Deadpan Snarker / Anime & Manga

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• Attack on Titan: Levi, to a huge degree.
  "Look around, Eren... At all these big ass trees."
• Yomi from Azumanga Daioh. It comes from being The Straight Man to Tomo's jerkassness.
• Yuno from Black Clover is usually brutally snarky to others' insult. In the very first chapter, he bluntly points out to Asta that he's unappealing to women. When he's in a team with Noelle at the Royal Knights Exam and she's being snobby, he asks if she can even fight and tells her that Asta's rubbing off on her, to Noelle's flustered denial.
• A lot of characters from Black Lagoon are deadpan snarkers. Even the foul-mouthed Revy gets no shortage of snarky quips.
• R. Dorothy Wayneright from The Big O with massive emphasis on deadpan due to being a (supposedly) Emotionless Robot Girl.
• Sven from Black Cat is the Deadpan Snarker in Train's group.
• About half the cast of Bleach trade off doing this. Especially Ichigo.
• When a dry and snarky remarks needs to be made in Blend-S, it's usually Mafuyu who does this.
• Dazai Osamu is a master of this trope in Bungou Stray Dogs in Chapter 31 of the manga.
  Chuuya: [looks at Dazai with an annoyed expression in his face] Don't walk next to me.
  Dazai: [with an annoyed look on his face] Aren't you the one walking next to me?
• Keaton Yamada, the narrator of Chibi Maruko-chan. He often has harsh words for the schemes, thoughts, and actions of Maruko and her grandfather. He gets increasingly Flanderized in this role as the series progresses.
• C.C. from Code Geass. Her caustic remarks are about the only thing which can rein in Lelouch's overinflated ego.
  • Lelouch himself dishes out the snark as well towards C. C.'s more insouciant tendencies, among other things.
• Cowboy Bebop: Spike Spiegel is a Deadpan Snarker given the role of Hero Protagonist of an action show and is a defining badass in anime. He retains his hero status despite his snark because Faye fits the role of Lancer in most episodes.
• L from Death Note certainly had his moments.
  Misa: We catch Kira! I can't imagine a world without Light!
  L: Yes, that would be dark…
  • Near apparently got his snarkiness from L.
• Chilchuck from Delicious in Dungeon is one. When one of his teammates screw up, he'll be the first to call them an idiot. Usually the victim is Laios, but Marcille's whining and Senshi's lack of logic get their fair share too.
• In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Zenitsu does not buy into Tengen’s flamboyancy, immediately thinking Tengen is completely mental for his extreme personality and demanding to be worshipped as the god of festivities and flamboyancy, insulting Tengen with sarcastic thoughts. It goes into greater sarcasm against Kaigaku whom Zenitsu finally talks back to, Zenitsu showers Kaigaku with cheeky insults as the disciple who could never learn the first Thunder Breathing form and who couldn’t be successor to their master.
• Kusuo Saiki from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. is of the First-Person Smartass variety. Since he can read the thoughts of others and may be the Only Sane Man in his social circle, he has a lot to quip about.
• Tsuyuri from Doujin Work keeps a straight face while saying the most outrageous things, mostly to pit other characters against each other and see what comes forth out of all the confusion she causes.
• Dragon Ball:
  • Vegeta fits this trope better than the rest of characters, with Piccolo most likely being 2nd.
    Vegeta: Welcome to the end of your life... and I promise it's going to hurt.
  • Or...
    Vegeta: [to Android 18] If you give up now I promise to turn you into something practical, like a toaster or a washing machine.
  • Even more than him, Yamcha.
    Vegeta: [to Krillin and Yamcha] Whatever. Just stay out of my way when I tear Cell apart.
    Yamcha: This coming from the guy who was beat senseless by Cell?
  • Tien too. When Android 18 came to Kami's Lookout Yamcha tries to scare her off (While keeping his distance).
    Yamcha: Gohan's here, and he's stronger then Cell so why don't you get out of here.
    Tien: Um... why don't you come a little closer and say that?
  • Speaking of Android 18, her sarcasm is one of her most defining traits. When asked if her real name is legitimately "No. 18", she responds "My father was pretty dull". (In the original version, she replies "That it doesn't matter" before tossing the number at the World Tournament Announcer). She was kidding, by the way, her birth name has never been revealed. (Until recently. It's Lazuli.)
