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10[[quoteright:300:[[Anime/MagicalShoppingArcadeAbenobashi https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/otaku3.jpg]]]]
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13''Otaku'' come in many flavors, but one thing can be said for each and every one of them. They've each staked out their own favorite thing, and they obsess over it relentlessly. Regardless of other intelligence, an ''otaku'' will have an obsessive, unhealthy, and almost encyclopedic knowledge of their chosen topic.
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15There are almost as many flavors of this type of character as there are things under the sun, but a few of the major ones are:
16* {{Anime}} or {{Manga}} Otaku (which is what most people think of when they hear the term "otaku")
17* {{Cosplay}} Otaku
18* Gaming Otaku
19* {{Idol|Singer}} Otaku (''wota'')
20* Military Otaku
21* Technology Otaku
22* GunNut
23* BladeEnthusiast
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25Essentially, someone could be an ''otaku'' about just about anything: politics, sports, history, etc. When ''otaku'' is used by itself by a Westerner, 99% of the time it will mean "anime/manga otaku".
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27Neither ''{{geek}}'' nor ''nerd'' is an adequate translation. However, in modern use, both words may carry a shadow of the right connotations of obsessive interest and/or social ineptitude; see the {{geek}} page for details. Think of the older, more pejorative senses of ''{{geek}}'' and you're on the right track. The British term ''anorak'' and the Internet terms ''neckbeard'' or ''weeb/weaboo'' are also close translations. Speaking of TheInternet, in more [[InternetJerk dickish]] online communities, autism-related terms get slung around in a similar manner. The closest [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourVocabulary troper-speak]] cognate would be "LoonyFan." In Japan, the term doesn't carry a positive meaning at all. One of the first things most Japanese language classes often have to teach people is that [[DidNotDoTheBloodyResearch calling yourself an otaku in Japan]] is a ''very'' bad thing. (Although it must be said that in more recent years this sense is mellowing out, to the extent that [[ProudToBeAGeek more Japanese are self-identifying as otaku]]. See Website/TheOtherWiki's page on this for more info.)
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29A related term is ''{{hikikomori}}'', which refers to a teenager or young adult who withdraws completely from society for an extended period, typically isolating themselves within their parents' house and becoming psychologically fixated on particular hobbies; hikikomori in media are usually otaku of some sort. Hikikomori are also critically viewed as lazy and outright creepy, which doesn't help the perception of otaku much -- especially after 1989, when serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki [[HitlerAteSugar was shown to be both an otaku and hikikomori, leading to a moral panic]].
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31Otakuism is associated with men, with the notable exceptions of the [[FanGirl Fangirls]], WrenchWench, the CosplayOtakuGirl, and [[YaoiFangirl creators of a certain kind of comic]]. However, female otaku seem to be either getting more common lately or becoming more relaxed about showing it.
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33The term itself comes from the very polite form of "[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns you]]", which can come off as socially awkward. The best guess as to how the term became associated with obsessive fandom is that the word was an inside joke among the production staff of the anime series ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' in 1982, and that they would have characters (notably Lynn Minmay) use the over-polite form of address, even when inappropriate. Fans picked it up and used it in conversation with each other even well past the point when they would use other forms of "you", such as "kimi", "Anata", or "omae". A writer for a Japanese magazine noted the meme and wrote an article that cemented the term as being used for obsessive fans.
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35See also: OccidentalOtaku, {{Chuunibyou}}. Compare: LoonyFan (who are more weird than obsessive) and TheMovieBuff (a similar type of obsession over movies.) Prone to creating a NerdHoard of items relating to their obsessions.
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38!!Examples:
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42[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
43* In ''Anime/ActionHeroineCheerFruits'', Ann Akagi is a major {{Tokusatsu}} otaku, not just of the action heroine shows that drive the show's plot but of real shows like Franchise/SuperSentai, Franchise/KamenRider and more, as evidenced by the {{Shout Out}}s she delivers. Contrary to the stereotype, she's actually exceptionally fit for a high schooler, which is precisely why she gets cast as the "Red Ranger" when the girls of Hinano start their own action heroine show. Roko Kuroki, another member of the team, is a railfan: her father is the stationmaster of Hinano's train station, she actually lives in a train car converted into a bedroom, and she's shown to enjoy the smell of diesel; no points for guessing what she suggests when the girls are brainstorming for themes for their show.
44%%* Kaoru's two male friends in ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'' are a cosplay otaku and metrophile, respectively.
45* Tama and Rin in ''Anime/BambooBlade'' are also toku fans, and eventually become [[PromotedFanboy Promoted Fangirls]] when they get a chance to go on the set of the ''Blade Braver'' movie.
46* Julius Novachrono from ''Manga/BlackClover'' is a huge magic geek, becoming excited when learning about unique magics, complete with sparkling eyes. So much so that he often shirks his duties as the Wizard King to search for new magics in disguise.
47* Staz, the main protagonist from ''Manga/BloodLad'' is a Vampire of Royal Lineage, ruler of a portion of Makai, and a self-confessed Otaku who loves human entertainment, particularly {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}, and is a proud ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' fanboy who idolizes Goku.
48* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', Maki Anou and her father are milder examples. They both love anime and military stuff, but they dearly love each other and Maki manages to bond with her fellow Pilots as well, specially [[{{Ojou}} Takami]] and [[TheWoobie Kana]].
49* Shinichi Kudo from ''Manga/CaseClosed'' is both an AmateurSleuth and a huge fanboy of mystery and crime novels. He's sometimes referred to as a ''suiri otaku'' aka a ''mystery otaku''. (Particularly by his [[{{Tsundere}} "not girlfriend"]] Ran.)
50** In a {{filler}} case, Shinichi/Conan investigates a murder that took place in a gathering of {{tokusatsu}} fans. The victim hits ''many'' if not ''all'' the stereotypes of the "bad" otaku: obsessive, a borderline {{hikikomori}}, bitchy, lives in an apartment that's chock-full of memorabilia, etc. [[spoiler:It turns out that his most valuable merchandising piece was stolen from a kid... who later was ''hit by a truck'' while trying to retrieve it. And the boy's older brother, the leader of the fans club, is who killed the otaku, to punish him for the horrible incident.]]
51** Officer Chiba is a milder example. He's often seen reading a manga about a pretty girl detective and it's strongly suggested by Takagi that his room is ''full'' of character figurines and models. When we do get to see his flat, almost every exposed surface in the living room has figurines or other merchandise, but Conan finds it excessive rather than creepy. Chiba's collections seem to be mostly superhero and kaiju-related, and naturally, the Detective Kids love it.
