Tsuntsun strategies vary greatly...
- The Cold Shoulder: In employing this tactic, the Tsundere resolves to not give the guy in question the time of day. If she does talk to him, responses will be monosyllabic. Pointedly ignoring him in conversation and disdainful looks round out the total freeze that she will lay on the hapless fellow. Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Genshiken's Chika Ogiue. If the Tsundere uses these tactics exclusively, she might be labeled a Kuudere ("cool-dere").
- The Violent Approach: Things get physical, and not in the good way. The Tsundere, in a bad mood by this point, will punctuate verbal abuse with plenty of good old fashioned violence. Kicks, punches, slaps, and other painful forms of beatdown will follow. Heaven help you if she's got a Paper Fan or a Hyperspace Mallet; the most swashbuckling ones may even wield a whip. Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Ranma ½'s Akane Tendo. This especially applies if the violence mode is semi-permanent, rather than saved for bad moods; a young girl pulling hair and wrestling because she has yet to figure out non-violent ways of expressing affection would count. Deadlier variants are often known as "Mayadere". Violence is usually employed for laughs with a Tsundere, mainly because male self-defense is not allowed, due to the double standard. A Tsundere who is seriously angry will engage in verbal threats, but will usually react with fear if her bluff is called. A Tsundere who is seriously violent is bordering on a Yandere.
- The Taunt: Not as common a tactic, but effective in its own right, is for the Tsundere to constantly belittle the love interest with insults and putdowns. Favorite expressions include "Baka!", and "Urusai!" ("Shut up!"). A Tsundere who knows the guy's point of pride will not hesitate to insult him on that account, and when this tactic is employed nothing the guy can do will be good enough to impress her. If they have Belligerent Sexual Tension, Volleying Insults often occur. This kind of Tsundere might be vulnerable to a "Shut Up" Kiss. If she ever treats his injuries, she berates him for acquiring them, or jeers at him for pained reactions — often to not-gentle treatment. Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Neon Genesis Evangelion's Asuka Langley Soryuu. If the belittling is limited to witty snark without blatant insults, then she might be included in the Kuudere subtype.
- Tyrannical Rule: While the above three forms of hostile behavior can be the result of anything, from No Social Skills, to awkwardly expressed emotions, sometimes it's made clear that they are just a bossy type of person, who likes to dominate their partner, like a slave-owner. A notable example is Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!, who treats Ryūji like her dog.
- All Of The Above: The Tsundere's reactions will heavily depend on the situation she and the guy are placed in. Example of a Tsundere who demonstrates this: Kimagure Orange Road's Madoka Ayukawa (who tends to behave, when someone makes her feel angry or disappointed, in the first two ways in the list).
...as do deredere strategies:
- The Un-giver: Giving Valentine's Chocolate to her love interest, usually with an excuse ("I felt sorry for you"), as well as other gifts that might have romantic undertones. Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Chiharu Mihara from Cardcaptor Sakura, England from Hetalia: Axis Powers.
- The Helper: Helping him with his chores. Cooking for him is a favorite tactic — even if she won't admit to it. Examples of Tsunderes who favor this tactic: Takako Ayase (Midori Days, cooking) and Shinichi Chiaki (Nodame Cantabile, cleaning).
- The Trainer: Beating him in a session of Training from Hell or helping him out to beat an enemy in combat. Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Evangeline A. K. McDowell from Negima! Magister Negi Magi.
- The Defender: Protecting a love interest or friend from a stronger enemy, often claiming "I Was Just Passing Through!". Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Tatsuki Arisawa from Bleach.
- The Nurse: Sitting by the love interest's bedside if he falls sick or has an accident, double points if she falls asleep next to him. After-Action Patch-Up also affords a chance to show her tender side by nursing, though it may be peppered with tsun taunts about acquiring the injuries in the first place.
- The Advisor: Listening to his non-romantic woes once in a while and helping him out with them, especially if the guy is Book Dumb and the Tsundere helps him with schoolwork. Example of a Tsundere who favors this tactic: Madoka Ayukawa from Kimagure Orange Road.
In addition, there appear to be three major specific "Classes", which while more common with Harsh may sometimes fit with Sweet.
- The "Wolf-Girl"-class Tsundere who can't or won't be honest about her feelings, is quick to judge her love interest (or the main character in a harem comedy) poorly, and usually pelts him with violence at the slightest provocation, real or imagined. Bonus points if she calls him an idiot for not understanding her feelings outside his earshot. Prime examples are Nana from To Love Ru, Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion (though she also has traces of other types), Fumino from Mayoi Neko Overrun!, Naru Narusegawa from Love Hina, Louise from The Familiar of Zero.
- The Discipline-class Tsundere: Usually a fellow student assigned some role of authority, hall monitor, school president, etc. who is rather strict in rules enforcement. She is quick to blame the love interest for breaches of etiquette and tries to punish him for it. This usually surprises him in that he's getting singled out for attention over others. Romantic interest seldom comes to mind as the reason (at least until he gets wind of further evidence). Prime examples would be Yui of To Love Ru, Asuna of Oreshura, Kyou of CLANNAD, and Misaki of Maid-Sama!.
- The Tragic Past-class Tsundere: This poor girl has a Dark and Troubled Past that makes understanding her feelings, let alone expressing them, highly problematic for everyone, including herself. As such, approaching her is rather delicate, and if she approaches someone else, expect many misunderstandings good or bad. While violence towards the Love Interest is not required, it often occurs. Prime Examples include Satellizer of Freezing, Yami of To Love Ru (Rito has not one or two, but three Tsundere in his Unwanted Harem), and Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!. The aforementioned Asuka and Misaki also turn out to be one as their respective pasts are brought up.
The deredere moments vary from one Tsundere to another. With more tsuntsun types of Tsundere, they tend to be more spontaneous, whereas more deredere types of Tsundere usually plan out the deredere moments only for everything to go wrong.
A Tsundere's attractiveness is two-fold: on the one hand, she is an independent, strong-willed girl, determined to do everything well. On the other, she has major endearing traits such as awkwardness with relationships (particularly romantic relationships) or tomboyish tendencies, which she perceives as "weakness." However, where another girl would start wangsting about these, a Tsundere just blushes and covers them up with aggressive attitude. Furthermore, she's much less likely to suffer from Chickification, since her less-than-doting personality facet is her major appeal. For the more tsuntsun type, it's assumed that she only acts mean to hide her good heart or deal with romantic attraction. For the more deredere type, her hidden tsuntsun side shows that she's more than just the sweet girl.
Most Tsundere deny their behavior, although a few glory in it. The more deredere types of Tsundere in particular often aspire to become a Yamato Nadeshiko, perhaps following the example of an older sister or her mother. When she fails in these attempts (usually directed at her Love Interest) expect her to either release her tsuntsun half on a convenient target (again, usually her Love Interest), or to show off her deredere half by breaking down and crying (often in the Love Interest's arms). The loss of her Love Interest is a common method for changing a Tsundere into a Yamato Nadeshiko. If her Tsundere personality re-emerges, it's probably a sign that she's learned to love again.
Four-Temperament Ensemble and Myers–Briggs: The more tsuntsun types is almost always Choleric and E_T_, at least as a starting point (possibly to progress to be more deredere eventually). Sanguine and Eclectic Tsunderes (E_F_) tend to be more deredere types from the start and skip over the more tsuntsun types altogether.
Voice actresses who often portray Tsundere roles include Rie Kugimiya, Ayana Taketatsu, Kate Higgins and Satsuki Yukino. For the male actor, it's Noriaki Sugiyama.