  • Her eventual husband Krillin qualifies too, when he is not being a Butt-Monkey... or sometimes, even when he is being a Butt-Monkey.
  • Goku is this at times to prove he isn't as stupid as people think he is.
    Demon King Piccolo: I'll only need to defeat you in five seconds.
    [Demon King Piccolo attempts a chop at Goku, only for him to catch it and throw him into the next building. Piccolo then angrily emerges from the rubble.]
    Goku: By the way, it's been five seconds.
  • Or when Whis asks him why he wants to get stronger:
    Whis: Do you want to become a destroyer God?
    Goku: Why would I just want to sit around all day?
    Beerus: [shocked, then mildly annoyed] Okay, that was uncalled for.
  • Whis is this and a Servile Snarker towards Beerus.
  • On the side of the villains, Freeza is a darker example than most. He is prone to throwing out some pretty cruel and venomous one-liners which only makes him more threatening.
  • Super Buu was already very snarky, but the Funimation dub played it up more. Which is not surprising, given that he was voiced by Justin Cook, who famously voiced Yusuke Urameshi, one of the snarkiest shonen protagonist of all time.
  Super Buu: For your sake, I hope you brought some insurance to back up your claims. But knowing you Goku, you probably don't even know what "insurance" means.
  • The dragons summoned by the titular Dragon Balls are very snarky. For example, Porunga (who can grant 3 wishes), when Gohan and Krillin are slow to name a wish, says "If you can't make up your mind, just wish for nothing three times so I can go."
  • As a fusion of Goku and Vegeta, Vegito is quite the Deadpan Snarker with the snark level turned up to eleven. Gogeta, his Fusion Dance counterpart in various media, qualifies as this too.
  • A lot of other characters including Oolong, Yajirobe, Jaco, Android 17, Master Roshi, his best friend, Turtle etc also qualify.
• Misaki Matsuya from Excel♡Saga manga is a powerful example. Once she renders Iwata and Watanabe into howling fits of laughter with a single deadpan sentence. It's made pretty clear that under her stoic exterior lies the heart of a master humorist. Unfortunately, her anime counterpart didn't get a chance to test her skills in this field. Excel herself also shows signs of this trope.
• Fate/stay night
  • Archer, who has nothing but utter disdain for idealism, particularly in regards to his counterpart Shirou.
  • Rin and Shirou definitely snark a lot too, though Shirou keeps his comments to himself most of the time. Remove his politeness to keep his mouth shut and you get Archer.
• The Hinooka sisters from Fire Girl. The younger one more so than the older one. Orie Kujou and Takumi Touya count too.
• Riza Hawkeye in Fullmetal Alchemist. A high-ranking aide to Roy Mustang, she acts as both his conscience and the voice of reason on his staff, despite sometimes seeming to exist only to keep the other characters (including Mustang) in line and point out their shortcomings. She does snark in the manga, but always politely.
  • Ed gets his share of snarkiness as well, often towards Mustang (and vice versa).
• Saikawa from Gakuen Babysitters on occasion.
  Taka: [breathes heavily into the phone, having unexpected Saikawa to pick up, rather than Ryuuichi]
  Kamitani: Talk, you idiot! State who you are! What are you, a pervert? . . . [takes the phone] Ah, I'm sorry. It's me.
  Saikawa: If you're asking about my underwear, it's black today.
• Kiyomaro Takamine tends to fill this role often in Zatch Bell! due to his genius and the outright oddity of other characters' plans (usually Folgore's) that somehow work.
• Lots of characters from Gintama, especially Yorozuya trio, since good deal of the comedy is based on deadpan comments. But the snarkiest of them all has to be Okita Sougo. Almost everything that comes out of this guy's mouth is deadpan iced with lots of snark.
• Haruhi Suzumiya: Kyon fits this perfectly, as well as being the main character and the narrator. We aren't always sure if he's keeping a running commentary in his head or saying it out loud. However, the other characters reply accordingly. Kyon is the king of sarcasm! Just Listen to him!