52** In the {{filler}} ''Séance Locked Murders'' case, one of the suspects is an otaku named Yutaka, the president of a deceased IdolSinger's fans club. He at first seems to treat the deal as a game, and when [[spoiler:a fellow fangirl is found strangled to death]] he happily and melodramatically claims that the singer's spirit has come to take revenge for her own strange death.
53* ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' (the manga that would eventually give birth to ''Manga/SailorMoon'') actually has a one-off character called Takurou Ootaku, whose name is a pun roughly meaning "wandering otaku". He's a Game Otaku who refuses to believe a girl could be better at games than he is. He flips out at the idea of Minako even going to an arcade (which he considers a "castle for lonely boys") and accuses Minako of being a man in drag when she beats his highscore. He even demands she take off her clothes. When she tries to fight him as Sailor V he tries to look up her skirt, so she kicks him.
54* Kaoruko of ''Manga/ComicGirls'' might be an OlderThanTheyLook high school girl, but her hobbies are more similar to male anime / manga otaku in their twenties: SchoolgirlSeries manga, figurine, and seiyuu-chasing. This has been pointed out by one of her roommates, as the only other time that roommate saw a desk like Kaoruko's was of a 25-year-old man.
55* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': The episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession18SpeakLikeAChild Speak Like a Child]]", which is about a time-capsule videotape, features an otaku with an interest in [=VCRs=] and other obsolete video equipment.
56* [[CosplayOtakuGirl Ki]][[YaoiFangirl ko]] from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. In a world where murder and superhumans with insane abilities are rampant, and people have fairly normal looks, [[PluckyComicRelief she]] is a pink-haired sidekick to a bad [[CluelessDetective private]] [[TheFool detective]].
57* Kiyoshiro Higashimitarai in ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'' is a TeenGenius who got his Master's degree in the United States at the age of 13, but went back to school with kids his own age anyway because he wanted the "authentic Japanese high school experience" like in his manga, and he wears HandwrapsOfAwesome around one of his hands constantly simply because he thinks it's cool. Some of his friends are also fellow Otaku themselves.
58* Tsutomo Sasaki from ''Manga/{{Domu}}: A Child's Dream'' failed to get into college for three consecutive years because he spent all of his time building model airplanes.
59* ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' features a [[PathOfInspiration deceptive cult leader]], Dolltakkii, who is creepily obsessed with dolls, [[LivingDollCollector even turning girls into dolls for him to coo over]], and his cult revolves around bringing a giant killer doll to life by sacrificing his followers. His very name is even a pun on the term ''doll otaku''.
60* ''Manga/{{Emerging}}'': Mori, the office manager for the Department of Virology in the National Institute for Infectious Diseases, is an otaku for, of all things, ''deadly viruses''. [[InterspeciesRomance Especially Ebola]].
61* In ''Manga/FinalFantasyLostStranger'', Shogo is this for the ''Final Fantasy'' series. While he and Yuko are both fans, he possesses encyclopedic knowledge about the series and obsessively plays ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' in his downtime. He's also shocked that his "inner Ultimania" is completely wrong when he misnames the races in the world he ends up in.
62* Winry of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is an [[ArtificialLimbs automail]] engineer and a "gear junky". Edward [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this, and is promptly accused of being an "alchemy freak".
63* ''Manga/HanaukyoMaidTeam''. Ikuyo Suzuki, head maid of the Technology department. She writes and sells her own manga.
64* Nagi from ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' is a manga otaku, and has been drawing her own ever since she was six years old. She's also a GamerChick. Gotta do something with all those hours inside, right?
65** Wataru (a.k.a. "Waka") works as a clerk in a video store, giving him plenty of opportunities to indulge in his hobby of action {{anime}}.
66** It's arguable that Hayate himself is one, seeing as he's been in many positions that other otaku would kill for. And the fact that he redrew Nagi's manga chapter into one that would appeal to many otaku. Then again, he might just be too dense to be one.
67** Gym teacher Kaoru is given his own chapter, titled "Lost in the Path of the Otaku". He is a Gundam otaku, his room filled to overflowing with Gundam models (he built them himself), but the main focus of his character isn't about this part of his life.
68** Kotetsu is shown to be this way over trains, his fascination with them is used to put the 'dark side' of Japan's outlook to a lampshade when two girls, who previously were discussing how {{Bishonen}} his looks are, are visibly {{squick}}ed when the camera he's pulling out of his bag is used to take pictures of the trains going by, and quickly leave.
69* Japan from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is an anime and games otaku; he has stated he prefers 2D to 3D and is a direct parody to Japan's (the country) otaku culture.
70** France [[HandsomeLech of]] [[TheDandy all]] [[BigBrotherMentor people]] seems to be one for manga as well. He's shown shopping for manga with Japan in one strip, mentally compared Germany to [[Manga/DeathNote Light]] in another and was in one live event told by Japan that if he doesn't behave, he wouldn't let him have any more manga. JustifiedTrope since France imports more manga than any other nation.
71* Rumi from ''Manga/TheHighSchoolLifeOfAFudanshi'' is one for BL manga. She's passionate about manga, has friendly arguments about certain pairings, and is familiar with the Seme and Uke terms.
72* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': Hirano is a gun/military otaku, turned specialist after spending a month training at an American Blackwater firing range. As such, his expertise makes him invaluable to Takashi's group as he often lays down cover fire, during engagements, and even begins teaching the others how to use firearms.
73* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'':
74** Resident LovableJock Kazeno, ends up becoming an idol otaku [[spoiler:after his girlfriend [[FormerChildStar Osaragi]] breaks up with him.]]
75** Fujiwara describes her fellow members of the Tabletop Gaming Club as "mega otaku", both of whom seem to be of the stereotypical anime/manga variety. Gigako in particular seems to be a fan of the SuperRobotGenre, judging by the figurines she keeps in her bedroom.
76* ''Manga/ICantUnderstandWhatMyHusbandIsSaying'' is about the married life of hard-working OfficeLady Kaoru and her otaku husband Hajime. Despite how Kaoru can't understand Hajime's obsession with anime and video games, it's repeatedly shown that they still love each other.
77* Hiroshi Akiba of ''Manga/{{Inubaka}}'' is stated by the manga to be a pop-idol otaku turned dog otaku. He knows more about dogs than the title character.
78* Megane Kakeru in ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven''. At least he's not ''that'' bad, and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome can be even awesome at a time]], especially when he's compared to another soccer team made of otaku [[spoiler:who use their traits to cheat matches.]]
