History Main / NunsareMikos

Few Japanese people today are overtly religious, and even fewer are [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Christians]] (less than two percent of the population). So Christianity, particularly [[NunsNRosaries the Roman Catholic type]], tends to get used as an exotic religion, especially if you can mix in mythology and folklore. Some writers are fannish enough to do research, especially if a story takes place in a [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy Medieval European Fantasy]]. But most have only a basic understanding of the religion, and few writers have a realistic idea of what a nun's life is like.

* Seira from ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'' is a part-time "nun-in-training" after school, and wears a white nun's habit -- all analagous to a {{miko}}'s role, but antithetical to nundom. Tachikawa Megumi admits in volume notes that she didn't do her research after being corrected in a fan letter from an actual nun.

** Downplayed and mostly averted. Yumiko [[SplitPersonality "Yumie"]] Takagi behaves very much like a Catholic nun and her only noticeably Japanese traits are her name and penchant for wielding katanas. She even has a Welsh (or sometimes Scottish)-sounding accent, which is likely the result of being raised by a Scottish priest.

%%* And in ''Manga/YakitateJapan'' episodes 25-26.

* In ''Manga/FireForce'', the setting has a religion surrounding a Fire God of Creation and the Holy Sol Temple invokes clear cut Catholic Church aesthetics in its character and location designs, but Sister Iris can be seen performing purification rites such as washing one’s body in meditation and prayers straight out of Shinto beliefs.
* In ''Anime/WitchHunterRobin'', there's a male example -- Robin's mentor, a Catholic priest, has a daughter. While this is possible [[note]] Widowers are allowed to become priests, as are married Protestant ministers who convert to Catholicism. Additionally the Eastern Catholics, who make up 2% of all Catholics, allow married men to become priests. However Eastern Catholic churches have very distinct iconography that would be obvious.[[/note]] it is very rare.
** Meanwhile, Robin herself directly says that she's never really considered whether she believes in God or not, quite a feat for someone who was raised in an Italian monastery and prays daily.

* From ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'', Riza is a Miko, Sister Fortesia is a nun, the sister is definitely calmer.
* Yumina from ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' is a Miko-Nun living in a Shinto Church - [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/soranowoto/images/5/50/Ep03.png just look]]. It is interesting to note, though, that Yumina acts more like an actual young Christian nun than most anime "nuns", providing spiritual support (or trying to) and running an orphanage. The fact that the series' world is a hybrid of multiple cultures don't help.
* The very first chapter of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' features the brother-in-law of an episodic character who is ''a priest who was going to be married to a nun'' [[spoiler: only to have her [[DeathByOriginStory killed]] pages in]].
* ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' has the male equivalent in Hatchin's foster-family from Hell. Her foster-father is a Catholic priest living with his wife and two children.
* In ''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens'', Zange acts as one since her host body, Hakua, is the daughter of a Catholic priest. No, she's not some illicit lovechild. Her being a daughter of a priest is treated in the same way as daughters of Shinto priests, who are not required to be celibate.
* Despite being a romantic comedy with the "nun" as half of the lead couple, ''Manga/OnePoundGospel'' downplays this trope by making Sister Angela a novice nun (an in-training nun who has yet to take any vows) and by making a large part of her character arc being having to choose between her calling and her developing romantic feelings towards co-lead Kosaku. However, she also takes confessions, which only priests are allowed to administer. There's also some DeliberateValuesDissonance at play, since it's a RunningGag that Kosaku, who's not very well-informed about Christianity, doesn't understand that being a nun ''isn't'' like being a miko and thus he can't pursue Angela romantically.

* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'':
** The games play with this. Their religion isn't Christianity, but it's a mix of Buddhism and Catholicism. You can't marry any of the priests or nuns, but one of the games teases you by letting you court a nun... Only for her to turn you down.
** This is averted in ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTaleOfTwoTowns'', where you ''can'' actually marry the game's nun-like character, but only after gaining permission from the Goddess she serves, and even then, [[spoiler:you can't have children with her]].
%%* Erica Fontaine from ''VideoGame/SakuraWars''.
* ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon'': Recurring antagonist Sister Bismaru, supposedly Ebisumaru's French Catholic descendant, is a CreepyCrossdresser who looks like a mix between a nun and a miko.

* Ciel from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. However, the organization she belongs to (the Burial Agency) is arguably the most heretical part of the Church, where faith is secondary to actual power. She does dress up as a nun on occasion, but she says that it's all for show and doesn't actually mean anything.

* Averted in ''VisualNovel/DiabolikLovers'' of all things where [[spoiler: it's revealed that the main protagonist Yui was adopted by her Catholic priest father instead of being married and having her via procreation. Mind you this results in some confusing Oedipal symbolism that would make ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' blush, but the point stands.]]

* Despite being a romantic comedy with the "nun" as half of the lead couple, ''Manga/OnePoundGospel'' downplays this trope by making Sister Angela a novice nun (an in-training nun who has yet to take any vows) and by making a large part of her character arc being having to choose between her calling and her developing romantic feelings towards co-lead Kosaku. However, she also takes confessions, which only priests are allowed to administer. There's also some DeliberateValuesDissonance at play, since it's a RunningGag that Kosaku, who's not very well-informed about Christianity, doesn't understand that being a nun ''isn't'' like a miko and thus he can't pursue Angela romantically.

