like looking down upon people, having an obvious superiority complex, being vain, and often mistreating the characters around them unfairly, taking them for granted.
Conversely, they also want to be treated like Princesses by all of the characters around them including their love interest to further their illusion that they are fine the way they are.
These characters seem shallow and completely self-centered on the outside, but these feelings stem directly from underlying insecurities and fear that have been instilled in them due to some kind of traumatic event or maybe manipulated into them by an antagonist.
These characters often have backstories that encourage their narcissism by enriching and rewarding their achievements while simultaneously making them feel like their feelings of inadequacy are invalid as they have all of these achievements.
Their tragic backstories give a glimpse into how they went from being just a normal child born into royalty or a very rich and fulfilling family to the empty shell that they have become.
The protagonist, often their love interest, helps them get rid of this illusion that they have lived with and help them look around to find what they actually want.
The protagonist, most if not all the time, does not adhere to this status that they have built for themselves and show the Himedere that they are just like everyone else and that if only they just let people help them and love them, they would be in a much better place.
Many Characters in Anime are Himedere.
Nakiri Erina from Food Wars, Kiryuuin Satsuki from Kill La Kill, and so on.
These characters seem very concerned with their own status at any point in time but have that one person, Hisako for Erina and Soroi for Satsuki, who has succeeded in breaking past this barrier that they extend towards other people and are actually able to see the soft side of these characters.
These characters are often aesthetically portrayed as characters that stand above others in some way. They are often portrayed as standing above others and radiant as they enter a place.
Nobody is a stranger to their cold and cruel behavior but yet don’t say anything as they are too captivated by their charisma. Erina is looked up to by everyone and has her own status as the Elite 10 of the Academy.
Kiryuuin Satsuki quite literally stands on the topmost place in her school looking down on all the people who fight to survive in a world that she has created