79* The main protagonist of ''Manga/{{Kekkaishi}}'' is a cake otaku. Another person [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this. This is made funnier when his feelings for an older childhood friend and briefly gaining a StalkerWithACrush of similar age to said childhood friend has given him a reputation for [[LikesOlderWomen being fond of older women]], which other characters have also pointed out.
80* Kankichi Ryotsu of ''Manga/{{Kochikame}}'' has a past time of collecting toy models. Judo fighter Sakonji is obsessed with dating sims and miniature female figures.
81* ''Manga/LuckyStar'':
82** Konata, another exception to the CosplayOtakuGirl rule, who seems to be primarily a gaming otaku (specifically, {{MMORPG}}s and {{eroge}}s), though she also talks a lot about anime, manga, and {{Collectible Card Game}}s. She inherited her interests from her father Soujirou, who's very much an otaku himself.
83** Patricia "Patty" Martin is a parody of the typical [[OccidentalOtaku American weeaboo]], knowing nothing about Japan and its culture besides what she learned from anime, manga, and yaoi. She learned most of her Japanese from subbed anime, only listens to Japanese bands whose songs have been used as anime themes, and believes Akihabara is a more important cultural landmark than anything else in Japan. Needless to say, she's way geekier than even ''Konata''.
84** Hiyori Tamura, Patty's classmate, is also an otaku who mainly focuses on drawing {{doujinshi}} of her favorite characters from anime and games...and of her friends Yutaka and Minori, whom she [[ShipperOnDeck likes to imagine as more than just friends]], much to her own embarassment.
85* During the "dinosaur" episode of ''Anime/MagicalShoppingArcadeAbenobashi'', Sasshi is briefly depicted as the ultimate negative Japanese stereotype of the otaku: solitary, overweight, bad complexion, and with the implication of poor hygiene, body odor, and paraphilia. (See image above.)
86* Fuu from ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' loves video games (specifically {{RPG}}s), and uses terms such as "experience points" and "treasure" when she and the other girls receive their first mission from Presea.
87* ''Manga/MakenKi'': Kimi Satou and her best friend, Akaza Chacha, first met through their mutual love of manga and cosplay. Chapter 60 delves deeper by featuring them cosplaying as Alena and Manya, from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'', at a schoolwide manga convention, during which, Kimi tries to sell some of her own doujinshi.
88%%* Many of the characters in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' are otaku, and indeed their otaku-ness drives a few major plot points.
89* In the anime version of ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', the serious and sensible Rina is given a rather ridiculous vice: she's a plasma TV otaku. This is used without fail to allow the writers to dangle a TV in front of her and ignore any situation where she would take the IdiotBall from her friends and punt it somewhere else with her good sense.* ''Manga/MidoriDays'': Takamizawa is a fanatic when it comes to cosplay figures and has an entire showroom, which includes everything from limited edition models to one-of-a-kind originals. It's just missing one thing: Midori, herself. But since he's unable to add her to his collection (for obvious reasons), he does the next best thing, by making a perfect likeness of her in the form of a hand puppet.
90* Graham Aker from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' is a Japanese culture fanboy. A VERY badass Japanese fanboy who manages to avoid being an OccidentalOtaku if only by virtue of the fact he is totally serious about his passion and has hardly any traits of the Occidental version aside from the fanaticism.
91** ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' gets pretty {{Meta}} about this. Since the entire sub-franchise is about people building custom model kits and battling them using a simulator-like machine, most of the cast are Otaku for the ''Gundam'' franchise itself. Original ''Build Fighters'' protagonist Sei Iori is a stand-out example: in one episode where he was [[HypnoFool put under hypnosis]], he proceeded to recite Amuro Ray's dialog from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''...'''all 43 episodes of it'''[[note]]And for the record, he wasn't ordered to do this by the hypnotist; he did it entirely of his own volition[[/note]].
92* Izuku Midoriya of ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' idolizes [[{{Superhero}} Pro Heroes]] and aspires to be one himself. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of all Pro Heroes (even obscure ones like Eraser Head who tries to avoid appearing in the media) and takes obsessive notes on any detail regarding heroes. His bedroom is also covered from floor to ceiling in All Might merchandise, his favorite Pro Hero.
93** The BigBad All For One is a huge fan of the Demon Lord featured in the Captain Hero comics. His motivation to become Japan's most dangerous criminal mastermind comes from his desire to cosplay the Demon Lord. Ironically, his younger brother was a fan of Captain Hero and became the progenitor of the One For All Quirk that seeks to defeat All For One.
94* Chiaki from ''Anime/NieaUnder7'' loves investigating [=UFO=]s, and it's just her luck that aliens have landed on earth. It also makes her bond with Niea very well.
95* Tomoko Kuroki of ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'' is an ''[[DatingSim Otome]]'' otaku who tries to gain popularity in school in the same way that Keima does his job. Unfortunately for her, [[WrongGenreSavvy things are not what it seems...]]
96* Shigeru Mikami in ''Manga/NotLives'' is a gaming otaku, and he is even called out for being one. He later uses his gaming skills to defeat the other players in 'Not Alive'.
97* Renge Houshakuji in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' is so obsessed with the fictional DatingSim videogame ''Ukidoki Memorial'' (a rather transparent [[ShoutOut allusion]] to the real ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' games) that she decides to redesign the personalities of the Host Club members to better match the characters in the game. The reason she transfers to Ouran in the first place is that she instantly decided to marry Kyouya after seeing a photo of him, as he bears a strong resemblance to her favorite character from ''Ukidoki''. Unfortunately, she finds out the hard way that Kyouya [[LovingAShadow isn't anything like the dating sim character she loves]].
98* Elda, the titular ''Manga/OtakuElf'', is a [[ShrinkingViolet timid]] shut-in who prefers to spend her time watching anime and playing video games than do her duties as the [[GodGuise (admittedly false)]] deity of the Shinto shrine she inhabits. It turns out that she's always had addictive tendencies, and not just towards modern-day media; as she was summoned to Japan 400 years ago, she used to be fixated on collecting ''woodblock paintings'' that used to come with medicine.
99%%* Rei of ''Manga/OtasukeMikoMikoChan'' is a lighthearted parody.
100* ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' features an otaku who patronizes (as in, he pays the hookers for sex, not treat them in a condescending manner) hookers that play to his cosplay fetish. It turns out to be a plot point later on.
101* ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'' has Noa Izumi and Shige.