* Despite being a romantic comedy with the "nun" as half of the lead couple, ''Manga/OnePoundGospel'' downplays this trope by making Sister Angela a novice nun (an in-training nun who has yet to take any vows) and by making a large part of her character arc being having to choose between her calling and her developing romantic feelings towards co-lead Kosaku. However, she also takes confessions, which only priests are allowed to administer.

* Yumina from ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' is a Miko-Nun living in a Shinto Church, [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/soranowoto/images/5/50/Ep03.png I mean just look]]. It is interesting to note, though, that Yumina acts more like an actual young Christian nun than most anime "nuns", providing spiritual support (or trying to) and running an orphanage. The fact that the series's world is a hybrid of multiple cultures don't help.
* The very first chapter of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' features the brother-in-law of an episodic character who is''a priest who was going to be married to a nun'' [[spoiler: only to have her [[DeathByOriginStory killed]] pages in]].

* The title character of ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is a very young un-nun-like nun who others politely refer to as "Sister-san." She serves the Church of England rather than the Catholic church. Regular nuns in universe are an organization of female spell casters.
* In ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'', 10-year-old Maria Takayama (who's also [[ImprobableAge a teacher]]) and her older sister Kate are both nuns, but the way their positions work seem much closer to being mikos, since their family's women don the habit as a long-standing tradition and it's treated like more of an after-school job. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that Maria is neither officially a nun or a teacher; Kate just brings her to school with her because there's no one to look after her at home, and she makes Maria wear the habit because it's cute.]]

** This is averted in ''Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns'', where you ''can'' actually marry the game's nun-like character, but only after gaining permission from the Goddess she serves, and even then, [[spoiler:you can't have children with her]].
* Erica Fontaine from ''VideoGame/SakuraWars''.

* Averted in of all things ''VisualNovel/DiabolikLovers'' where [[spoiler: it's revealed that the main protagonist Yui was adopted by her Catholic priest father instead of being married and having her via procreation. Mind you this is results in some confusing Oedipal symbolism that would make ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' blush, but the point stands.]]

* Averted in of all things ''VisualNovel/DiabolikLovers'' where [[spoiler: it's revealed that the main protagonist Yui was adopted by her Catholic priest father instead of being married and having her via procreation. Mind you this is results in some confusing [[OedipusComplex Oedipal symbolism]] that would make ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' blush, but the point stands.]]

Few Japanese people today are overtly religious, and even fewer are [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Christians]] (less than two percent of the population). So Christianity, particularly [[NunsNRosaries the Roman Catholic type]], tends to get used as an exotic religion, especially if you can mix in mythology and folklore. Some writers are fannish enough to do research, especially if a story takes place in a Medieval European Fantasy. But most have only a basic understanding of the religion, and few writers have a realistic idea of what a nun's life is like.

* The title character of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is a very young un-nun-like nun who others politely refer to as "Sister-san." She serves the Church of England rather than the Catholic church. Regular nuns in universe are an organization of female spell casters.

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* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' features a number of women who are apparently meant as nuns of a sort, including the very well-endowed, overtly seductive Noélle Bor and the demure -- yet-gun-toting -- Esther Blanchett. Oh, and on a related note, the series also features Catherina Sforza, a female cardinal.

* The title character of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is a very young un-nun-like nun who others politely refer to as "Sister-san." She serves the Church of England rather than the Catholic church. Regular nuns in universe are an organization of female spell casters.

* 10-year-old Maria Takayama (who's also [[ImprobableAge a teacher]]) and her older sister Kate in ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'' are both nuns, but the way their positions work seem much closer to being mikos, since their family's women don the habit as a long-standing tradition and it's treated like more of an after-school job. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that Maria is neither officially a nun or a teacher; Kate just brings her to school with her because there's no one to look after her at home, and she makes Maria wear the habit because it's cute.]]

* 10-year-old Maria Takayama (who's also [[ImprobableAge a teacher]]) and her older sister Kate in ''LightNovel/{{Haganai}}'' are both nuns, but the way their positions work seem much closer to being mikos, since their family's women don the habit as a long-standing tradition and it's treated like more of an after-school job. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that Maria is neither officially a nun or a teacher; Kate just brings her to school with her because there's no one to look after her at home, and she makes Maria wear the habit because it's cute.]]

A severely underused solution could be to have a tertiary (member of a third order) instead of a nun. Tertiaries do not live a cloistered life or make vows of celibacy, but do tend to temples and wear religious habits.

* ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' has Caren Hortensia, who comes to take over the Fuyuki Church since Kotomine's no longer around. While dressed as a nun, she's taken part in exorcisms (a natural ability to detect demons helps), has no problem falling in love, and openly uses seduction and sexual techniques in her work... there's pretty much nothing at all in her character that relates to actual nuns.