• Norway from Hetalia: Axis Powers. Whenever speaking with Denmark, he'll fit in as many insults as possible, but with his emotionless attitude and Denmark's obliviousness, they don't really get through.
  • Romano has some shades of this as well.
  • Austria can come across as this when he's irritated.
  • Also England, sometimes overlapping with The Snark Knight. Considering England produced Winston Churchill and british humor, it makes a whole lot of sense.
  • And, though they aren't an actual character, the Narrator has a habit of this as well.
• High School D×D has Issei and Azazel who can snark at other people pretty well, especially when it's their turn to do the narration. Koneko as well:
  Koneko: Watch out. That sacred gear has the ability to break off women's clothes instantly.
  Issei: Koneko! Why are you telling my secrets to the enemy?
  Koneko: Because you are the enemy of all women.
• In his image song, Keiichi from Higurashi: When They Cry plays this role. In the actual series, he's more of a comedy person than a Deadpan Snarker. Rika plays the role in the series, when her persona isn't showing.
• Tippy of Is the Order a Rabbit? tends to make snarky remarks from time to time, especially towards anything Cocoa says.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Joseph Joestar tends to resort to snarking whenever he gets angry, though he might be just a bit to much of a Large Ham to completely fit this trope.
  • Jotaro Kujo's sense of humor tends to manifest in very blunt, matter-of-fact ways, usually right after he's turned the tables on his opponent. An especially glorious example comes right after defeating Telence T. D'Arby:
  Jotaro: If you want to know if we'll forgive you, why don't you read our souls? (D'arby does so) NO! NO! NO! NO!
  • While Noriaki Kakyoin from Stardust Crusaders may be a Nice Guy and The Heart of the Crusaders, he's also quite snarky, with Polnareff being his most common victim.
  Polnareff: A gun! This guy is holding a gun!
  Kakyoin: Oh, you just noticed?
  • Out of all the JoJos, Johnny Joestar from Steel Ball Run takes the title for the snarkiest, particularly when it comes to Gyro's antics. Best seen in his response to Gyro's "Pizza Mozzarella" song:
  Gyro: ~Pizza Mozzarella... Pizza Mozzarella... Rella Rella Rella~ What do you think?
  Johnny: Gyro... That's a damn good song.
  Gyro: Really?!
  Johnny: Ah... Oh man. It's great! It's awesome! This is insane! It's get stuck in your head so easily! Especially the "rella rella" part.. Its like... a masterpiece! I can't get it out of my mind! it'll definitely be a hit back in Europe.
• Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss seems almost incapable of opening his mouth without letting at least one sarcastic comment out.
• Karneval 's worst offenders are Gareki and Hirato, but Tsukumo can start drilling it into cheerful Yogi's skull when he starts irritating or astounding her with his quirky actions
• Madarao and Hakubi from Kekkaishi almost constantly take jabs at Yoshimori and each other.
• Key/Visual Arts LOVES this trope.
  • Kanon (2006 anime) has Yuuichi Aizawa. Many comparisons are made between Kyon and Yuuichi, especially because of a few similarities in appearance and having the same seiyuu. However, both characters are vastly different; whereas Kyon makes such comments to himself, or intends only himself to hear, since he is usually bored or silently shocked at the "stupidity" around him, Yuuichi openly states such comments to tease his friends. Yuuichi's snarky commentary usually translates into good-natured fun and flirting rather than disdainful commentary.
  • Yukito from AIR also demonstrates snarkiness but it may just be that since he is quite mature, his attitude of common sense and practicality contrasts even more when he is surrounded by childish females.
  • Tomoya Okazaki of CLANNAD likes playing pranks on anyone gullible enough to fall for them (Sunohara in particular - it's implied he does it just to see if he'll fall for them). He does this with a completely straight face, which makes it all the funnier. However, he seems to make such comments aloud only to mock others. He's not above making wry comments either:
  Sunohara: When the time comes, Okazaki, I trust you to watch my back.
  Okazaki: (Enthusiastically) Lucky! I'll be sure to stab you well.
• Kuroko, the eternally deadpan titular character of Kuroko's Basketball, is this.