102** Noa is a huge fan of Labors, which is the reason she signed up for duty with the newly formed second Special Vehicles Unit - in hopes of being able to pilot one of her very own. She had even chosen the name "Alphonse" for it before ever being accepted as part of the division. So, for her, being a Labor pilot is literally [[AscendedFangirl her dream job.]]
103** The same can be said in regard to Shige. The difference being, whereas Noa wants to pilot Labors, Shige is a gearhead who wants to study them in order to better understand how they work, so he can optimize their efficiency. Which is why he became a mechanic at the SVU.
104%%* Sakura in ''Manga/PenguinMusume'', a CosplayOtakuGirl and hardcore fan to the point of being loony.
105* ''Manga/PetShopOfHorrors: Tokyo'' has a sight gag panel in which Count D turns down a stereotypical otaku's request for a {{Catgirl}} {{Meido}}.
106* Most of the cast of ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' are otaku of some variety (jellyfish, dolls, ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', etc). Of particular note are Kuranosuke and Hanamori, who are more-or-less obsessed with fashion and Benzes, yet avoid most of the other negative stereotypes and are generally not lumped in with the other otaku.
107* Touhou Fuhai from the ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' manga wasn't always one, but as [[IWasQuiteALooker his youth began to fade]] and women started to leave him, he came to the following realization:
108-->'''Touhou Fuhai:''' 2D girls last forever! They would never betray me!
109* ''Manga/RozenMaiden: Traumend'' features Micchan, a double rarity: a female otaku who isn't a CosplayOtakuGirl, and who seems to have a "real" job as a corporate executive. The protagonist of the show is not only an occult otaku but obviously a hikikomori, although this isn't said outright.
110* Fumio from ''Manga/SaitamaChainsawShoujo'' prefers reading {{Manga}} to insignificant things like studying, making friends, or not going AxeCrazy.
111* Tenpou from ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}} Gaiden'' was described by the author once as "fundamentally an otaku"...of many things presumably, given the extent of his library (has a bit of everything, not sure on his definition of a bit) and art/sculpture/weird things from the lower world collection.
112* Sgt. Keroro, the alien frog protagonist of ''Manga/SgtFrog'', is a Gundam otaku. It's one of the reasons why he doesn't blow up the Earth when he gets the opportunity to do so.
113* The majority of the cast of ''Manga/ShinozakisanKiWoOtaShikaNi'' are otaku. The series is notable in that otaku are generally shown in a more positive light. The only character shown with any real prejudice toward otaku is Akina Shinozaki herself, who's faking being an otaku to get close to a girl and introduce her to normal hobbies but ends up BecomingTheMask. Perhaps best demonstrated in a sports day chapter where her classmates, at worst, regard her as a BunnyEarsLawyer when her growing otaku-dom slips out during a soccer game. They don't particularly mind her doing things like calling them by "[=PrePure=]" colors since she's carrying the team at that point.
114* In ''Manga/TonariNoKashiwagiSan'' Sayaka and Kazuki ''aren't'' otakus, which is the fastest way of describing how prevalent the character type is there. This makes it easier for several of them to form friendships. It's mostly about watching anime and reading manga, with one character being an artist.
115* Haruo Osawagi (Kotetsu's older brother) in the gag manga ''Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku''. College-aged and overweight, is obsessed with magical girl anime and Hollywood movies.
116* Keima Katsuragi, the protagonist of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', is a dedicated {{dating sim}} otaku who gets recruited to help capture runaway spirits. He's not generally well-liked by his fellow students - which is fine with him, because he doesn't like engaging with ''them''.
117** His sidekick Elsie is an otaku too, although she's rather quieter about it than Keima. Unusually for the trope, she has two specialties: IdolSinger Kanon Nakagawa... and fire trucks.
118* The josei manga ''Manga/WotakoiLoveIsHardForOtaku'' deals with romance between different types of otaku. Momose Narumi is a fujoshi while Nifuji Hirotaka, her boyfriend, is a video game otaku. Their friend, Koyanagi Hanako, likes crossplaying. Kabakura Tarou, Koyanagi's boyfriend, is an anime and manga otaku, but he isn't as passionate about it as the rest of them.
119* The Nishigori triplets from ''Anime/YuriOnIce'' are figure skating otaku despite being only six years old; they already have a reputation as the "Skate Otaku Sisters" due to how passionate they are, and their shared Instagram account is even called "sukeota3sisters", with "sukeota" being short for "skater otaku". Their mother Yuko may not be quite as obsessive about the skating world, but she's been a huge fan of famous Russian skater Victor Nikiforov since she was young, and the fact that the triplets [[ThemeTwinNaming are all named after figure skating jumps]] definitely says something about how much she loves the sport.
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:Fan Works]]
123* In ''Fanfic/AshesOfThePast'', members of the Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise evolutionary line are all Otaku of one thing or another, usually anime. Ash's Squirtle and Gary's Blastoise are obsessed with ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', May's Wartortle is a huge fan of the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, and a Squirtle that sees May's Blaziken in action decides to take up kickboxing and become [[Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple The Strongest Squirtle]]. And then there's the [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Hidden Village of the Turtle...]]
124* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': [[BirdsOfAFeather Italy and]] [[OppositesAttract Japan]] are both otakus for ''Manga/DeathNote'' to the point they decided to {{Cosplay}} as Light Yagami and Teru Mikami respectively and say their signature lines before bursting into laughter. Germany is ''not'' amused.
125-->"That's true!" The brunet laughed. "'Boku wa Kira janai!'"
126-->Japan played along. "'Sakujo!'" The two burst out into laughter, clutching at their sides.
127-->"...Okay." Germany ''so'' doesn't get anime.
128* ''Fanfic/TheRigelBlackChronicles'':
129** Harry's first and true love is brewing potions. She learns an impressive variety of other subjects through necessity (such as physical and mental self-defence), or because they're tangentially related to brewing (like wandless magic, which is used to stir multilayered potions), but at the end of the day, she's at Hogwarts to learn from Professor Snape, and could cheerfully spend all day in a lab. (She's astounded to find, in her third year, that Alchemy has a similar appeal.) When Professor Snape first tests her skill by having her write down all the ingredients she knows of and the basics of handling each one, she runs out of parchment.