• Kagami Hiiragi from Lucky Star is considered to be the Gender Flip version of Kyon. She makes very cynical and sarcastic comments about Konata's otaku hobbies and her inability to put more focus on her academic studies. Kagami is supposed to be the most rational character of the Four-Girl Ensemble. In the dub, Kagami sounds snarkier and angrier when it comes to these moments.
• Otto of Lyrical Nanoha, who didn't lose her Emotionless Girl personality after her Heel–Face Turn. She did, however, gain a snarky streak.
  Vivio: I am a normal third grader! Not "Your Majesty"!
  Otto: If I may say so, I do not believe there are any other normal third graders with the title librarian at the Infinite Library.
• Marginal Prince gives us Henri, who has the art of snarking perfected to the point where the other characters will even lampshade instances where Henri isn't present to snark at his favourite target, Alfed.
  Henri: That's all right. Your stupidity is infectious.
  Alfred: You're saying my stupidity is infectious??
  Henri: Well, you were born like that.
• Ruri Hoshino of Martian Successor Nadesico does this so often that she, just like the examples in Western Animation and Live-Action TV, used to have a trope named after her.
• Kai Shiden from Mobile Suit Gundam likes to do this to either ruin everyone's moods, or make a bad situation feel worse. He gets better.
• Naruto's Shikamaru. Possibly Kakashi (he is so constantly deadpan it's questionable as to whether he's this or The Comically Serious).
  Kakashi: Naruto, you can't kill the client. That's not how it works.
  • Tenten has shades of this too. She's definitively this in the spinoff Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth.
  • Gaara becomes one in the Five Kages Conference responding to the Tsuchikage:
    Tsuchikage: The makeup of the Five Kages sure has changed. It's hard to believe someone as young as yourself can become a Kazekage. Your father must have trained you very well, but you seem to be lacking in manners, boy.
    Gaara: You're right. And yet here I am, as the Kazekage.
  • Tobi, aka Obito, is quite the snarker as well.
    Tobi: Back away from the jinchuuriki... or don't you care if your son dies?
    Minato: Hold it, j-just calm down!!
    Tobi: You should take your own advice, Minato. I'm perfectly calm.
    • And earlier:
    Tobi: It's what you'd call a fail-safe... Although he only got as far as the "fail" part.
  • Both Neji and Sasuke are this, combined with the fact that they're both dark and tall, making them the typical Tall, Dark, and Snarky and Handsome "bad boys".
• Chisame of Negima! Magister Negi Magi acts like this a lot, as she's one of the only girls in her class who lacks a Weirdness Censor.
• Magari Kazuma: model student, all-around athlete, Student Council President, surrounded by freaking idiots.
• There are three types of characters in One Piece: Deadpan Snarkers, madmen, and Total Idiots. Sometimes characters will wear different hats (e.g. Usopp, who occasionally plays the fool, or plays snarker to Luffy's idiocy). Many characters share multiple roles, switching back and forth between them, and there are very few characters who are completely serious such that they display neither any ounce of stupidity or some snarker tendencies at some point.
• Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran High School Host Club is a magnificently brutal snarker, especially where Tamaki is concerned. It helps that she often doesn't seem to realize that the things she says tend to hurt people's feelings. It also helps that she's apparently unaware of how fond the rest of the host club are of her.
• Persona 4: The Animation:
  • The anime turns the main character (named Yu Narukami) into this one, looking deadpan even if he's being kicked to a waterfall. Most of the humor involving Yu comes from the fact that it's hard to tell when he's kidding or being serious. For example, giving this line about one arguably homosexual underclassman after "accepting" him.
  Kanji: Sempai, didn't you accept me!?
  Yu: Not at night.
  • The Persona 3 movie turns the protagonist, Makoto Yuki, into an even bigger one.
    Makoto: You chained your nose to your face so you won't lose it.
• Pokémon: The Series has had countless examples over the years, but the original series in particular is known for being a World of Snark, especially the Indigo saga with it being a much rougher and more cynical take on the Pokémon world than any later season.
  • Ash himself actually has a lot of snarky lines throughout the original series, though this gradually faded as he developed into the All-Loving Hero he is today.
    Misty: (about Snorlax) It looks like it's going to be sick!
    Brock: Well how would you feel if you got kissed by Meowth?