130** Kasten is even more extreme. He has spent ten years as a mortal, and fifty as a vampire, extracting and isolating the essence of different substances, aiming to collect the essence of everything on Earth, and shows no sign of any other interests.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Film--Animation]]
134* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'' has a rather hilarious take on the otaku phenomenon, with Po as a Kung Fu enthusiast. Not only does he know all the tales of great Kung Fu masters like the Furious Five, recognizes each sacred or amazing artifact in the temple with ecstatic glee, and pours out gushing praise of Crane in his bedchamber to the point he hovers outside the door waiting for the master to speak again, but he confesses to them that he has all their action figures--which of course are much smaller than the real thing, except Mantis who is "the same size." The fact he is chosen to learn Kung Fu at their side and becomes [[TheChosenOne the Dragon Warrior]] is probably an example of an AscendedFanboy as well--the artifact-examining scene certainly smacks of it.
135[[/folder]]
136
137[[folder:Film--Live-Action]]
138* The title character in ''Film/MurielsWedding'' is a hard-core marriage otaku, who makes it a point to go to every dress boutique in Sydney with fake stories about comatose family members to score pictures of herself in various wedding dresses.
139* ''Film/OurShiningDays2017'': Chen Qing's first ensemble members are four dormitory girls infamous for living in the 2D world. They spend most of their days playing video games, reading manga, and cosplaying, but they are also very passionate about Classical Chinese music and are well-versed in their history.
140* Several of the people featured in the {{Documentary}} ''Film/SpecialWhenLit'' come across like this. The most prominent example is Sam Harvey, a former bowling operator who lives alone and spends his days working on his collection of 400 pinball machines, complete with meticulous logs of owners' histories.
141[[/folder]]
142
143[[folder:Literature]]
144* In ''Literature/AnotherNote'', Beyond Birthday is into manga. He [[spoiler:as Rue Ryuuzaki]] spends ''an entire paragraph'' gushing over ''Manga/AkazukinChaCha''. [[spoiler:He also tucks an important clue into the set of that manga title in one of his victims' homes.]]
145* In ''Literature/ALullabySinister'', Kaito Inoue is obsessed with anime, manga, and video games to the point of it invading his everyday conversations. He is unaware that his references typically go over everyone's heads.
146* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/GoingPostal'', Apprentice Postman Stanley Howler is an obsessive pin collector, to the point (no pun intended) that all the other collectors in Ankh-Morpork think he's "a little weird about pins". After the main character invents postage stamps, Stanley takes up stamp collecting... with pretty much the same obsessiveness he had for pins.
147* ''Literature/DonQuixote'' makes this OlderThanSteam. Even before he goes crazy enough to actually try to become a knight, he's established early on as being ''very'' obsessed with novels about chivalric romance. He argues with his friends over which knights are the strongest, overthinks all the technical aspects of the chivalry stories, and is even tempted to write FanFiction of one of his favorites. Disturbingly similar to some modern-day fandoms...
148** You can see this quote in Chapter I, Part I:
149-->''You must know, then, that the above-named gentleman whenever he was at leisure (which was mostly all the year round) gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with such ardor and avidity that he almost entirely neglected the pursuit of his field-sports, and even the management of his property.''
150* Walker and Erika on ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' are big anime/manga otaku who don't really distinguish between fiction and reality; [[spoiler:in fact, they fit the negative stereotype that otaku are psychotic, although they're [[HeroicComedicSociopath still basically "the good guys"]]]].
151* ''Literature/FamilySkeletonMysteries'': Madison Thackery quite happily refers to herself as one.
152* Sergeant Sousuke Sagara from ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' is described as a military otaku by Kaname, before she finds out he really ''is'' in the military. However, Sousuke is still a military nut even though he's a real soldier, since he's completely clueless about anything that doesn't have to do with fighting or the military and always acts as though he's on the battlefield. Shinji Kazama is a straighter version of the trope, specifically a military AS fan.
153** All-around badass Belfangan Clouseau's guilty pleasure is moe anime. During the climax of the story, he monologues about how he's going to survive so that he can retire, move to Akihabara, and spend the rest of his life translating said anime so that everyone can enjoy it.
154* ''Literature/GonnaBeTheTwinTail'' has an entire set of antagonists who are basically this: The Ultimaguil, who are one part extra-dimensional invader, one part EmotionEater, one part DirtyOldMan, and lots of helpings of Otaku. Heck, each has their own native "fetish", from twintails, to bloomers, to ''little girls holding dolls''...
155* The titular character of ''Literature/HarukaNogizakasSecret''. Being a popular girl [[{{Ojou}} from a rich family]], she has to hide the fact that [[ClosetGeek she's secretly an anime otaku]], otherwise people will look down on her... and then the male protagonist catches her red-handed and she's terrified that he'd use that knowledge to that advantage (turns out he didn't). This is an in-anime example where people do look down on otaku, if it gets blown out of proportion... like the male protagonist's best friend, whose otakuness is shown right off the bat.
156* Tomoya, Eriri, and Utaha of ''Literature/HowToRaiseABoringGirlfriend'' are all otaku to a large degree. Tomoya is very open about it, Utaha doesn't bring it up, and Eriri tries to hide that aspect of her from the public.
157* Apart from wanting to be a sumo wrestler, Shoji from ''Literature/IKnockedUpSatansDaughter'' also carries a Dragonball Z backpack and has a sketchbook full of anime characters. "[[CuteMonsterGirl Demon Girls]]" are apparently his favorite.
158* Eitarou, Professor Stein, and Agaliarept in ''Literature/MagiciansAcademy'' are all otaku in the purest sense of the word... except they're also all-powerful mages, mad scientists, and hold positions of at least ''some'' power at the Magician's Academy.
159* Annie Wilkes of ''Literature/{{Misery}}'' fame is a well-known western example. She's so obsessed with the ''Misery'' book series that when author Paul Sheldon decides to end the series with the main character's death due to being tired of writing it, she kidnaps Sheldon and forces him to write another book in between drugging and torturing him.
160* ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': The "monkey girl" and Atsuko loved anime, manga, and otome games. After the monkey girl reincarnates as Katarina, she begins reading ChivalricRomance novels with gratuitous CourtlyLove to fuel her addiction, bonding with Sophia due to their shared tastes and even getting Mary interested in them too. [[spoiler:However, given that Sophia is a reincarnated Atsuko, [[ReincarnationFriendship this is most likely not a coincidence]].]]
161* ''Literature/OtakuGirl'' has a main character that is... you guessed it, an otaku. In this story, otakus could visit a virtual reality world that allows them to use the powers of their favorite fictional characters. And the main character, Haru Kinomoto, has the various powers that are inspired by anime and manga.
162* The Dutch series ''Literature/PindakaasEnSushi'' has this trope as a major theme, centering around a main character who gets more and more involved with the anime and manga community.
163* ''Literature/RebornAsAVendingMachineINowWanderTheDungeon'': In his previous life Boxxo appears to be a fan of vending machines and dies saving the one he reincarnates as.
164* In ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' the four Legendary Heroes are all Japanese otaku, as were previous generations of Legendary Heroes. [[spoiler:The reincarnated pawns of Medea are also otaku, but notably less sane]].
165* In ''Literature/{{Rolitania}}'', a good portion of the population in the titular country are otaku. Their interests vary widely, and they all seem to get along for the most part. It helps that their Queen is an otaku as well.
166* Kaoru Yamazaki from ''Literature/WelcomeToTheNHK'' has a huge collection of anime and video game merchandise, and he's especially obsessed with the children's anime ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' (in the anime adaptation, he's obsessed with the [[ShowWithinAShow fictional anime]] ''Puru Puru Pururin'' instead). Although he comes off as slightly less severe than some of the other characters, he's treated with the same humorous objective criticism as everyone else. Yamazaki's influence makes main character Satou become an otaku as well, though while he watches more anime than is probably healthy, he's not quite as obsessive about it as Yamazaki.
167* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', there is an Otaku of the {{hikikomori}} type who is so obsessed with studying the ZombieApocalypse on the Internet that he doesn't treat it as something to worry about until it reaches his apartment building, stuck with useless information and trapped in a ''very'' zombie-friendly Japan. He manages to survive, finds a genuine katana from a [=WW2=] veteran's flat, and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass.]]
168** And then he gets trained by [[Franchise/{{Zatoichi}} a blind swordsman]], and gains a couple thousand more levels in badass.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
172* The central cast of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' are obsessively crazy about comic books and sci-fi/fantasy TV and cinema. Each of the four could be said to be Westernised versions of the otaku. even their girlfriends go through a brief phase, much to their discomfort.
173* The geeks in ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'' as well. One episode has them cosplaying for a convention as [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker, Yoda]] and the [[Series/DoctorWho Fourth Doctor]].
174* Western (sort of) example: Hiro from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. Even if is Japanese, Hiro is an avid fan of western superheroes and science fiction.
175* Nearly ''every'' character in ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' in an Otaku with varying degrees of obsession. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since the show is set in Akihabara, which is the center of Otaku culture in Japan.
176* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' uses the term several times, in reference to female lead Yuki Jojima (an outer space and rocketry fangirl) and {{Goth}} girl Tomoko Nozama (a fangirl of insects and the urban legend of the Series/KamenRider).
177* ''Literature/TrainMan2004'' centers around a group of otaku who meet over an online message board, and their attempts to get one of their number to win the heart of a lady.
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Music]]
181* Dempagumi.inc, a Japanese idol group, is said to be made up of ex-otaku, with each member having their own otaku "specialisation". Whether this is true or just a marketing ploy is unclear, but it is worth noting that all the members were employed at the well-known "Dear Stage", an otaku hangout, in Akihabara, Tokyo's well-known otaku district.
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:Radio]]
185* In ''Radio/NewDynamicEnglish'', Kent Moss once interviewed a Superman fan who has "100 Superman comics", would only read Superman Comics, and said that he even wants to be Superman, to the point where he wears his costume. His current passion for Superman is questionable because he's selling the comics and he said he read them when he's a boy.
186[[/folder]]
187
188[[folder:Roleplay]]
189* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
190** While they [[ClosetGeek try to hide it]] out of embarrassment, Ivy and Luna are both big fans of anime and manga, and bonded specifically because they both had an interest in it.
191** Vivian has a lot of nerdy interests, ranging from anime to musicals, that she's both deeply invested in and deeply embarrassed if anyone finds out about.
192* Ken-Sama on ''Roleplay/NoPixel'' is a stereotypical fat otaku who enjoys talking in-depth about anime and peppering his speech with GratuitousJapanese. When he thinks he meets [[MyFutureSelfAndMe his future self]], his first impulse is to ask how ''Anime/OnePiece'' ends.
193[[/folder]]
194
195[[folder:Video Games]]
196* In ''VideoGame/CoffeeTalk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly'', Lua and Baileys are surprised to learn that Hyde's into anime and knows what a {{Tsundere}} is. Hyde is interested in how anime portrays emotions, and he tries watching an episode whenever he can.
197* Duff the gunsmith from ''VideoGame/DaveTheDiver'' is a pretty stereotypical Otaku: a pudgy BasementDweller who collects idol figurines and peppers his dialogue with anime references. Where he differs is his job: Duff is TheBlacksmith and a genius one at that, able to engineer weapons that can work within the mysterious effects of the Giant Blue Hole and can build everything from guns to tracking devices to an undersea drone [[spoiler: armed with a WaveMotionGun in the event of a SeaMonster attack]].
198* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'':
199** Flonne from ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' is a huge {{Toku}} and anime otaku -- Enough that she can be bribed into beating the crap out of people with the promise of a Super Sentai DVD box set. One of her super attacks in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'' is called "Flonnezilla", which turns her into a cute fire-breathing, plushie-monster-wearing terror. She also has a similar attack as a secret character in ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom''.
200** Almaz in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' is also an otaku but focused completely on heroes. Mao is a closet hero otaku as well (he refuses to admit it).
201** ''VideoGame/Disgaea7VowOfTheVirtueless'' features Pirilika, a highly enthusiastic fan of Hinomotonese culture whose understanding thereof stems from all the films and manga she's enjoyed.
202* A sidestory from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' states that Horne is an item maniac (in Japanese, in English, he's referred as an item ''aficionado'').
203* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/LBXLittleBattlersExperience'' needs to recruit the help of an ''organization'' of Otaku, who double as [[HollywoodHacking hackers]]. An OccidentalOtaku and a group of {{sentai}} heroes wannabes also appear as opponents in tournaments.
204* [[HandsomeLech Nikolai]] from ''VideoGame/LuminousArc'' is a witch otaku, who is in heaven when [[spoiler:Witches start joining your group]].
205** Kaph from ''VideoGame/LuminousArc2'' is the editor of a magazine about Witches and, well, pretty much loves being in the party with all the Witches around for him to create his art and took pictures of. Hell, his class is W-Otaku!
206* An unusually [[TheWoobie sympathetic]] and well-[[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] example is Otacon from ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. His nickname, of course, is derived from Otakon, the Otaku Convention. The first lines he says to the main character, Snake, are a very melancholy invocation of the trope, and sets him up for some very unusual and well-played parallels between the loneliness of a reclusive soldier and the loneliness of a reclusive otaku:
207-->'''Otacon:''' Are you one of them?\
208'''Snake:''' Not me. I always work alone.\
209'''Otacon:''' Alone? Are you an otaku too?