    Ash: I'd get a new mouth...
  • Misty had some great snark too.
    Gary: (to Ash) Ash, I've never seen anyone so pathetic!
    Misty: Have you looked in a mirror?
  • Even Ash's Pokédex had its moments, at least early on, such as in the first episode when a Rattata tries to steal Ash's food.
    Ash: But this isn't a forest, it's an open field!
    Pokédex: It also comes out into open fields to steal food from stupid travelers.
  • Furthermore, any Jerkass rival that Ash meets is bound to be one as well. Gary, Paul, and Trip have all taken numerous potshots at Ash throughout their appearances, whether it be about his skill or anything else.
  • Meowth also qualifies, usually aiming his jabs at Jessie and James.
    Jessie & James: (wearing ridiculous dance outfits) This has to be our greatest plan yet!
    Meowth: Dat's what worries me.
  • Any time a series includes a Tagalong Kid, they tend to be the snarkiest members of their respective groups. Max is this during Advanced Generation, mostly directed at his sister or Brock, but has been known to take shots at anyone. Bonnie in the XY series also has plenty of these moments, mostly regarding Clemont's inventions.
  • Iris gets in a lot of snarky remarks throughout the Best Wishes anime. The majority of them are directed at Ash, Cilan, and Georgia, though she's capable of dishing them out towards anyone else too.
• In Popcorn Avatar, this is the only way Kurando can get back at Lisa, as he's unable to really do anything else.
• Although in the first season of Princess Tutu Fakir was much more of a Jerkass, in the second season he calmed down a bit and started to swing into this trope.
  Ahiru/Duck: Good morning, Fakir! You're up early!
  Fakir: Early for you, anyway.
• The manga version of Ranma from Ranma ½ is a Deadpan Snarker; his anime incarnation is not really one. When Akane isn't playing the role of Tsundere she leans towards this as well. Nabiki from the same series has her moments, though it is a much larger trait for her in Fanon than Canon and in the anime than the manga.
• Saito from Rurouni Kenshin has plenty of these moments. Kenshin himself often fits this trope; more so in the manga than the anime, as the anime is often dangerously close to overusing his oblivious act.
  • Aoshi, in the manga, takes the "deadpan" part so far that the snark can get lost in translation.
• Sakura no Ichiban!: Misao is very snarky and is tired of the world and the crazy things (as well as Asami's antics) happening around her so she never misses a beat with her dry wit and sarcasm.
• Sailor Moon has a few.
  • Artemis, mainly by virtue of living with the borderline insane Minako. His best hit comes in Codename: Sailor V, where Minako always claims that her newest crush is her first love... And at one point he not only whipped out a sign congratulating her for her 1,000th first love, but in the last chapter he feigned springing a surprise party on her to celebrate her 5,000th first love.
  • Luna, also an alien cat with a crazy protege, has her moments too, but she's more likely to shout at her.
  • Poor Rei, especially in the first anime.
  • Michiru. All the time.
  • Surprisingly enough, Minako herself has her moments, such as pointing out that Artemis is named after a goddess by calling him a drag queen, or reacting to Ami being happy that her school rival is a Jinn because now she can kill him (he wasn't, but Ami mistook the Monster of the Week for him) by declaring she'll now stop studying to avoid being murdered by her.
• The (almost) eternally-deadpan Kobushi Abiru of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei. She usually wears a neutral, bored expression on her face (or as much of it as can be seen under the bandages), occasionally uttering a cutting line to another of the students in her class while they're talking about something. In chapter 19 of the manga (volume 2 in tankobon), when Kotonon the heavily-photoshopped net idol is outraged over being called a fat-ass and nobody-has-ever-been-so-mean-as-to-call-me-that, Abiru quips "What? Not even once?" with a perfectly straight face (and tone of voice in the anime, IIRC). Many of her lines can be interpreted as being snarky; occasionally Nozomu-sensei receives some of this snark too, though more recent episodes have depicted Abiru to be more often smitten with him.
• Akira Takano from School Rumble tends to be the voice of reason among her girl squad (with Tenma, Eri and Mikoto), and is able to make astute observations about the romantic hijinks of her friends while keeping a straight face the whole time.
• Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi gives us Ritsu Onodera because he's jaded about love, doesn't much care for his job as a Shoujo Manga editor and not happy that his boss, Takano, just so happens to be his ex first love. Takano is also very snarky as the no-nonsense head editor. There's also Kisa Shouta who's also jaded about romance and life in general and Yuu Yanase who's experiencing unrequited love.
• Rukawa Kaede from Slam Dunk. Often to Hanamichi.
• Gourry in the original Slayers novels. With a healthy dose of Obfuscating Stupidity as well. Applies more to Zelgadis in the anime. Gourry is deadpan, but that's usually because he's serious and there's no hint of snark.
• Kiki from Snow White with the Red Hair. A good portion of the rest of the cast get in on this from time to time, especially Sakaki.
• Soul Eater: Liz is typically like this, befitting her role as Only Sane Man of the Power Trio consisting of her, her ditz sister, and her Obsessively Organized Meister.
• Leeron plays this role some of the time in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
  Dai-Gurren begins filling up with water
  Leeron: So much for the quick fix...
• To Heart : Hiroyuki Fujita seems to fit in this category, although it seems to be a result of his laziness and the fact that he wants to "eat, play arcade games, and sleep the rest his life away". Despite his dry attitude, laziness, and tendency to tease girls who annoy him at times, he shows his sympathy through his actions rather than his words, no matter who it is.
  Nagase: In any case, if she does come out, we'll have to do something.
  Lemmy: Okay! The Astral Busters are on the job, right?
  Hiroyuki: Why do you have to attack her? When she appears we're going to talk to her.
  Lemmy: Is that so?
  Hiroyuki: Were you even listening to us before?
• Domeki in ×××HOLiC, who seems to have the unusual ability to always maintain a deadpan and monotone expression no matter what happens in order to add to his snarking ability. Unless, that is, Watanuki is actually being serious and introspective, at which point he can't think of anything to say. Such as when Watanuki stupidly trades his eye away to help him or announces that he is taking of the shop until Yuuko (presumed dead, but there's reincarnation and stuff) returns.
• In Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches:
  • At the start of the series, Shiraishi was prone to having a dry humour and coming with sarcastic or disparaging comments. Mostly averted later when she becomes much less deadpan, but she still comes with a snarky comment once in a while.
  • Ushio has always had a dry wit which is not weird considering that he is one of the more serious and (on the surface) calm students in a school filled with weirdos. Though at his introduction and when he was a villain, he was more arrogant than deadpan.
• Nate from Yo-kai Watch is quite snarky, especially towards Whisper and Jibanyan's antics. He's often the Only Sane Man between them.
• Seto Kaiba has more than a few moments in Yu-Gi-Oh!.
  Kaiba: Anyone who is late to my tournament will be disqualified. Mokuba, make sure Wheeler's late.
  • Or...
  Gozaburo: I treated you better than my own son!
  Kaiba: Thanks for nothing.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Kaiser Ryo is quite snarky. It's more obvious in the dub, but he gets in a few in the original.
    [a massive beam of light explodes from the sky]
    Aster: Something's happening.
    Zane: You think? What gave it away, genius?
• In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Astral alternates between being incredibly naive (like the Innocent Alien he resembles) and needlessly sarcastic, sometimes both at once. In fact, it's often hard to tell whether his sarcasm is intentional or not. For example, in the dub version, he says this after Cathy's duel with Dog-Chan:
  Astral: Observation #18: People say dogs are a man's best friend. Yuma would make a good dog.
  • Note that his observation has a somewhat different meaning in the original version.
• Yako in Yurara, especially towards Mei. Mei snarks right back at him, but is less deadpan about it.
• Kurama and Hiei in YuYu Hakusho, with Hiei being an out-and-out jerk and Kurama being a bit more subtle. They're at their best when they're snarking at each other. Yusuke does this sometimes as well, as part of his wisecracking routine.
  • In the manga-only ending, when Kurama is mistaken for a female several times, then asked to help with a case at an all girls' school, and he asks if he need to do something as a disguise (Yusuke was already snuck in once) or just go as is, Keiko remarking to Yusuke about how scary Kurama was. Each time you can't see his face, making the mood even weirder.

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