210** And again in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', when Snake communicates with him while fighting R.O.B.:
211--->'''Otacon:''' In North America, R.O.B.'s body was grey, like the NES. But in Japan, he had a white body and red arms, the color of the Japanese Famicom.\
212'''Snake:''' Huh. You sure know your geeky tech stuff, Otacon.\
213'''Otacon:''' ''(chuckles)'' Well, you know...
214* Travis Touchdown of ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' is a shameless otaku, and wears an anime t-shirt under his more traditional badass-[[AntiHero anti-hero]] leather outfit. He uses otaku slang terms, including {{moe}}. Unusually, though, despite his fandom, he's [[MadeOfIron an outright bruiser]] more than capable of winning any fight he's in; and he also lacks the gentle, shy personality associated with the stereotypical otaku, instead having been inspired by the [[JerkAss rather violent]] and [[ClusterFBomb foul-mouthed]] anonymous frequenters of the [[Platform/FourChan anime boards on the Japanese message board Nii Channeru (2chan)]].
215** Not to mention some of his unlockable outfits are [[RealMenWearPink hilariously nerdy]].
216** Travis is an interesting, rare breed of a [[OccidentalOtaku western otaku]] created by a Japanese [[strike:maniac]] [[Creator/Suda51 developer]]. He's surprisingly spot on.
217* The Pokémaniac trainer class in the main series ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games. There are also Poké Fans, which perhaps kind of borderline it. They carry around Poké dolls along with their Pokémon, and the maniacs are always in Pokémon costumes. And many do wear glasses.
218* In ''Rockman.EXE'', Higure/Higsby is described as a "Battle Chip Otaku". Considering his obsession with the things, it's not hard to see why.
219* Francis from ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' is a giant chameleon who kidnaps Tippi in order to take pictures of her with his new "high-technical" camera, stockpiles video games and anime, and is overall a geek of the highest order. He also has an army of robot cat maids.
220* Ashton Anchors from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'' is a ''barrel'' otaku. In the anime version, ''Anime/StarOceanEX'', he is able to identify not only the year and location any barrel was made but what it's been used for, on sight.
221* Raine from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' is utterly obsessed with ancient ruins, though the game hints that that may be a result of her tragic backstory.
222** Hubert from ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' is one. It's implied that a couple of his moves - including the [[MythologyGag staple series attack, Tiger Blade]] - were ones he taught himself from comic books. And then, of course, there's his transparently closeted obsession with the sunscreen rangers:
223--->'''Hubert''': Tonight we feast on dead seafood! Pow Pow!
224* In ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', The shrine maiden Sanae Kochiya, though we don't hear about it until the fighting games - she's excited to track down Hisentoku, which is essentially a {{magitek}} mech, because she ''loves'' giant robot anime.
225* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', nerdy scientist Alphys is the Underground's resident otaku. She keeps a large collection of anime and manga under the considerably inaccurate label of "human history."
226* 9-Volt and 18-Volt of ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' are massive Nintendo fanboys.
227[[/folder]]
228
229[[folder:Visual Novels]]
230* Nishijou Takumi, the protagonist from ''VisualNovel/ChaosHead'', is a {{hikikomori}} and a massive otaku (Dolls, Anime, and Gamer) to the point of spending all of his time in his room (a cargo container on the roof of a building) and vastly preferring the company of his anime-based dolls to any real girls; this preference exhibits itself most strongly (besides his constant exclamations to that effect) by him [[spoiler:having delusions of his favorite anime waifu talking to him and acting as a companion/influence of sorts, talking to him virtually all the time]]. Ironically enough, it turns out that [[spoiler:Takumi himself is a delusion-made-real, answering the age-old question, "Can dreams dream?" with a very emphatic "Yes." Evidently, the trouble is getting them to ''stop''.]]
231* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'':
232** Hifumi Yamada from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' is the "Ultimate Doujin Writer" (or "Fanboy", in some translations). He's a fat teenage artist whose work sells in the tens of thousands, disavows any interest in 3D women, and aims to become a famous sculptor (of anime figures, of course). His dialogues are liberally peppered with references to anime and video games.
233** Tsumugi Shirogane in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' is the "[[CosplayOtakuGirl Ultimate Cosplayer]]". Like Hifumi before her, she makes frequent references to anime and video games that the others don't understand. As part of her talent, she's also an excellent seamstress. However, Tsumugi doesn't exactly like having people look at her, and as such prefers having people model her costumes rather than wearing them herself.
234* Daru from ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' frequently uses terms such as "waifu" and "tsundere." In the English dub of the anime, he uses catchphrases such as "unreadable code is unreadable" and talks about his 2-D harem. Throughout the anime, he can be seen playing visual novels and eroge.
235* Sal Manella from the game ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' is a stereotypical otaku, whose Japanese name is Uzai Takuya which literally translates into "annoying otaku".
236* Kaine in ''VisualNovel/AProfile'' is an anime and dating sim otaku, and quite open about it. Despite this, he's even more popular than the main character.
237* Koujirou Frau, one of the main characters from ''VisualNovel/RoboticsNotes'' is a {{fujoshi}} who frequently uses terms like [="DQNs"=] and "tsunderes" along with memes like "What eroge is this?!" and "But I refuse!" She has a collection of thin books and is very similar to her otaku predecessors Takumi and Daru from previous games in their shared ''VisualNovel/ScienceAdventure'' series.
238* In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', multiple characters are big fans of the IdolSinger Momo Kuruse (who is secretly Kaoru Hazuki, one of the main characters). Of note are Maruhashi, one of the main group who's unaware of Momo's true identity, and Kagawa, an officer worker whose password relates to the idol [=CDs=] he owns.
239[[/folder]]
240
241[[folder:Web Animation]]
242* ''WebAnimation/AttackOnMika'':
243** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UONL1BtRbto&t Akira]] is a sympathetic example of one. His parents ignore him in favor of his sister Nagi, and they even refer to him as "scum" for being an otaku.
244** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHGAE47yGCY&t=1m29s Abram,]] a minor character, is a stereotypical depiction, on top of making pig noises and turning out to be [[spoiler:a masochist after the antagonist [[TheFakeCutie Mina]] cusses out the boys who fought over who gets to save her from drowning.]]
245* ''WebAnimation/ManiManiPeople'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P2jxvln7cY Yuto]] was an anime and video game otaku. He was bullied for it. When the bullies forced him to go to a matchmaking party, he met Kaede who is nerdy and into the same things as him and they began to date each other even when they are revealed to be the yakuza and mafia children respectively.
246* Lamar of ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'' is primarily an anime/manga otaku. He's most noted for his collection of body pillows, whom he has a CompanionCube relationship with. He'd qualify as a gaming otaku too if gaming wasn't the big-name thing in the ''Meta Runner'' world.
247* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''[='s=] protagonist Ruby Rose is a weapon otaku, especially regarding the {{Swiss Army Weapon}}s common to the World of Remnant. When she first arrives at Beacon Academy, she promptly goes ga-ga over all the cool gear new classmates are carrying around and has to get pulled back to reality by her CoolBigSis Yang.
248** In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle'', Ruby gets a special intro where she gets on [[Franchise/BlazBlue Ragna the Bloodedge]]'s nerves by fawning over his sword and asking if she can look at it. She does the same to Es, who just gives a LittleNo because [[EmotionlessGirl getting annoyed isn't really her thing]]
249* Parodied with ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad's'' "Japanese Culture Greg", who constantly shouts out random GratuitousJapanese and makes {{Animesque}} faces.
250[[/folder]]
251
252[[folder:Webcomics]]
253* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Greg, to the point that he once [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2002-04-09 watched 168 hours straight of anime.]]
254* ''Webcomic/FurryExperience'': Cat loves anime and manga to the point of getting up at three in the morning on Saturdays to watch them, and sometimes explains certain aspects of them to Ronnie and Dawn. Extends to live-action shows as well, such as knowing why the ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' equivalent show has a hand-puppet for the Luna-style character. She also decided to do her art research paper on Japanese comics.
255* Piro and Largo from ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}''. The first is a rather straight Western anime otaku, while the second is a videogame otaku [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} with a feeble grasp on reality.]]
256* ''Webcomic/MagicalBoy'': Sean may have the FaceOfAThug but he's an unabashed MagicalGirl otaku. He geeks out over Max's transformations and hopes to make a magical girl movie one day.
257* ''Webcomic/MyImpossibleSoulmate'' centers on Chiaki, an otaku who is sent to another world. She is very fond of anime, manga, and especially video games. Chiaki was often bullied in her world for her interests but her friend, and also crush, Fumiko tells people off to stop them from picking on her.
258* ''Webcomic/SparklingGenerationValkyrieYuuki'', which frequently parodies anime and manga tropes had an otaku as a recurring antagonist in several holiday specials.
259* Ronnie of ''{{Webcomic/Whomp}}'', to the point that he once called his roommate Aegrias "[[GratuitousJapanese baka]]!" because she wouldn't understand a more nuanced term that he'd picked up.
260* Phil from ''Webcomic/{{Yosh}}'', to the point of being able to quote a specific ''panel'' from a given manga.
261[[/folder]]
262
263[[folder:Western Animation]]
264* Sarah the ice cream girl from ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' describes herself as one. One episode has her write fanfiction involving the citizens of Elmore.
265* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jellystone}}'': Peter Potamus is depicted here as one. He owns various anime figures, mentions watching [=OVAs=], tries to run like Manga/{{Naruto}}, owns a ''dakimakura'', and even shows up to a wrestling competition as a samurai. Per the stereotype, he's also shown to have NoSocialSkills.
266* Interestingly, there's a minor character on ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' whose name is [[MeaningfulName Otaku]], due to his great love of Air Nomad culture.
267* [[Characters/TheOwlHouseLuzNoceda Luz Noceda]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' loves making fan fiction, fan art, and [[FanVid anime music videos]], considers shipping to be SeriousBusiness, and has made a self-insert character for ''The Good Witch Azura'', an [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe book series]] that she's a big fan of.
268* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Collect Her" features a negative example in the form of Lenny Baxter, a fan who spent much of his spare time collecting Powerpuff memorabilia. When Lenny finds out he has obtained every known piece of merchandise, he goes insane at the prospect of not being able to add more items to his collection, leading him to steal the girls' personal belongings and eventually kidnapping the girls themselves.
269* Comic Book Guy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
270** [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ''Worst! Judgment! EVER!'']]
271* Ronaldo Fryman from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' mentions [[ShowWithinAShow weird fictional anime]] he likes[[note]]such as ''Koala Princess'', ''Beautiful Girlfriend Satan'', and ''I Can't Believe My Stepdad's My Sword''[[/note]] frequently on his CharacterBlog Blog/KeepBeachCityWeird and occasionally on the show itself, calls his girlfriend his "[[GratuitousJapanese ohime-sama]]" in the episode "Restaurant Wars", has worn samurai armor on multiple occasions (including to a ''wedding''), and brags about owning a $300 replica sword even though it's not even sharp enough to cut through a juice box.
272* Panda from ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears''. He has a tendency to draw nothing but generic {{Animesque}} caricatures, he owns a body pillow with a cute anime girl he calls "Miki-Chan", and a glimpse at his laptop in "Everyday Bears" reveals that not only does he have an entire folder titled "{{manga}}" on his computer, but his banner on the social media site he uses is an assortment of random anime characters, also possibly drawn by him.
273[[/folder]]
274
275[[folder:Real Life]]
276* Perri Rhoades, the author of Literature/{{SpectralShadows}} was an Otaku at one point in their lives. This can be seen by visiting years older submissions on their Live Journal page.
277* Shoko Nakagawa, famous blogger, cosplayer, and TV personality in Japan. You may know her for singing the opening and insert song for ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.
278* "Seito Sakakibara" (his real identity is sealed) was a fourteen-year-old SerialKiller and otaku. In his late twenties today, he's most famous for decapitating a mentally handicapped ten-year-old and spiking the child's head to his school gate. "Sakakibara" contributed a lot to the [[MoralGuardians moral panic]] that [[{{Demonization}} otaku were mentally unhealthy.]]
279* Tsutomu Miyazaki, also known as the Otaku Killer, was a SerialKiller and an anime and horror film otaku who preyed on little girls. There's a lot of debate on whether or not he liked [[ExactWords anime]] at all. The horror movie collection is true, though.
280* The Great-O-Khan from the power stable Wrestling/TheUnitedEmpire in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling is proud to be an otaku and a huge fan of Subaru Oozora from ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}''. In fact, one of his attacks is named as the "Oozora Subaru Sheepicide" due to one of the ''WebAnimation/HololiveHoloNoGraffiti'' shorts having Subaru pull this move on Tsunomaki Watame, which turned out to be an original move.
281[[/folder]]
282

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